Research Expertise

Donya Alinejad researches the role of digital media in society and culture. Her work has focused on social media's influence on people's experiences of spatial mobility, community formation, emotional care, and scientific knowledge communication. She is interested in theories of (digital) mediation and methods for researching the role of social media platforms in society, especially in relation to power and how it operates in the relationship between technologies and their users. Her work has earned her the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) Eary Career Award. 

With a background in social and cultural anthropology and a focus on social media platforms, Donya has conducted ethnographic field research and used mixed methods to study digital media in the Netherlands, Turkey, the US, and Romania. Due to her work on disinformation and science communication on social media, she is a member of the sector plan on Welfare, Participation, and Citizenship in a Digital World. This is the University-wide implementation of the national Social Sciences and Humanities sector plan on Digital Society.  

Impact

Currently, Donya is  investigating how social media platforms shape public communication about scientific expertise around politically contested issues such as climate change and Covid-19. She has been invited to share her expertise on this topic at the EU level by the Alliance of European Academies of Science (ALLEA) and at the Dutch national level by the National Institute for Public Health and Environment (RIVM). Her academic publications on this theme have been cited in multiple policy reports, including the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. For more information on impact and engagement, see personal website.

Teaching

Donya has taught and supervised junior scholars at all academic levels across Humanities and Social Science fields at multiple institutions. From being an invited PhD workshop leader for the young scholars network of European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), to lecturing in the Dutch National Research School's (RMES) Research Masters Program, to coordinating and teaching in the Communication and Information Studies (CIW) BA Program at Utrecht University, for which she also sits on the Curriculum Committee, Donya holds a wide range of teaching skills and experience.