Elia is a doctoral student of Communication and Rhetoric in the Department of Language,
Literature, and Communication at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Her research interests include narratives of cultural change and design, the relationship between narrative and identity, social technologies, affective objects, value sensitive design, and the participation
of children in design. With undergraduate and master's degrees in physics, and experience in
secondary education, Elia works toward interdisciplinary application and social relevance in the fields of human-computer interactions and digital rhetoric.

Elia's dissertation research is an exploration of the ways in which technology does and could
mediate peer teaching of wisdom and related concepts among children and adolescents, in both formal and informal learning contexts. Drawing on a variety of research methods, from
ethnographic observations to the teachers-as-researchers paradigm to laboratory studies, this work aims to contribute to an already existing body of knowledge on folk theories of wisdom and also contribute design principles that can guide technology development.