Philosophy and ethics of communication in digital media Posthumanism and human-technology boundaries Generative AI and media ethics
Dr. J.J. Sylvia IV (John J. Sylvia IV) is an Associate Professor of Communications Media at Fitchburg State University, where he co-founded an undergraduate major in Digital Media Innovation and a Master's in Applied Communication, Social Media . He joined the Communications Media Department in 2017 . His research explores the philosophy and ethics of communication, focusing on how media and technology shape human identity, communication, and society . Using the framework of posthumanism, he investigates how the media we use contribute to our construction as subjects and our understanding of what it means to be human . He studies how platforms such as LiveJournal became tools of disinformation, how generative AI is transforming professional practice and media ethics, and how posthuman theory helps us understand the blurred boundaries between humans and technologies . Dr. Sylvia's recent projects include a book on LiveJournal and Russian disinformation, research on anti-fascist platform design rooted in fieldwork on Italian resistance movements, and rhetorical investigations of truth and democracy through immersive study in Greece . Other projects investigate the use of virtual reality to foster empathy around racial microaggressions and the development of open-access resources that examine the social impacts of data and communication technologies .
