Aidan Z. Fitzsimons

Hi there! My name is Aidan, and I'm a Technology & Social Behavior Ph.D. student and Cognitive Science specialist at Northwestern University and a hopeful future academic. Before starting at Northwestern, I received a B.S. in Math and a B.A. in Public Policy from Duke University and stuck around for two extra years as a Predoctoral Fellow in AI Ethics and Policy.

I study intelligent coaching and co-writing tools to support adolescents' authentic reflective and personal narrative writing, drawing on human-computer interaction and narrative psychology to help coach emerging adults through self-concept development and build self-presentation skills. I also use the development of these tools as a petri dish to study behavioral and power dynamics in multi-stakeholder participatory design with community partners and students. In my dissertation work, I am attempting to collaboratively design creativity-inspiring intelligent user interfaces to support students in the college application essay-writing process with student applicants, nonprofit college access organizations, and university admissions offices.

At Northwestern, I am advised by Dr. Elizabeth Gerber as a member of the Delta Lab and by Dr. Duri Long as a member of the Creative Interfaces Research + Design Studio, working towards my Ph.D. in Technology & Social Behavior with additional specializations in Cognitive Science and Design Research. At Duke, I had the incredible opportunities to work closely with Dr. Nita Farahany in the Law School, the Department of Philosophy, and founding director of the Initiative for Science & Society, Sarah Rispin, J.D. in the Initiative for Science & Society, Dr. Jay Pearson in the Sanford School of Public Policy and the Global Health Institute, and Dr. Daniel Schmitt in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology and the Medical School.