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Anushka Shah works as a researcher at the Center for Civic Media, MIT Media Lab. She is also the founder of Civic Studios, a Mumbai-based production firm.
At the MIT Media Lab, Anushka works on a project called Civic Entertainment that explores the intersection of civic participation with film, television, radio, theatre and digital entertainment. The project focuses on researching the media effects of fiction towards thought and behavior change, explores how methods of social change available to citizens can be best represented in entertainment media, and investigates the representation of protest and activism in current popular culture.
Her production firm, Civic Studios focuses on creating such civic entertainment content for Indian audiences. The aim of the content is to empower audiences by addressing the lack of trust in public institutions, knowledge of government and democratic systems, and the low self-efficacy in affecting change as a citizen.
In addition to the above, she also works on another project at the Lab called Media Cloud. This is an open-source news analysis platform developed by MIT and Harvard that allows you to explore the attention, influence, and framing of issues in the media.
Originally from Mumbai, India, Anushka divides her time between Mumbai and Boston. She has a background in applied statistics and digital text analysis, and has also previously worked with non-profits and political parties in India.