While all Laidlaw Scholars will be presenting their research at the Columbia Undergraduate Research Symposium in the fall, what are the more immediate expectations that you have for your research? Are you writing a paper? Will your research be part of a larger scientific study? Do you hope to produce an annotated bibliography that you reflect on down the line? Is your research now the first phase of a project you’ll continue to work on throughout the year and/or next summer? Now that we are nearing the one-month mark of the program, please write about your expectations for your research.
As we approach the one-month mark of the program, my expectations for this research have continued to evolve. I'm excited to produce both an annotated bibliography and a substantial research paper. The bibliography has already become an important resource, allowing me to track and synthesize a growing body of scholarship, journalism, and public discourse surrounding life before the Internet and the social consequences of digital technology.
The paper itself is still taking shape, which is one of the most exciting aspects of the project. Because the research touches so many areas of contemporary life, there are numerous directions it could take. I have become increasingly interested in the sociological effects of screens and digital media, particularly the ways they may contribute to social disconnection, reduced face-to-face communication, and what many have described as a growing loneliness epidemic. At the same time, I have found myself thinking about technology through an economic lens. For example, it is striking that products marketed as "dumb phones" or tools for digital minimalism are often expensive consumer goods themselves, raising questions about capitalism, accessibility, and the commodification of disconnection.
Another area that continues to fascinate me is the disappearance of analog practices and technologies that were once central to everyday life. Letter writing, home phones, paper maps, printed directories, and other non-digital forms of communication and navigation are increasingly unfamiliar to younger generations. Documenting these practices feels important not only as historical research but also as a way of understanding what has been lost, transformed, or preserved during the digital transition.
This research is also only the first phase of a larger project. While some aspects of the work are still developing and somewhat confidential in nature, I anticipate continuing to build on these questions throughout the coming academic year and potentially beyond. The more I research, the more I realize how many unanswered questions remain.
Why does your research matter? Explain the significance of the question you are investigating and why you are interested in it.
This research matters because digital technology has become so deeply embedded in modern life that it is increasingly difficult to imagine alternatives. As someone who grew up alongside the rapid expansion of digital technology, I have witnessed this transformation firsthand. I remember when my family replaced a box television with a flat-screen TV and when I received my first tablet. Those moments do not feel particularly distant to me, yet they already seem to belong to a different era. Today, smartphones, social media, algorithms, and artificial intelligence shape how we communicate, learn, navigate, work, and socialize.
My interest in this topic became even more personal at the start of the Laidlaw program. On the first day, I accidentally put my phone through the washing machine and spent roughly a week and a half without it. What began as an inconvenience quickly became a revealing social experiment. In an instant, I lost easy access to my family and friends, navigation tools, digital payments, social media, music, and many of the systems that structure everyday life. I found myself carrying an iPad around campus, getting lost regularly, relying on email for communication, and struggling to perform tasks that had once felt effortless.
What surprised me most was not simply the inconvenience, but the extent to which modern life assumes constant technological connectivity. The experience forced me to stop imagining what a technology-free life might look like and start living it. While it was often frustrating, it also highlighted how dependent many of us have become on digital systems and raised important questions about resilience, community, and what forms of human interaction may have been altered by technology.
Ultimately, this research seeks to better understand one of the defining social transformations of our time. By examining life before the Internet and comparing it to contemporary digital culture, I hope to contribute to broader conversations about technology, community, memory, and the future of human connection.