Viki Conner
Doctoral Student
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
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About
Viki Askounis Conner (she/her) is a doctoral student in communication studies at the University of Illinois-Chicago where she researches digital culture and the role of new media technologies in processes of social change. She also serves as the editorial assistant for Social Media + Society, supporting editor-in-chief Dr. Papacharissi.
With a background spanning sociology, public policy, and communication practice, her research is motivated by an interest in how technology is changing what it means to belong in society and the political consequences of new forms of sociality and organization. Her current agenda examines how narratives, myths, and emotions operate in digitally mediated processes of meaning-making and knowledge production with projects spanning nostalgia, misinformation, and the epistemic cultures of public relations and public policy.
Viki brings to her research more than two decades of experience working in industry and higher education administration. Previously, Viki served as the Senior Associate Dean of Communications and Public Affairs at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. She also spent more than a decade with the global public relations agency, Edelman, working in corporate and public affairs in the US and UK.
Viki holds an M.A. in the social sciences with a concentration in sociology from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in public policy and French from Duke University. Originally from Chicago, she resides in Lincoln Park with her husband and two daughters.
Education
M.A. in social sciences (concentration: sociology), University of Chicago (2020)
B.A. in public policy and French, Duke University (2002)