Sasha Costanza-Chock is an American communications scholar, author, and activist. They are an associate professor at

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

and a faculty affiliate at the

Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society The Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society is a research center at Harvard University that focuses on the study of cyberspace. Founded at Harvard Law School, the center traditionally focused on internet-related legal issues. On May 15, 2008, ...

Education and academic career

Costanza-Chock received their A.B. from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, M.A. from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, and Ph.D. from the

Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. After receiving their Ph.D., Costanza-Chock took up a position at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, where they were Associate Professor of Civic Media.

Contributions

Costanza-Chock researches

social movements A social movement is either a loosely or carefully organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of ...

, media, and

communications technologies Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not only transmit ...

, and has published work about Occupy Wall Street, the

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

rights movement in the U.S., the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

, the CRIS campaign for communication rights, and media policy, among other areas. As an

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

they have contributed to

citizen media Citizen media is Content (media and publishing), content produced by private citizens who are not professional journalists. Citizen journalism, participatory media and democratic media are related principles. Background "Citizen media" was coin ...

projects such as VozMob, Transmission, and

Indymedia The Independent Media Center, better known as Indymedia, is an open publishing network of activist journalist collectives that report on political and social issues. Following beginnings during the 1999 Carnival Against Capital and 1999 Seat ...

. Their first book ''Out of the Shadows, into the Streets! Transmedia Organizing and the Immigrant Rights Movement'' was published by

The MIT Press The MIT Press is the university press of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MIT Press publishes a number of academic journals and has been a pioneer in the Open Ac ...

in 2014. Writing about

DREAM Act The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, is a United States legislative proposal that would grant temporary conditional residency, with the right to work, for illegal immigrants who entered the Unite ...

scholarship for ''The Journal of Higher Education'', Michael Olivas called the book "a fascinating and liberating study of the social media used by various DREAMer factions". In a review in ''Information, Communication & Society'' Koen Leurs called the book "a reflective, situated, historically and contextually aware account of rights movements in the United States". In 2018, their paper, ''Design Justice, A.I., and Escape from the Matrix of Domination'' won a $10,000 essay competition in the Journal of Design and Science. Their second book, ''Design Justice: Community-Led Practices to Build the Worlds We Need'' was published in March 2020 by

MIT Press The MIT Press is the university press of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MIT Press publishes a number of academic journals and has been a pioneer in the Open Ac ...

. Costanza-Chock is regularly cited as an academic expert on media and activism topics, including the student response to the

Stoneman Douglas High School shooting On February 14, 2018, a mass shooting occurred when 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, part of the Miami metropolitan area, Parkland, Florida, killing 17 people and injuring 18 ot ...

, movements to unionize tech workers, and the

doxing Doxing or doxxing is the act of publicly providing personally identifiable information Personal data, also known as personal information or personally identifiable information (PII), is any information related to an identifiable person. The ...

white supremacists White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine o ...

Other activities

Costanza-Chock is a board member of Allied Media Projects.

Honors and awards

* 2021 Engineering & Technology

PROSE Award The PROSE Awards (where ''PROSE'' is an abbreviation for "professional and scholarly excellence") are presented by the Association of American Publishers' (AAP) Professional and Scholarly Publishing (PSP) Division. Presented since 1976, the award ...

Finalist for their book ''Design Justice'' * 2019 MIT John S.W. Kellett '47 Award, "for an exceptional and/or sustained commitment to creating a more welcoming environment at MIT" for LGBTQ+ individuals

Bibliography

* *

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Costanza-Chock, Sasha American mass media scholars Harvard University alumni Living people MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences faculty Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) University of Pennsylvania alumni USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism alumni