I am an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Rhetoric. Before joining WPI, I was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. My work is animated by an intellectual curiosity with how ideas travel across time and space, and generate diverse practices of acting, seeing, and being in the world. I am especially intrigued by situations in which people come to ask new questions about themselves and others, in ways that require reconsideration of past experiences and imagining of future possibilities. Such situations, I believe, capture an important aspect of the human condition—the intertwining trajectories of power and authority, on the one hand, and creativity and innovation, on the other.

My first book project discusses a similar situation among young Muslims in Turkey. Titled "Reading the Qur'an: Translation, Science, and Religious Language in Turkey," it presents an ethnographic analysis of how Muslims navigate religious texts and traditional interpretations within the framework of secularism and modern science. This analysis draws on my fieldwork funded by the National Science Foundation and the Wenner-Gren Foundation.

The second book project draws on my new research on generative AI. Most of the mainstream thinking on AI is comparative. In trying to make sense of AI and its capabilities, many researchers tend to presume a single, coherent human identity that can serve as an object of comparison. Tentatively titled "Culture after AI: Computing the Human in the Age of Generative AI," this book analyzes how such comparative thinking has given birth to a new techno(-theo-)logical anthropology that defends 'the human' while erasing differences among humans. The book also highlights the need for a new theory of culture for a society that is saturated with AI-generated media.

My other scholarly projects reflect my interests as an applied anthropologist focusing on the design of human-computer interaction. I have collaborated with engineering researchers on five different National Science Foundation-funded projects on the future of work and technology (#1922761, #2024802, #2222713, #2228652, #2431414). I have been the social sciences lead of WPI's NSF Research Traineeship Program on 'Future of Robots in the Workplace’ and organized a ’social impact of research’ workshop series for graduate student trainees. As an extension of my interest in applied ethics, I serve as a co-chair of the IEEE Brain Neuroethics Subcommittee’s 'Work and Employment' working group. 

In addition, with two Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) grants, my scholarship has forged new connections between applied ethics and engineering education. I currently serve on the leadership committee of Public Interest Technology New England (PIT-NE). As a proponent of translational humanities, I bring an anthropological lens to technology design and delivery in two projects: the first is SWAP (an algorithm-based resource-sharing platform for nonprofits) and the second is WheelUp! (a virtual reality training simulator for new users of powered wheelchairs). 

I teach courses on rhetoric, semiotics, qualitative research methods, AI/robot ethics, and critical AI literacy. Inspired by WPI's ethos of project-based learning and informed by my collaborations with fellow educators at WPI's Center for Project-Based Learning, my classes are structured around team projects that help students see themselves and their classmates as active participants in the process of knowledge production and dissemination. I work with undergraduate students on their Professional Writing senior capstone projects examining the rhetoric of science, technology, and engineering. I also advise Computational Media graduate students at WPI's Interactive Media and Game Development program. 

Visit Digital WPI to view student research and projects advised by Professor Telliel