Regular biography
Fotini Christia is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She holds the Ford International Professor of the Social Sciences and is also a Professor of Political Science. Her research interests include data, systems, and society, as well as interdisciplinary work at the intersection of engineering and social sciences. Christia's profile page indicates her affiliation with the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society. She can be contacted via email at cfotini@mit.edu or through her website at http://fotini.mit.edu.
Scholar-generated biography
Fotini Christia Ford is the International Professor of the Social Sciences at MIT, specializing in the Civil War, Political Economy of Development, and Computation. Her research explores the intersection of conflict, development, and technology, with a focus on how development programs can counter insurgencies and empower marginalized groups. She has conducted field experiments in Afghanistan, examining the impact of aid, women's empowerment, and community policing. Her work also addresses the role of computation in mitigating biased AI and understanding civil war dynamics, including the Syrian conflict. Christia's research integrates experimental methods with political economy to analyze conflict and development outcomes.