iSchool faculty, students well represented at TPRC 2026

Several iSchool faculty, researchers, and students will participate in the Research Conference on Communications, Information and Internet Policy (TPRC54), which will be held from Sept. 25–26 in Washington, DC.

Associate Professor Madelyn Rose Sanfilippo serves as TPRC54 program committee co-chair, and Assistant Professor Meicen Sun serves as a program committee member. 

iSchool participation includes:

Sanfilippo will moderate sessions "Policy Making" and "Mobile Networks" while Associate Professor Colin Rhinesmith will moderate "Digital Infrastructures and Indigenous Communities."

Sanfilippo will present two papers. The first, "Polycentric Governance Gaps in U.S. AI and Privacy Law," also includes PhD student Isaac Haizel, BSIS student Julia Trevino, and Ece Gumusel, a 2025–2026 iSchool postdoc research associate. Sanfilippo is also a co-author on a paper by PhD student Melissa Wilfley, "Governing AI through Discourse: Ethics, Safety, and Institutional Authority," along with PhD student Mengting Ai and Mariná Magaña, who has a bachelor's in political science with an informatics minor.

Director of Research and Technology Innovation and Research Scientist Anita Nikolich will present on "The U.S. Submarine Cable Governance Gap."

Rhinesmith will present "Digital Navigation as a Sociotechnical System: A State and National Digital Policy Perspective" co-authored by PhD students Ebubechukwu Uba and Joanna Adewunmi. 

PhD student Karen V. Jenkins will present "Above COPPA, Below Protection: AI-Mediated Health Information for Adolescents Aged 13–17."

PhD student Gowri Balasubramaniam will present "Appropriate for Whom? A Participatory Study of Youth Perspectives on Age-Appropriate AI."

Adjunct Associate Professor Laila Moustafa will present "AI in Libraries: the Hidden Privacy Crisis" during a lightning talk session. 

TPRC is an annual conference that seeks to convene researchers and decision-makers committed to advancing thoughtful, data-driven communications and internet policy.