Research Innovation Fund

Research Projects

UNHATE! Documentary Film

Team: Anatoli Ulyanov

Drawing from ISH-funded research on discourse, polarization, and reconciliation, UNHATE! Is a documentary film project that will feature scholars, policy experts, community leaders, and former affiliates of hate groups who have undergone personal transformation.

Who Lies? – Comparing Common Survey Techniques for Eliciting Truthful Responses on Sensitive Topics

Team: Connor Warshauer, Clayton Becker

This project addresses the concern that survey participants in studies on hateful attitudes may not be truthful when they know such attitudes are socially undesirable, and will pilot an original technique to elicit truthful responses.

From Correction to Compassion: Rethinking Anti-Hate Interventions with Reflective AI

Team: Cesi Cruz, PhD

This project introduces Usap Tayo, an AI chatbot designed to reduce the appeal of polarizing, hate-based content through identity-aware, compassionate dialogue. Rather than correcting users, the chatbot uses large language models (LLMs) to prompt reflection, encourage perspective-taking, and support relational processing.

Indigenous Dance in Prisons as an Anti-Hate, Compassion, and Kindness Intervention

Team: Tria Blu Wakpa, PhD

Based on interviews and surveys with Native American and Native Hawaiian experts, this project will delineate the histories, meanings, and intersections of Native American and Native Hawaiian dances and ceremonies in carceral facilities and illuminate how Indigenous people today are working to transform the US prison system through kindness and compassion.

Cross-cultural Effects of AI Counterspeech on Prosociality

Team: Saadia Gabriel, PhD, Ashima Suvarna

This global longitudinal study studies the effectiveness of AI generated counterspeech to scalably encourage prosociality across cultures.

Sanas’s AI White Voice: Automated Accent Neutralization for Call Center Workers

Team: Sierra Talbert, Noopur Raval, PhD

This project conducts a sociotechnical analysis of Sanas.ai, a real-time accent conversion software that alters call center workers’ voices to sound white and American, examining its public messaging, technical infrastructure, and broader social implications through discourse analysis, technical inquiry, and interviews with developers and workers.

Combating negative psychosocial outcomes of anti-Asian hate within Asian American emerging adults: Effects of ethnic studies courses on racial trauma and internalized racism

Team: Ryan Horio, Michele Wong, PhD, Cindy Cruz Sangalang, PhD

The project investigates how Asian American Studies courses can serve as an intervention to mitigate the negative psychological effects— such as racial trauma and internalized racism— that result from racially motivated, hate-based attacks.