Max Erdemandi

Max Erdemandi is pursuing a Ph.D. in Communication with a specialization in Communication Science and Social Cognition at the University of Maryland. Max is broadly interested in the underlying communicative and cognitive processes that facilitate intercultural contact through state-sponsored cross-cultural communication, including cultural and educational exchange, public diplomacy, and foreign policy. In this paradigm, his research explores the individual and social outcomes of immersive intercultural experiences such as identity formation and cultural knowledge and narratives; influence and messaging, particularly prejudice and dis/misinformation that could emerge in religious, sociocultural, and political domains of knowledge during intercultural contact; and how combinations of these dynamics could mitigate exposure to radical/extremist narratives, relationships, and ideologies among individuals from different backgrounds. In approaching these topics, Max has a strong preference for quantitative methods.