What if the problem isn't a lack of awareness, but how awareness is produced?
My research examines how media narratives and institutional communication shape public understanding of social injustice, with a particular focus on human trafficking. I study why gaps in awareness and action persist despite widespread information campaigns, and how communication practices can unintentionally sustain ignorance rather than resolve it.
From anti-trafficking prevention in Indigenous communities to environmental health communication in mining regions to digital health equity in the United States, my research investigates a consistent paradox: despite widespread information on critical issues, communities remain systematically uninformed.
This isn't accidental. Through 100+ interviews and analysis of large-scale datasets across India and the United States, I examine how communication systems actively produce ignorance — filtering out structural causes, marginalizing community knowledge, and sustaining the very problems they claim to solve.
My work is theoretically grounded in agnotology and guided by a commitment to culturally grounded, community-centered research. My research reveals a consistent pattern: institutional communication filters out structural causes — poverty, caste discrimination, environmental extraction, digital divides — while foregrounding individual responsibility.
"Framing Awareness: Assessing the Effectiveness of Anti-Trafficking Intervention Programs in India"
My dissertation investigates why anti-human trafficking awareness efforts often fail to produce meaningful prevention outcomes in India's tribal and marginalized communities. Grounded in agnotology, I examine how institutional communication, media framing, and fragmented stakeholder coordination contribute to persistent gaps in understanding.
The study applies sociological and communication frameworks to examine how media representations shape public understanding of human trafficking as both a complex social problem and a human rights violation. Two central questions guide the work: How does media coverage contribute to societal ignorance and influence policy responses? What themes and patterns within stakeholder networks contribute to the persistence of ignorance about human trafficking among tribal populations in India?
In Khunti district, Jharkhand, India, I conducted 46 in-depth interviews across five stakeholder groups — including healthcare providers, NGO activists, journalists, police administrators, and survivor activists. Through qualitative analysis and social network analysis, I examine how power dynamics among these actors shape prevention strategies, institutional responses, and community-level interventions.
The goal of this research is to develop culturally informed communication frameworks that support prevention, improve coordination, and strengthen trust between institutions and communities.