Katherine Murray

Katherine J. Murray is a PhD student in the Department of Communication at Stanford University. Her research interests lie at the intersection of society and digital media, and she is particularly interested in the variety of ways that organizations incorporate tools such as the Internet to engage their constituencies. Kat currently serves as a graduate research assistant for the Center for Deliberative Democracy and the Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society, where she works on the Time Study project which looks at the evolution of the use of networked technologies in Americans’ lives.

Kat completed her undergraduate education with highest and special honors from the Plan II Honors Program at The University of Texas at Austin where she concentrated in sociology and German. Her undergraduate thesis looked at the role that influences such as peers, parents, schools, religious organizations, and the media play in teens' understanding of sexual health information.

Kat completed an MA in Communication, Culture, and Technology at Georgetown University where her thesis, New Media Campaign Techniques & Young Voter Engagement, received honors distinction. While a graduate student, Kat also served as a research assistant for the Children's Digital Media Center, which conducts research on how traditional and new media are affecting children's lives and education.

Kat has also worked in marketing roles and as a usability specialist for Trilogy, an enterprise software company based in Austin, and for eBay.com; and in higher education as the Director of the Archer Center, the DC-based academic center for the University of Texas System.