About Me
Hello! I’m Jess Rauchberg, an award-winning doctoral candidate (ABD) in the Department of Communication Studies and Media Arts at McMaster University. I will be defending my dissertation in Spring 2023. I’m currently on the job market for opportunities in the U.S. and Canada beginning in Fall 2023!
My dissertation project looks at crip data, social media platform governance, algorithmic cultures, and the possibilities of digital cultural production. My project is supervised by Dr. Sarah Brophy.
My research program asks important questions about the relationship between data, platform politics, identity, and power. I investigate how racism and ableism organize economies, cultures, and politics on digital platforms. My work assesses how ableism and racism influence how a platform runs and its impact on every day users. I’m also interested in analyzing how structures of oppression move across platforms and online to offline. Key questions guiding my research: What do algorithms communicate about cultural values? How do ableism and racism mediate our experiences with social platforms? What are the possibilities for digital disability cultural practices and creative work beyond algorithmic bias? What are the possibilities for digital cultural production beyond algorithmic ableism and biased artificial intelligence (AI)?
I’ve received several awards from the National Communication Association and Western States Communication Association, including a Top Paper Award from NCA’s Disability Issues Caucus (2018), a Top Student Paper from WSCA’s ORWAC Affiliate (2020), a Top Paper from NCA’s Activism and Social Justice Division (2020), and a Top Paper from NCA’s Organizational Communication Division (2021), which received a nomination for the Donald P. Cushman Memorial Award (2021), the highest student distinction awarded by NCA. I was recognized for my service work as a reviewer for the International Communication Association (ICA)’s LGBTQ Studies Interest Group (2020).
I've been invited to guest lecture on social media activism and algorithmic cultures at several universities, including Simon Fraser University, Emerson College, the University of Virginia, Fordham University, and Florida Atlantic University.
Some venues where my publications appear are the Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, Feminist Media Studies, Catalyst: Feminism, Theory, Technoscience, The Popular Culture Studies Journal, Studies in Social Justice, and several edited collections.
To get in touch, visit my contact page or connect with me on Twitter!