Max Erdemandi

Max Erdemandi is a dual PhD/MS candidate in Communication Science & Social Cognition
(PhD), and Quantitative Methodology: Measurement and Statistics (MS). Grounded in social
identity, intergroup, and media theories, Max’s research explores the cognitive, affective, and
communicative processes that underlie belief in misinformation, conspiracy theories, and
extremist ideologies. He is also interested in theory-driven approaches to psychometric
problems impacting data measurement and modeling in the extreme beliefs space. In addition,
he is a researcher at the Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Computational Social Science (iLCSS)
and Center for Risk and Health Communication (CHRC), and an affiliate at at the UMD-based
National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START).

A first generation student, Max holds an M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from Duke University
(2014), and a B.A. in American and Cultural Studies from Hacettepe University (2012). He is
also a former U.S. Department of State Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (KLYES)
fellow. Before his doctoral studies, Max worked as a Sr. Faculty Specialist and an Associate in
Research at Duke University’s Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) and UMD’s START
conducting federally-funded research on international security, violence and conflict, and
preventing and countering extremism and terrorism. He has bilingual fluency in Turkish, and
limited working proficiency in French, German, and Italian.