Brian Hughes

Dr. Brian Hughes is the co-founder and Associate Director at PERIL. Dr. Hughes is a research assistant professor in the Department of Justice, Law, and Criminology in AU’s School of Public Affairs. Within PERIL, he founded the Extremism Research and Intervention Studio (ERIS), which produces groundbreaking, cutting-edge solutions to polarization and extremism in the digital sphere through the use of short-form video and other tools. His scholarly work explores the impact of communication technology on political and religious extremism, terrorism and fringe culture. This work looks to identify the social and emotional conditions common to extremists of differing ideologies, cultures, times, and places. His writing has appeared in the CTC Sentinel at West Point, the International Journal of Communication, CNN, and the Center for Analysis of the Radical Right. Dr. Hughes is a Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Entrepreneur and earned his doctorate in media and communication studies at American University’s School of Communication, with a focus on the affordances of new media and the manifestos of lone actor terrorists.