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Student Profiles

Current Students

Mariana Abril Mariana is a student in the accelerated BA/MS program in Sociology at Hunter College. She earned her Associate of Arts in Sociology from Borough of Manhattan Community College, where she developed a strong interest in social research and community engagement. Originally from Guatemala, her experiences as an immigrant have shaped both her academic journey and personal values.

Mariana’s research interests focus on consumer behavior, immigration, and the influence of social media on young adults. She is particularly interested in how social media influencers shape the purchasing habits of college students and how digital culture impacts identity formation. She enjoys working with both qualitative and quantitative data to better understand the social issues that affect marginalized communities.

In addition to her studies, she works as a bilingual case worker at Queens Community House, where she supports older adults in navigating resources and services. This experience has reinforced her commitment to applied sociology and social justice, allowing her to see firsthand how research can inform meaningful change in people’s lives.

Her long term goal is to pursue a career that combines research, advocacy, and program development to support immigrant communities and improve public understanding through data driven solutions.

William Akunevicz is a graduate student pursuing an MS in Applied Digital Sociology at Hunter College, from which he also received his BA degree with a triple major in Sociology, Political Science, and Urban Studies, along with a certificate in Public Policy. Passionate about using data and research to drive change, especially in the realms of transportation, land use, and LGBTQ+ rights policy, he aspires to build a career as a policy analyst and work in the intersection of digital tools and public policy to create a more just and equitable city for New Yorkers. He has gained hands-on experience with applying digital tools towards helping New Yorkers by interning at the NYC Mayor’s Office Public Engagement Unit. He has also interned for the nonprofit organization ERASE Racism, working on research and policy projects related to housing and educational discrimination on Long Island.

Nico Castilho is a first-year student in the Applied Digital Sociology program, returning to Hunter College after earning their Bachelor’s in Sociology in 2024. Their interests lie in political sociology, and their previous work includes a comparative study of the responses to far-right populism in the USA, Brazil, and interwar Germany. Nico has also analyzed online discourse on welcoming less-than-progressive individuals into leftist spaces as a means of outreach. During the gap year between graduating and beginning the Applied Digital Sociology program, they kept busy learning R for data analysis, studying UX research, and canvassing for a charismatic mayoral candidate.

Beth Emanuel Beth previously earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She currently works as an HR Analyst.

Margelys Garcia

Margelys is currently a graduate student in the Applied Digital Sociology program at Hunter College, where she explores the intersection of technology, mental health, and entrepreneurship. Her research focuses on how small business owners—particularly women and people of color—navigate mental health challenges in the digital age. She’s passionate about combining qualitative and quantitative research methods to understand how digital platforms impact well-being, self-perception, and economic opportunity.

Outside of academics, she runs a small beauty business specializing in lash extensions and brow services, where she integrates insights from digital sociology to improve client experience and build a strong online presence. Her long-term goal is to develop tech-based solutions that support mental health and business sustainability for underrepresented entrepreneurs.

When she’s not studying or working, you can find her at the gym, traveling, or experimenting with creative content for social media.

Nneka Hyman Nneka is a UX Researcher with over four years of experience leading research in the tech industry, focusing on AI-integrated productivity tools. Her background includes mixed-methods research, rapid evaluative testing, and foundational studies that inform product strategy across both consumer tech and in-store retail innovation.

She joined the MS in Digital Sociology program to deepen her understanding of the social and structural forces that shape how people interact with emerging technologies. In her UX research work, she has repeatedly observed a recurring theme: distrust in AI technologies. Whether concerns stem from lack of transparency, perceived bias, or fears of automation, she’s become increasingly interested in how identity, behavior, and social context shape trust—or mistrust—in technology. She hopes to gain the theoretical and analytical tools to better explore these dynamics and bring a more critical, grounded perspective to product development.

Through this program, she aims to bridge sociological theory with industry practice to help build technologies that are not only innovative, but also socially responsible.

Outside of work and school, she enjoys cooking, traveling, and spending time with her dog, Sharon. She’s also exploring experimental technologies like web3 and participates in Professor Korpan’s TIER Robotics Lab.

Paul Kamuf Paul holds a degree from Brown University and has taught at Columbia University and Pratt Institute among others. His research interests center around the impact of new technologies on workers and the workplace. In particular the idea that software isn't just code, it is people. These people are having a profound effect on our environment and understanding this influence is a key to change.

Paul’s academic interests are shaped by his professional background as an award-winning animator, designer and director who worked with clients such as Jenny Holzer Studio, The Wall Street Journal and Marc Jacobs. Driven by new ideas and original concepts, Paul uses his passion for conceptual thinking, design, and creative problem solving to develop new research and explore new ways of seeing existing questions.

He returned to graduate study to train a new sociological lens on the concepts he has worked with throughout his career: technology, labor, and communication. Paul brings a strong foundation in conceptual thinking, design, and problem-solving to his research, along with a drive to reimagine the future of work in a technologically mediated world.

Massiel Rodriguez Massiel is a first generation, Dominican-American student. Her Sociological interests are Quantitative Methodology, Intersectionality, Political Sociology, and the Sociology of Advertising. Outside of the program, she enjoys petting cats, exploring new nature spots, volunteering at a food pantry, and discovering good cafes!

Alumni

Tunde Adebowale Tunde is a recent graduate of the M.S. in Applied Digital Sociology program at Hunter College (Fall 2024), where he specialized in social research, program evaluation, and policy writing. The program enhanced his skills in both qualitative and quantitative analysis, including bivariate and multivariate regression using statistical software tools like Stata®, R-studio, and QGIS for mapping, and taught me to craft research-driven reports and policy papers for diverse audiences—ranging from academic stakeholders to community organizations and policymakers.

His research paper employed multivariate OLS regression on GSS 2022 data to examine how political affiliation, race, and perceived immigrant criminality predict attitudes toward public-funded healthcare access for noncitizens. Findings emphasized how conservative ideology and racialized perceptions affect public policy views and underscored the importance of intersectional, evidence-based reform.

At Catholic Charities Community Services, he supported case management, housing services, and employment programs for immigrant and refugee clients as a Community Engagement Specialist. He also designed and analyzed surveys using Google Qualtrics, expanding my understanding of digital media (WhatsApp) and health access within immigrant communities.

Currently, he’s seeking full-time roles in social services, public health, or nonprofit leadership.

Outside of work, he enjoys keeping fit, photography, and music, and remains active in advocacy and community engagement efforts.

Cara Polte

Cara is an alum (Fall 2023) of the BA/MS program in sociology and applied digital sociology at Hunter College. While in the program, she participated in a collaborative qualitative research study analyzing the ways in which we can combat far-right extremism and white supremacy. She helped conduct over 25 interviews with a focus on white families’ roles in reinforcing and maintaining white supremacy. She was particularly interested in understanding the ways white women have weaponized their whiteness as a tool to oppress people of color. Her work in the program extended the previous scholarship concerning white women, white supremacy, and the far-right, and how each of these intersects and impacts marginalized communities.

Since graduating, Cara has become increasingly involved with community organizing. She serves as a leader of the tenant organizing committee for her tenant union association. The organizing committee is in the process of obtaining a preservation purchase with the city to convert her building and two others on her block into community land trusts (CLT). CLTs are one way tenants can combat the housing crisis and bring permanently affordable housing into working class neighborhoods. As of this year (2025), the tenants of her tenant union association have successfully evicted their landlord (who was also named on the city’s Public Advocate’s 100 worst landlords list) and have acquired a preservation partner.

Professionally, Cara works as an adjunct lecturer and office assistant for the sociology department at Hunter College where she teaches courses on sociology, gender, and sexuality.