Dmitry Epstein

My name is Dmitry Epstein, but many know me as Dima. I am a doctoral student in the Department of Communication at Cornell University. My research interests focus on new media and society, particularly on social analysis of international telecommunication policy. My dissertation project focuses on how the internet, and more broadly communication as social practice, is conceptualized throughout the debates about Internet Governance. I am trying to explain it using the Structuration Theory and through developing a concept of the “duality of policymaking.” I am also interested in what is labeled as the “digital divide” or “digital inclusion” with focus on developing countries. Other research projects I am involved in, deal with the discourse developing in the “new” media (i.e. blogs, wikis) and the role of technology in its mediation. You are invited to browse the “Research” page for additional information about my research interests. In a not too distant future, I hope to make some of my papers available there as well.

I enjoy exploring new intellectual frontiers and expose myself to various schools of thought. Currently, I am a research fellow at the Information + Innovation Research Centre at the Lee Kuan Yeu School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. Previously, I spent a summer working with in the Internet and Democracy project of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard and I have also participated in the Diplo Foundation Internet Governance Capacity Building Programme. Prior to that I had a chance to work with a consulting firm in Washington, DC and in a Venture Capital during the merry times of the late 1990’s. I am still getting occasionally involved in consulting projects related to telecommunication policy and research.

Other than academia I am interested in social entrepreneurship with particular focus on youth and am trying to follow youth enterprises aimed at “doing well while doing good.” You are invited to browse the “Projects” page for more information on some of my past and ongoing projects that are not necessarily research related. For a more formal CV, you can visit my LinkedIn profile or download a PDF version for further details about publications and conference presentations.

I am still updating this website, so, please, come back for more information.

The blog here is used for thoughts on media, technology and society. Basically I set it to put my thoughts to discussion. Following an old Russian saying about “truth being born in an argument”, I hope to learn and contribute to the brainstorming…