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I am a new media artist, interdisciplinary researcher, and Associate Professor of Digital Media Design at the University of Virginia (UVA).

My research trajectory involves exploring the confluence of media technologies, art, and culture, reflecting on the impact of emerging media on personal, political, and creative expression, and experimenting with affordances of such media for artistic practices of performance and installation. Currently, I’m researching representational, affective, and creative possibilities of immersive media, and designing experimental and performative experiences in Virtual Reality (VR/360). One of my newest projects is in collaboration with music prof Luke Dahl where we will be exploring how motion capture, spatial audio, and interactive XR environments can represent and transmit embodied cultural practices. 

I’m committed to transdisciplinary and collaborative modes of scholarship; my work has thrived in programs such as Virtual and Augmented Reality for the Digital Humanities Institute (V/AR-DHI), Digital Societies and Social Technologies Institute (DSST), Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Advanced Collaboratory Scholars (HASTAC). I regularly present my research at national and international conferences and have published in journals such as New Media & Society, The Communication Review, Journal of Dance Education, Media and Communication.

My research/practice is fundamentally hybrid and is informed by my background in art, design, technology, and media studies. I design projection design, projection mapping, interactive media installations for traditional theatre, immersive theatre, and live performance. I’m a member of DWZ, a Dallas-based collective dedicated to post-disciplinary, place-based explorations of new, old and yet to be revealed forms of performance. My artwork has been exhibited in galleries and online exhibitions, and I’ve juried, curated, and programmed for various film festivals and art exhibitions. In 2016, I served as Conference Chair at ACM SIGGRAPH, undertaking an engaged role in the strategic planning, leading, and managing of the world’s largest, most influential annual conference on the theory and practice of computer graphics and interactive techniques.

At the University of Virginia, I lecture and teach courses on new media art, projection design, integrated interactive media, and immersive media (VR/360). I’m currently a faculty fellow at New College Curriculum and the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities (IATH) at UVA.

I was born in Tehran, Iran. I hold a Ph.D. in Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication from the University of Texas-Dallas, an M.F.A. in Video/Digital Art from California State University Northridge, and a B.A. in Graphic Design and Visual Communication from the Art University of Tehran.