Jose Marichal, Ph.D.
Professor of Political Science
marichal@callutheran.edu
(805) 493-3328
Swenson 228
About
I am a professor of political science at California Lutheran University. I specialize in studying the role that algorithms and AI play in restructuring social and political institutions. I am currently writing a book entitled "You Must Become an Algorithmic Problem" that will come out in 2025 with Bristol University Press (UK). The book explores the unwritten social contract we have with the algorithms that shape what we see, hear and think. I have a number of projects with collaborators looking at how social media shapes political discourse. My next project is entitled "Machine Liberalism." It looks at how algorithms and AI are changing our expectations of liberal democracy.
Education
- B.S., Florida State University
- M.S., Florida Atlantic University
- Ph.D., University of Colorado, Boulder
Expertise
Courses I Teach (or Have Taught)
Technology and Politics
Social Media and Politics
Social Media as Data - Intro to Natural Language Processing and Network Analysis
Scope and Methods of Political Science
Race, Multiculturalism and Politics
Contemporary Issues in Public Policy
Modern Political Thought
American Political Thought
Introduction to Political Science
The Politics of Community Development
Seminar in Citizenship and Civic Engagement
Publications
Books
2012. Facebook Democracy: The Architecture of Disclosure and the Threat to Public Life. Routledge.
Affiliations
Affiliated Faculty | Center for Information, Technology and Public Life | UNC-Chapel Hill
Contributor | Tech Policy Press
Scholarly Articles
Forthcoming. Data Rights Reconsidered: Reimagining Digital Freedom through Lefebvre's Right to the City. Communication +1.
2024. Why Do Some Shout and Others Stay Silent? Communication Context Consistency in Political Discourse Offline and on Facebook" International Journal of Communication with Don Waisenan and Carrie Anne Platt.
2010. "Will this Engagement Make it to the Alter? The Paradox of Diversity and Civic Engagement." The Journal of Public Deliberation. Volume VI, Issue 2. p. 142-162.
2000. Reprinted in: Wilbur Rich (ed.) The Economics and Politics of Sports Facilities. Westport, Connecticut: Quorum Books.
Book Chapters
Forthcoming. AI's Algorithmic Re-Enchantment of the World and its Socio-Political Prospects. Religion and AI: Theoretical and Empirical Approaches (Bloomsbury Publishing)
2013. "Facebook's Imact on American Politics" in D. Hartman and C. Uggen eds. The Social Side of Politics W.W. Norton Press.
Articles and Essays
2024. "Is TikTok an Early Casualty of the China-US AI "Cold War"?" Tech Policy Press
2023. Strategic Vexing to Prepare Students for the Age of AI. (London) Times Higher Education.
2023. The Real Danger of AI. Democracy Paradox.
2022. Trust and Algorithm or Trust your Neighbor? New_Public
2021. "Teaching Students to Make Good Choices in an Algorithm-Driven World. EdSurge.
2021. "Why the Instaspinions on Finstagate"? Tech Policy Press.
2019. Is Facebook a Community? Digital Experts Weigh In. Just Security.
2019. Teaching what I do not Know. VC Reporter.
2018. My Concern with John Lott's Arizona Study. Latino Decisions.
2018. "Learning from the world’s Facebook experiment," AAPS Forum.
2018. "Overcoming our Fake News Moment," Los Angeles Daily News.
2018. My Concerns with John Lott's Arizona Study. Latino Decisions.
2015. "The Debates Should Be a TV Mini-Series Instead of a Marathon," New York Times.
Presentations
2025. Invited Participant: Conference on World Affairs. University of Colorado-Boulder.
2021. “Fracking Twitter: Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing Tools for the Identification of Coalition and Causal Narratives”. With Will Cipolli and Jose Marichal. Presented at the Midwest Political Science Annual Conference. Chicago, IL. April 9, 2022.
2019. Topic Modeling Trump Tweets: A Computational Grounded Theory Approach to Understanding Social Media Political Talk. Presented at the 2019 Western Political Science Association Annual Conference. San Diego, CA. April 19-22.
2019. Fracking Twitter: Applying the Narrative Policy Framework to fracking debates in New York. Presented at the 2019 Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference. Chicago, IL. April 4-7. With Andy Pattison and William Cipioli.
2018. Factory Farmed Citizens: Social Media, the Public Sphere and Algorithmic Obligation. Presented at the Eight Annual International Symposium on Digital Ethics at Loyola University. Chicago, IL. November 9, 2018. With Brian Collins and Richard Neve.
2018. Antagonistic Bias: Developing a Typology of Agonistic Talk on Twitter Using Gun Control Networks. Presented at the 2018 Western Political Science Assocation Annual Conference. San Francisco, CA. April 14-16. With Richard Neve.
2018. The Role of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence in Democratic Life. Invited Talk at Whitman College. Walla Walla, Washington. April 23, 2018.
2017. A Social network Analysis of the Resistance Twitter Ecology. Presented at the 2017 APSA Political Neworks Conference. Columbus, OH. June 14-16. With Ryan Mundy and Jack Rockwood.
2015. Microactivism: Explaining the Determinants of Effective Campaigns through Social Media Ecologies. Presented at the 2015 Western Political Science Association Annual Conference. Las Vegas, NV. April 2-4.
2014. Civic Hacking, Place Based Social Networks and Urban Power. Presented at the 2014 Western Political Science Assocation Annual Conference. Seattle, WA. April 17-19.
2013. Roundtable: Public Intellectualism: Academics who Engage in Real-Time Politics Through New Media. Presented at the 2014 Western Political Science Assocation Annual Conference. Hollywood, CA. April 17-19.
2012. Latino Participation Dynamics in the 2011 Occupy Wall Street Movement. Presented at the 2012 Western Political Science Association Annual Conference. Portland, OR. March 22-24, 2012.
2011. Bringing the Blogosphere into the Classroom: Strategies for Incorporating External Discourses. Presented at the 2011 American Sociological Association Annual Conference. Las Vegas, NV. August 22, 2011.
2011. The Role of Digital Skills in the Formation of Trust and Efficacy Among Latinos. Presented at the 2011 Western Political Science Association Annual Conference. San Antonio, TX. April 23, 2011. With Jessica Lavariega Monforti.
2010. "Political Facebok Groups: Microactivism and the Digital Front Stage." Presented and the Oxford Internet Institute's Internet, Poltics, Policy: an Impact Assessment Conference. Oxford, England. September 16-17, 2010.
2010. "Red State, Red Blog, Blue State, Blue Blog?" with Ryan Kushigemachi. Presented at the 2010 Western Political Science Association Annual Conference. San Francisco, CA. March 31, 2010.
2010. Citizenship in the Cloud: Exploring Civic Obligations in Web 2.0 Space. Presented at the 2010 Western Political Science Association Annual Conference. San Francisco, CA. April 1, 2010.
2009. CyberPower: Social Production and Urban Politics. Presented at the 2009 American Sociological Association Annual Conference. San Francisco, CA. August 10, 2009.
2008. "Diversity in the Cloud." Keynote Talk at the 2008 Association of Lutheran College Faculty Annual Conference. Decorah, IA. June 30.
2007. “Improving HIV Prevention and Care for Ventura County Latinos: A Case Study of Community-Based Action Research” with Adina Nack. Presented as part of the CLU Center for Leadership and Values Alma Peterson Distinguished lecture Series. May 3, 2007 and as part of the Social for the Study of Social Problems Annual Conference. New York, New York. August 10.
2007. “Youth Civic Engagement: Diversifying Neighborhood Councils in Los Angeles” with Haco Hoang. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Urban Affairs Association, Westin Hotel, Seattle, Washington. April 23.
2006. “Creating Cross-Culturally Engaged Citizens: The Challenge and Opportunities for Lutheran Higher Learning.” presented at the 2006 Association of Lutheran College Faculty annual conference, Nelson Room, Thousand Oaks, CA. October 5.
2006. ”Boliamos Solos o Juntos? (Do we Bowl Alone or Together?): A Survey of Leadership Framings among Latino Youth.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Western Political Science Association, Hyatt Regency Albuquerque, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Mar 17. Also presented at the 2006. Segerhammer Faith and Life Conference. February 10, 2006.
2005. “When Does Gender fit into Diversity: Unpacking the Micropolitics of Diversity” Presented as part of the CLU Gender and Women’s Studies Speaker Series. March.
2005. “The Struggle Over "Scapes": Bringing Identity into Minority Incorporation Theory” Presented as part of the CLU Gender and Women’s Studies Speaker Series. March.
2005. Urban Affairs Association Annual Meeting. Salt Lake City, CA. 2004. “Governing Difference: The Role of Diversity Ecologies.” American Association of Colleges and Universities Diversity and Learning Conference. Nashville, TN. October 2004.