Brooke Foucault Welles

From top left: Rod Brunson, Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. Chair of Public Life; Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice and Political Science; Director of Graduate Mentoring and Diversity Initiatives, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Costas Panagopoulos, Professor and Department Chair of Political Science, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Brooke Foucault Wells, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, College of Arts, Media, and Design and Pat Williams, University Distinguished Professor of Law and Humanities, School of Law and College of Social Sciences and Humanities. Screenshots by Northeastern University

One way to root out racial injustice on the ground and on social media? Consequences, say Northeastern experts.

“Our gravely fractured nation is at a crossroads once again and does not have the luxury of waiting,” says criminology professor Rod K. Brunson in the aftermath of riots at the Capitol. He discussed the ideological forces behind the siege with fellow Northeastern faculty members.

by Hillary Chabot January 28, 2021

A droplet falls from a syringe after a health care worker is injected with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Women & Infants Hospital in Providence, R.I., on Dec. 15, 2020. AP Photo by David Goldman

On Twitter, journalists and politicians have more credibility on vaccines than medical experts, study finds

Black, Indigenous, and other non-white people in the United States are more likely to turn to sources within their own communities for information about the pandemic and the coronavirus vaccine, finds a new study of Twitter users led by researchers from Northeastern.

by Khalida Sarwari January 11, 2021

Northeastern researchers are embarking on a project to yield an Alexa-like device that could be used in professional settings to alert users to instances of implicit bias. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Could a smart device catch implicit bias in the workplace?

Northeastern associate professors Christoph Riedl and Brooke Foucault Welles are preparing to embark on a three-year project that could yield such a gadget.

by Khalida Sarwari January 29, 2020

Students from Dunbar Senior High School in Washington are silhouetted as they protest the city's plan to close 23 schools in the fall due to declining enrollment, at a gathering outside the office of the D.C. Schools Chancellor in Washington, on Friday May 23, 2008. Dunbar was not slated for closing. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Race, gender, shape high school students’ support for First Amendment protections

Boys and white students are less inclined than girls and students of color to agree with the statement: “The First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees,” researchers at Northeastern and the Knight Foundation found.

by Molly Callahan and Tyler Machado December 16, 2019

What makes a hashtag like #metoo or #myNYPD go viral?

Individuals who have been victims of oppression or abuse have found hastags to be an effective way to increase the scope and effect of their activism. Northeastern researchers Sarah Jackson, Moya Bailey and Brooke Foucault Welles have created an interdisciplinary project that studies and explains how hashtags acquire their followings.

by Allie Nicodemo May 9, 2018

David Lazar, Andrew Hayward, Brooke Foucault Welles, and Matt Carroll speak on a panel during the Conversations: New frameworks for public discourse event in Raytheon on March 31, 2017. Photo by Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University

These divided states: The media’s role in today’s fragmented society

What is the media’s role in uniting or further dividing people in a nation that’s so deeply divided it feels like “everyone’s worst possible Thanksgiving,” as journalism professor Matt Carroll put it? That’s the question a host of scholars, journalists, and media executives tackled at a recent Northeastern conference.

by Molly Callahan April 3, 2017

3Qs: Trapped in social media ‘echo chambers’

Social media has become a go-to platform for people to express their opinions on the hot topics of the day. But in many cases, people are sharing those thoughts with those who have similar opinions. Here, assistant professor Brooke Foucault Welles explains how this trend correlates to offline debates.

by Joe O'Connell July 6, 2016

Who guided the national discussion on Ferguson?

New research from two Northeastern University professors shows that in the days following Michael Brown’s fatal shooting, everyday citizens—not politicians, celebrities, or other prominent public figures—were the ones who, using Twitter, shaped the national dialogue.

by Greg St. Martin January 15, 2016

Social networks’ hidden resources

Assistant professor Brooke Foucault Welles is studying how people can better understand and leverage their social networks to identify valuable and previously unnoticed connections or resources. She says this work could be particularly valuable for the military.

by Joe O'Connell December 11, 2014