About Me
Shenja van der Graaf is a digital society scholar at the Department of Communication Science at the technical University of Twente. If there is one common thread joining her research activities together, it is an interest in moments of transition and the dynamics that accompany them arising from innovations associated with information and communication technologies. Interests and expertise focus on production and consumption cultures; media (histories) and everyday life; media infrastructures; media / ICT (responsible) innovation and regulation in the public interest; and, alternative economic and governance systems.
Van der Graaf has held several research, advisory and management positions, in particular in the Netherlands, Belgium, UK, Japan, and USA. In various positions she has served as a PI on major grants and consulted with public and private entities, such as OECD, European Commission, UN, Turner Networks, and Microsoft. Her expertise has also been shown and translated into various lectureships, (board) memberships and publications. In this capacity, she has been committed to exploring how greater understanding of media systems can inform and assist citizens, scholars and policymakers in Europe and abroad to advance campaigns for technological literacy, creative expression, social justice, and human rights.
Before joining the BMS faculty, van der Graaf was Principal Researcher at imec-SMIT, VUB leading the Unit ‘Data Governance & Communities’ (former ‘Smart Cities’), where she also served as a Board member.
Van der Graaf is a graduate of Utrecht University (MA, 1999), Leiden University (Postgrad, 2000) and the London School of Economics and Political Science (PhD, 2009). She has been an honorary fellow at MIT Media Lab (ID3 Hub), a fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society (Harvard) and the Research Center for Information Law (University of St. Gallen), a consulting researcher at Convergence Culture Consortium (MIT), an alumna of the Oxford Internet Institute (Oxford), and worked as consultant for Hakuhodo Inc. in Tokyo.
Organisations
Research
If there is one common thread joining my research activities together, it is an interest in moments of transition and the dynamics that accompany them.
Amidst social, technological and economic challenges, I have been particularly intrigued by the governance of new technologies and digital culture, and organizational and micro-level change, especially, at the intersection of commerce and the community.
Currently, I am developing a research track in the ways the web, mobile devices, virtual and augmented reality seem to rescript our nervous system, and change the structure of our brain and challenge functions for empathy and decision-making. I am interested in developing new models of contemporary human online culture. For this purpose, I am working at the intersection of digital culture and neuroscience.
Themes:
- Digital, cumulative culture & evolution
- (Transmedia) storytelling
- Media (histories) and everyday life
- Media infrastructures (political economy of internet in space)
- Alternative economic and governance systems
Some keywords to investigate these themes:
Social life development (in individuals, over generations, communities); Digital polarization; Narrativity; Co-creation; (More-than-human) Ecosystems; Predictive modeling; Niche construction; Active inference; Media studies; User innovation; ...
I welcome PhD + Postdoc enquiries from candidates wishing to pursue projects in the above subject areas.
Publications
UT Research Information System
Google Scholar Link
Affiliated Study Programmes
Bachelor
Master
Courses Academic Year 2023/2024
Courses Academic Year 2022/2023
Projects
Digital Polarisation (Dutch Search Experience, partnership with Queensland University of Technology and AWS) (2022 - present). Grants: UT (2022), SIDN (2023-2025)
Prometheus (with Dr. Sjoerd de Vries) (2021): Grant: EIT-HEI Initiative (EC)
Citizen Science (VUB-UT; with Prof.dr.ing. Alexander van Deursen; co-promotor PhD) (2023 - present)
Digital inclusion and poverty (with Prof.dr.ing. Alexander van Deursen; co-promotor PhD) (2022 - present)
Snippet (imec-smit, Vrije Universiteit Brussels; with Prof.dr. Pieter Ballon; co-promotor PhD) (2019 - present)
Finished
Sense-Data-Reflect (Vrije Universiteit Brussels; Global Minds, with University of the Western Cape) (2020 - 2022)
In the press
2023
- Neemt polarisatie in Nederland toe door de komst van sociale media? ‘Misschien is de echte filterbubbel wel in real life’ (De Volkskrant, 15 July)
- Welke rol speelt internet bij polarisatie in de samenleving? Universiteit Twente start onderzoek (1Twente, 1 June)
- Universiteit Twente start onderzoek naar de rol van internet bij polarisering in samenleving (Emerce, 17 May)
- Twentse onderzoekers zetten vraagtekens bij zoekresultaten Google (Tubantia, 11 May)
- Twentse onderzoekers zetten vraagtekens bij zoekresultaten Google (AD, 11 May)
- Universiteit Twente onderzoekt rol van internet bij polarisering (Dutch IT Channel, 11 May)
- Universiteit Twente onderzoekt in welke mate online zoekmachines bijdragen aan polarisatie (RTV Oost, 10 May)
2021
- Roving surveillance bots are coming to our cities. Luckily, they’re here to help (Digital Trends, 17 May)
2020
News on utwente.nl
Tweets
Contact Details
Visiting Address
University of Twente
Drienerlolaan 5
7522 NB Enschede
The Netherlands
Mailing Address
University of Twente
P.O. Box 217
7500 AE Enschede
The Netherlands
Organisations
Additional Contact Information
Office: C223