Amy Johnson is a digital STS scholar and linguistic anthropologist who studies intersections of language and technology in English, Japanese, and Arabic to understand how contemporary communication networks are shaping ideas of governance and personhood.
Dr. Johnson's research organizes around two axes: online parody and other forms of digital play, and government use of social media and governance by platform. Often, weirdly, these intersect (ask her about government memeing debates her FOIA research has turned up).
She is experimenting with the use of speculative writing techniques in teaching, research, and advocacy around current and future technologies, and runs a related working group at BKC. She holds a PhD from MIT's Program in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology, and Society and is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Humanistic Inquiry at Amherst College.
