J.J. Sylvia IV is an Assistant Professor in Communications Media at Fitchburg State University, where he teaches courses on human communication, communication law and ethics, data analytics, and topics such as posthumanism and surveillance studies. In 2018, he received grants from the Society of Philosophers in America and the Crocker Center for Civic Engagement to develop and implement a pedagogical framework for student-led community-based conversations that engage with contemporary issues in communication ethics. His research focuses on understanding the impact of big data, algorithms, and other new media on processes of subjectivation. Using the framework of posthumanism, he explores how the media we use contribute to our construction as subjects. Recent work has been published in the International Journal of Communication, Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education and the edited collections Research Methods for the Digital Humanities and Coding Pedagogy. He lives in Worcester, MA with his wife and two daughters.
