Dr Filippo Trevisan

I am Associate Professor of Public Communication at American University’s School of Communication in Washington, DC, where I also currently serve as the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Deputy Director of the Institute on Disability and Public Policy. My research explores the intersection of technology, voice, and marginality, and examines how political organizations – parties, campaigns, advocacy organizations, and activist groups – use media to reach, activate, and organize people, especially those from traditionally marginalized and disenfranchised backgrounds. My work has focused on multiple countries including the U.S., the UK, Australia, and Italy. I’m also a past president (2022-2023) of the American Political Science Association’s Information Technology and Politics (APSA ITP) Section.

I’m the author (with Ariadne Vromen and Michael Vaughan) of “Story Tech: Power, Storytelling, and Social Change Advocacy” (University of Michigan Press, February 2025), which investigates how ‘hidden’ technologies (databases, algorithms, AI) influence which voices we hear (and don’t hear) in public debates in the U.S. and Australia. My first book “Disability Rights Advocacy Online: Voice, Empowerment and Global Connectivity” (Routledge, 2017) examined how new online self-advocacy networks transformed the disability rights movement in the UK and the U.S. In addition, I’m also a co-editor of “The Routledge Handbook of Political Campaigning” (Routledge, November 2024), which reviews the state of the art and emerging trends in media, technology, and political campaigns.

Prior to completing my PhD at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, I was a reporter at the English desk of Italy’s largest private news agency in Rome. In addition to my books, my research has been published in top communication, political science, and disability studies journals including, among others: New Media & Society; the Journal of Communication; Information, Communication and Society; the International Journal of Communication; Social Media & Society; the Journal of Information Technology and Politics; and Disability and Society. I have been interviewed on issues of political campaigning and protest, among others, by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the BBC, Al-Jazeera, Germany’s DW and ZDF, Italy’s Corriere della Sera and RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana.

I was born and raised in Friuli, a little-known but beautiful region in the North-East of Italy, which spans from Alpine peaks to the Adriatic Sea, all in about one hour of driving. Besides work, I am a keen violin player, love cooking as any (stereo)typical Italian, and try to learn new languages, some more successfully than others. My latest endeavor is to work on a basic level of Finnish: if anyone has ever been to Finland, they will know that I’m up for a challenge!