Jana M. Perkins
Doctoral Student
PhD, Information Sciences, Illinois (in progress)
MS, Information Sciences, Illinois
MA, English, McGill University
Pronouns: she/her
Research focus
As a computational social scientist, I leverage computational research methods to deliver evidence-based insights on socially important trends and issues. Much of the time, I work on unstructured problems that lack a clear definition or straightforward solution.
Honors and Awards
Selected Awards and Distinctions (Total awarded to-date: over $140,000 USD)
- Phi Kappa Phi, UIUC, 2023 and 2024 (Top 10 percent of graduate students)
- Career Exploration Fellowship, UIUC, 2023
- Lucile Huntington Wilkinson Memorial Scholarship, UIUC, 2021 and 2022
- Doctoral Fellowship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), 2020–Present
- Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship, SSHRC, 2019
Courses currently teaching
Advisor
Publications & Papers
Dunham-Hickman, M.* and Perkins, J. M.* (Under contract). Deep literacy, digital time. Routledge. bit.ly/dl-r
Fang, A.* and Perkins, J. M.* (2024). Large language models (LLMs): Risks and policy implications. MIT Science Policy Review, 5, 134–45. doi.org/10.38105/spr.3qrco9kp8x
Brighton, J., Perkins, J. M., and Unruh, S. (2022). More investing, less arresting: A public health model for reducing gun violence in Detroit. Community Data Clinic. bit.ly/cd-bpu
* Equal contribution.
Presentations
Perkins, J. M. (2023). In search of findability: Active exploration and the discovery dynamics of today’s social networks. School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Hoag, B., Perkins, J. M., Young, R., and Kao, H. (2023). Student sense of belonging at Illinois. Dennis H. May Diversity Conference, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.