Hello, world! I’m Jana (pronounced /dʒænə/): a PhD student in Information Science at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), where I’m co-advised by Ted Underwood and Zoe LeBlanc.
As a computational social scientist, I leverage computational research methods to generate evidence-based insights on socially important trends and issues. Much of the time, my work is in natural language processing and cultural analytics.
I’m an award-winning scholar whose research has been federally funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) since 2019, when I was earning a Master’s degree at McGill University.
I’m the founder of Women of Letters, an initiative that’s creating spaces for women’s stories to be seen, celebrated, and shared.
I’m the developer of Airtime, an open source Python-based project management tool that uses natural language processing to help foster more genuinely collaborative work environments.
I’m co-authoring a book with Miranda Dunham-Hickman that will be published by Routledge.
As a Croatian-Canadian studying in the U.S., I divide my time among the three countries. You can get in touch with me here and learn more about the kinds of projects I’m interested in taking on here.
News and updates:
March 2024: Successfully passed my doctoral field exam
January 2024: Launched an experiment in open-invitation office hours
November 2023: Invited to give a talk on the discovery mechanisms of nascent social networks as part of the Fall 2023 Research Colloquium at the UIUC School of Information Sciences
November 2023: Wrapped up the inaugural season of Women of Letters
November 2023: Published a co-authored pre-registration for a current project on measures of textual innovation
October 2023: Featured in an article published by the UIUC Graduate College
October 2023: Co-presented a study on sense of belonging among UIUC students at the Dennis H. May Diversity Conference together with Beth Hoag and Ryan Young
September 2023: Featured in an article published by the Princeton Research Computing Center
August 2023: Started working as a Data Analyst Intern for the UIUC office of Student Affairs
July 2023: Published Airtime, an open source Python-based project management tool
July 2023: Awarded sponsorship to attend a week-long software engineering bootcamp at Princeton University
June 2023: Overseas for the month (🇭🇷+🇧🇦+🇮🇹)
June 2023: Published our first Women of Letters interview
Apr. 2023: Awarded a Fall 2023 Career Exploration Fellowship from the University of Illinois Graduate College
Apr. 2023: Featured in an interview with the McGill Faculty of Arts
Mar. 2023: Selected as a mentee for the Bayer Crop Science University Mentoring Program
Feb. 2023: Launched the website for Women of Letters
Jan. 2023: Awarded a Graduate Scholarship from the University of Illinois
Jan. 2023: Published Context is king: A prediction about the future of ChatGPT and other AI chatbots
Nov. 2022: Signed a book contract with Routledge
Oct. 2022: Published a pre-registration for a current project on scholarly writing in the humanities
Sep. 2022: Awarded a Graduate Scholarship from the University of Illinois
May 2022: Featured in an article published by the UIUC School of Information Sciences
May 2022: Published a co-authored white paper with the Community Data Clinic
Feb. 2022: Awarded a Lucile Huntington Wilkinson Memorial Scholarship from the University of Illinois