Marya T. Mtshali

Marya’s areas of expertise include intersectional theory, racial and gender inequality, internet disinformation and African-American political engagement. As a postdoctoral fellow, her current research focuses on the impact of online political misinformation within African-American communities. The project focuses on two central issues, with the first dealing with social epistemology and understanding how African-Americans engage with online political misinformation and how “truth” is ascertained. Secondly, how does the exposure to, and, in some cases, deep engagement in online communities of misinformation, correlate with perceptions about the integrity of America’s democracy, the two main political parties, and the importance of voting? Furthermore, this research involves illuminating the gendered dynamics and patterns in regard to both of these issues. Additionally, I am assisting in guiding research on the Digital Internet Governance Initiative (DIGI), a joint initiative of the Shorenstein and Belfer Centers to convene a range of stakeholders across government, business, and civil society to address the growing public concerns about digital platforms. I am also currently working on her book manuscript for “Gray Matter: Racialized Heteronormativies in the World of Black-White Interracial Couples,” where I investigate what I refer to as “racialized heterosexual paradigms” — mental frameworks that are constituted of race, gender, and heterosexual logics that shape the language, relational boundaries, and management strategies these couples use to maintain an intimate relationship across race.