Welcome to my website!

I am an assistant professor of political science at Seton Hill University. My work focuses on disinformation, ethnic groups, the technologization of democracy, and the role of social media in grievance mobilization, with a regional focus on the former communist states of Central and Eastern Europe. In my dissertation, "Application of Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing to Understand the Partisan Mobilization of Ethnic Minorities," I studied over 100 minority groups across 21 countries, including Russian speakers in Latvia and Mingrelians in Georgia, to explore how and why some groups mobilize around their identities while others remain unorganized. My theory of intra-linguistic and socioeconomic cleavages posits that when ethnic groups are not internally divided along linguistic or socioeconomic lines, they are more likely to form parties around their ethnic grievances.

My current research examines how social media platforms handle disinformation and hate speech and whether public support for their content moderation policies varies across countries. In particular, I investigate whether trust in and legitimacy of digital communications platforms mediate public support for regulating disinformation and hate speech online. This project explores whether public perceptions of online communications platforms as normatively and empirically fair influence people's approval of content moderation policies against hate speech and deepfakes.

At Seton Hill, I teach courses in International Relations, Global Political Economy, Governance and Geopolitics of Artificial Intelligence, Research Methods, and Public Opinion and Propaganda. I also direct the Model United Nations program and take students to Model UN conferences in New York.

Outside of research, I enjoy all sorts of outdoor activities, such as running, hiking and playing ball with my Swiss Shephard, Leo. I also enjoy early morning Pilates and cooking.

For more information about my research, visit my research page or contact me at atepnadze@setonhill.edu.