Marco Dehnert

Marco Dehnert

Doctoral Candidate

Arizona State University

About Me

I am a Doctoral Candidate and Graduate Teaching Associate in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University. I am a multi-method social scientist who studies Human-Machine Communication, Human-AI Communication, and the social impact of communication technologies.

I use qualitative, quantitative, and rhetorical methods including interviews, textual analysis, thematic analysis, surveys, and experiments. My work integrates methods, concepts, and theories from a variety of disciplines and areas including communication studies, critical/cultural studies, human-computer and human-robot interaction, as well as sexuality studies.

Currently, I am working on my PhD with a focus on how humans build relationships with machines such as social robots and AI technologies. In particular, my dissertation uses qualitative methods to explore human-machine relationality (how humans form relationships with machines like robots).

My research has been published in a variety of academic journals such as Human Communication Research, Human-Machine Communication, Review of Communication, and in book chapters published by Routledge and SAGE (forthcoming). Our article Dehnert & Mongeau (2022) received the 2022 Outstanding Article Award from the Human Communication and Technology Division of the National Communication Association.

In June 2022, I was featured on the National Communication Association’s Podcast Series “Communication Matters” on the topic of alternative academic careers for communication graduate students. In October 2022, I was featured on the German science communication portal Wissenschaftskommunikation.de in an interview about the topic of transformation.

Don’t hesitate to contact me. I am also happy to share PDFs of my publications with you in case you or your institution does not have access.

Interests
  • Human-Machine Communication
  • Human-AI Communication
  • Critical/Cultural Studies
  • Social Impact of Communication Technologies
  • Intersectional Rhetoric
Education
  • PhD in Communication, expected 2024

    Arizona State University

  • MA in Communication, 2020

    Arizona State University

  • BA in Rhetoric & Media Studies, 2019

    University of Tübingen, Germany

Publications

(2023). Phantasms in the halls: A future university is possible (or) … a performative response to la paperson, Stefano Harney, Fred Moten, and Julietta Singh. Review of Communication.

DOI

(2022). Toward a Critical Posthumanism for Social Robotics. International Journal of Social Robotics.

DOI

(2022). Anti-Normativity Under Duress: An Intersectional Intervention in Queer Rhetorics. The Routledge Handbook of Queer Rhetoric.

DOI

(2022). On Dead-Ends, Pit-Stops, and Reimagining the Road: How Failure Leads to Teaching Expertise and Pedagogical Transformation. International Journal of Education and Social Science Research.

DOI

(2021). Becoming the Other: Examining Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Detroit: Become Human. Review of Communication.

DOI