Dr. Atwell studies how groups of individuals communicate and consume social information. At the root of society is the creation of broadly-shared understandings of the world, but many features of the modern social life present potential pitfalls for that creative process. Using simulations, large-group experiments, and natural language processing, Dr. Atwell analyzes how different dynamic social processes produce, distribute and aggregate the information necessary for large groups to create these essential shared understandings.