Degrees prior to starting this degree program:

BA (Russian Language and Literature), Reed College, 2016

MPhil (Social Anthropology), University of Cambridge, 2020

Areas of Interest:

Migration, Settler Colonialism & Imperialism, Indigeneity, Digital Transformation, Americas

Field Research Plans/History:

Orla's research focuses on the role and risks of digital technology in the context of Latin American migration. She focuses on the ways that people on the move use digital technologies to navigate diverse terrain, and she focuses on the oral and visual cultures that emerge in transit. Orla is interested in investigating the political economies shaping digital development as it relates to human rights and migration in Latin America and the United States: how the value chains of digital development engage in prospecting and extraction, e.g., the mining and brokerage of data, that affect the safety of people on the move, people defending them, and people reporting their stories.