Bio Brief
2008-2013
USC Ph.D. Program
Received a Ph.D. in Communication from the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, USC.
Doctoral thesis: “Intermedia agenda setting in an era of fragmentation: Applications of network science in the study of mass communication.”
Research Assistant:
(Affiliated Research Centers, Annenberg School)
- Annenberg Networks Network (ANN).
PIs: Peter Monge, Manuel Castells - Metamorphosis / MetaConnects / Alhambra Source
PI: Sandra Ball-Rokeach - Center for the Digital Future.
PIs: Jeffrey Cole, Michael Suman - FCC Study: Critical Information Needs of the US Public.
PIs: Lewis A. Friedland, Philip Napoli, Ernest J. Wilson III
Ongoing research projects and recent publications are listed here.
Teaching Assistant:
(Communication Program, Annenberg School)
- COMM 200 – Communication as a Social Science
- COMM 201 – Communication as Liberal Art
- COMM 306 – The Communication Revolution and the Arts
- COMM 310 – Media and Society
- COMM 400 – Communication Networks (Senior seminar + labs)
- COMM 645 – Communication Networks (PhD seminar + labs)
Course Instructor:
(Online Communities Program, Annenberg School)
- CMGT 540 – Uses of Communication Research (Syllabus)
Graduate level class on research design and methodology.
1999-2013
Fellowships & Scholarships
- Consortium on Media Policy Studies DC Fellowship with the FCC (2012)
- Oxford Internet Institute Summer Doctoral Program (2011)
- USC Annenberg Graduate Fellowship (2007-2012)
- Academic Excellence Scholarship, Sofia University (1999-2002)
1999-2013
Education
2004: Received B.Sc. in Computer Science from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics.
2006: Received M.A. in Virtual Culture from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Faculty of Philosophy.
2010: Received M.A. in Communication from the University of Southern California.
Degree awarded after Ph.D. level comprehensive examinations in four concentration areas:
media studies, network theory and methodology, online participation and civic engagement,
and state control over digital communications.
Committee members: Sandra Ball-Rokeach (Chair), Peter Monge, Manuel Castells,
Henry Jenkins, Geneva Overholser.
2013: PhD. in Communication from the University of Southern California.
Dissertation Title: Intermedia agenda setting in an era of fragmentation:
Applications of network science in the study of mass communication
Committee Members: Sandra Ball-Rokeach (Chair), Peter Monge, Geneva Overholser, Ann Crigler
2000-2007
Professional Experience
In 2000 started work at Economedia, the largest business media group in Bulgaria (currently part of Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt). Spent close to seven years with Capital Weekly‘s wonderful team of journalists, designers, IT specialists, and new media experts.
Responsibilities as a journalist included observing trends in emerging technologies, online business and society, as well as performing research and analysis of telecom regulation and Internet governance. In 2006-2007, exciting new tasks – visual editing and data representation – were added to the list.
Selected publications from that period are available on Reuters/Factiva.
Capital Weekly
Interviews conducted for Economedia include:
- Everything is Online – Interview with John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems.
- Of Google, the Internet, and Outer Space – Interview with Vinton Cerf, VP and Chief Internet Evangelist at Google.
- Don’t Shut Down the Internet, Prosecute the Criminals – Interview with Lawrence Lessig, professor of law at Harvard Law School.
- The Need for 3G is Debatable – Interview with Sebastiano Tevarotto, VP & GM of Communications, HP.
- Not Every New Technology is a New Market – Interview with Georg Serentschy, CEO of RTR-GmbH, the Austrian Broadcasting and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.
Interview – Vinton Cerf
2000-2007
Other
Reporter for the Bulgarian National Television (2001-2002) and Radio Tangra (2002-2003).
Consultant/analyst on IT, telecom regulation and new media for a number of projects, including the e-Bulgaria 2005 & 2006 reports and FISTERA Technology and Innovation Foresight for Bulgaria and Romania (ForeTech).
