My research group is interested in social interactions mediated by information and communication technology, with an emphasis on how people produce and understand language in these contexts. Our research has focused on two types of language, verbal irony and deception, and on a number of cognitive and social psychological factors affected by online communication.

In general, my instructional techniques tend to be the same whether I am teaching in small seminar or a larger lecture course. I would best describe them as Socratic in the sense that I encourage students to process the course material in an ongoing interactive manner. I provide content and ask questions that guide the student through the material with the goal of establishing interaction between speaker and listeners. I encourage critical analytic thinking about ideas and evidence across any area of content being considered in the class. Students are asked to be skeptical and think about the logic and procedures behind scientific information. They are expected to evaluate evidence, and articulate their thoughts both orally and in writing. Although this can sometimes be difficult in a large lecture class, I find that it is possible. I believe these basic skills will serve students beyond the classroom, and ensure that they are more effective communicators and more critical consumers of information in their everyday lives. In smaller classes, I structure the course so that students engage in a research project where they learn how to ask a research question, and how to conduct a study to address that question.