Rutgers Democracy Lab Announces Inaugural Cohort of Democracy Summer Research Fellows

The RDL Democracy Summer Research Fellowship funds 25 projects led by doctoral students from Rutgers–New Brunswick, Camden, and Newark from 15 academic disciplines.

Rutgers Democracy Lab (RDL) is excited to announce the launch of its inaugural Democracy Summer Research Fellowship. The fellowship funds 25 projects led by doctoral students from Rutgers–New Brunswick, Camden, and Newark and 15 academic disciplines selected from a competitive applicant pool. Fellowships support dissertation or co-authored research projects on deliberative dialogue, artificial intelligence (AI) and democracy, democratic innovation, or topics aligned with the Rutgers Democracy Lab’s mission to strengthen American democracy. 

Twenty one projects received a Seed Fellowship ($2,000), while four projects received a Democracy Catalyst Fellowship ($8,000), which supports ambitious, interdisciplinary, or collaborative projects. Reflecting on the selected projects, Jason Geary, Provost of Rutgers University–New Brunswick, noted, 

This cohort demonstrates how Rutgers researchers are pushing conversations about democracy in new and creative directions.

Fellows employ a wide range of methodologies, including archival research, interviews, policy analysis, computational methods, survey research, and community-engaged scholarship. Two project themes, AI infrastructure and civic education are explored by multiple projects. Several fellows examine the politics and public impacts of data centers, including questions of sustainability, regional economies, community power, and local governance in New Jersey. Others focus on democratic education through research on school-based participation, AI policy in K–12 education, public history, and political education movements.

“What makes this program especially exciting is the range of methods and scholarly approaches fellows are bringing to policy-relevant research,” said Eyal Hanfling, Director of the Technology and Democracy Research Hub at RDL. “Understanding democracy today requires perspectives that cut across disciplinary boundaries.” 

RDL plans to convene the fellows and broader university community at a public research symposium in Fall 2026 to showcase the cohort’s work. RDL will also open applications soon to the Democracy in Action Fund and Democracy Associates programs, which fund Rutgers Faculty and Staff to implement public programs and research projects in line with the lab’s mission.

Below is the complete list of Democracy Summer Research Fellows. More information about each of the projects and recipients is available here.

• Rachel M Acosta, Communication, Rutgers–New Brunswick
• Morenike Alugo, Prevention Science, Rutgers–Camden
• Muhammad Ammar & Chia-lin Kao, Political Science, Rutgers–New Brunswick
• Zachary Baum, Political Science, Rutgers–New Brunswick
• Anderson de Andrade, Sociology, Rutgers–New Brunswick
• Samantha G. Deane, Industrial Relations and Human Resources, Rutgers–New Brunswick
• Bridget C. Fisher, Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers–New Brunswick
• William Foley, Industrial Relations and Human Resources, Rutgers–New Brunswick
• Erica Fugger, American Studies, Rutgers–Newark*
• Sudhamshu Hosamane, Library and Information Science, Rutgers–New Brunswick*
• Duhui Lee, Sociology, Rutgers–New Brunswick
• Ashley Y. Lipscomb, Education, Rutgers–New Brunswick*
• Kristine Maassen, Anthropology, Rutgers–New Brunswick
• Hyacinth Miller, Global Urban Studies, Rutgers–Newark
• Lina Moe, Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers–New Brunswick
• Sarah Mughal, Psychology, Rutgers–New Brunswick
• Mahsun Oti, Anthropology, Rutgers–New Brunswick
• Oğuz Kaan Özalp, Public Affairs and Community Development, Rutgers–Camden
• George Quinn, Political Science, Rutgers–New Brunswick
• Stephanie A. Rodríguez, Bilingualism and Second Language Acquisition, Rutgers–New Brunswick
• Michellepreet Sanghera, Political Science, Rutgers–New Brunswick
• Safiyeh Tayebi, Geography, Rutgers–New Brunswick
• Sara M. Thomas, Social Work, Rutgers–New Brunswick
• Wenzhe Xu, Library and Information Science, Rutgers–New Brunswick
• Yi Zhao & S. M. Mehedi Zaman, Communication & Library and Information Science, Rutgers–New Brunswick*

*PhD Students working on these projects were selected to receive Democracy Catalyst Fellowships.