2025-26 Arts & Sciences Research Report Highlights
The latest research report published by the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences features DTD Lab faculty co-lead, Mona Sloane's latest book, Predicted: How AI Is Restructuring Social Life (page 33). Previous work from DTD Lab grant recipients LaRissa Rogers and Angel Adams Parham can also be seen on (page 9).
Nine Scholars Join the Karsh Institute as Inaugural Faculty Fellows
Congratulations to Laurent Dubois, DTD Lab director, Lana Swartz, 2025-26 DTD Lab seed grant recipient, and Bertrall Ross, 2023-25 DTD Lab faculty co-lead who are among the inaugural cohort of faculty fellows joining the Karsh Institute of Democracy. Fellows will work closely to develop new research priorities, identify emerging questions, and connect scholarship with public life.
What Research Actually Looks Like for Undergraduate Data Scientists
A recent feature from the School of Data Science, highlighted experiences from undergraduate students who had opportunities to work with faculty over the summer. One of these students shared their work with Jess Reia, DTD Lab faculty co-lead, on a project supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, that uses the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey to study why transgender adults avoid seeking medical care.
SPARC Funding for “Subterranean Convergence”
Congratulations to LaRissa Rogers, DTD Lab grant recipient, who has received a Scholarship, Practice, Arts, Research, and Creativity (SPARC) grant from the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences to support her project, "Subterranean Convergence". Grants were awarded to projects spanning a variety of disciplines in support of research, scholarship, and creative activity.
The use of AI to generate fake nudity is spreading across websites and apps without effective control.
Barriers to access are almost nonexistent today, given the proliferation of tools. Yasmin Curzi, DTD research affiliate, argues that the ANPD (National Data Protection Authority) could be more active in supervising companies that provide image creation tools without consent.
Information integrity and the responsibility of application providers in relation to digital advertising.
A new article co-authored by Yasmin Curzi, DTD Lab research affiliate, investigates how the emerging concept of information integrity can reorient the parameters of application provider responsibility regarding online advertising. It argues that business models based on algorithmic ranking can compromise the integrity of public space, requiring transparency, observability, and accountability mechanisms from platforms.
Who are the recurring profiles in fake news during elections?
Despite being investigated for spreading misinformation and attempting a coup in 2022, pro-Bolsonaro influencers remain active in 2026. Yasmin Curzi, DTD research affiliate, points out that the fact that many investigated are outside the country imposes physical limits on the performance of the Brazilian Justice, making the effectiveness of decisions dependent on international cooperation. dehumanization, and disqualification.
Brazil has already recorded more than 400 cases of political violence against women
Cases monitored by the Electoral Public Prosecutor's Office reveal how psychological, moral, symbolic, and physical aggression are still used to intimidate and remove women from politics. Yasmin Curzi, DTD research affiliate, details three main elements to identify this violence on the networks: inferiorization, dehumanization, and disqualification.
Maria da Penha Law: Brazil grants two protective measures per minute and registers a record in 2026, according to the CNJ (National Council of Justice).
Yasmin Curzi, DTD research affiliate, highlights the main transformation brought by the law which was to remove domestic violence from the private sphere and recognize it as a responsibility of the State. Despite the progress, she believes the main challenge remains confronting a culture marked by sexism and gender inequality.
Digital strategies of resilience: LGBTQ+ youth and identity fluidity in rural Iraq
LGBTQ+ youth in rural Iraq remain largely absent from global scholarship despite facing profound risks arising from criminalization, entrenched conservatism, and geographic isolation. A recent article co-authored by Ahmed Alrawi, DTD Lab 2024-26 postdoc, examines how rural Iraqi LGBTQ+ youth employ digital platforms to negotiate identity, manage stigma, and sustain community ties under repressive social and legal conditions.
