SCHOOL OF H&SS
PENN STATE BEHREND
170 KOCHEL CENTER
ERIE PA 16563
Biography
Tiffany Petricini is an associate teaching professor in Communication. She is co-chair of Penn State’s Joint Standing Committee on Responsible and Effective Use of Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education and leads the Behrend Ad Hoc AI Taskforce. She also leads the Penn State Artificial Intelligence Community of Practice (AICoP) and the Humanities Institute’s Phenomenology Collaborative Colloquia. Her Teaching with Technology Fellowship for 2024–2026 has focused on Penn State's new Beyond the Podium open education resource (OER) that embeds AI literacy within the communication basic course. Her publications have reflected interests in phenomenology, interpersonal communication, technology, philosophy, ethics, and media ecology, including her work Friendship and Technology, available through Routledge. She also serves as the social media expert for NBC affiliate WFMJ 21 News.
Research Interests
phenomenology, interpersonal communication, technology, philosophy, ethics, and media ecology
Publications
Books
Petricini, T. (2022). Friendship and Technology: A Philosophical Approach to Computer-Mediated Communication. Routledge.
Textbooks
Petricini, T., & Rice, S. (Eds.). (2025). Beyond the Podium: AI, Speech, and Civic Voice. Pressbooks.
Refereed Scholarly Journals
Petricini, T. (2025). The power of language: Framing AI as an assistant, collaborator, or transformative force in cultural discourse. AI & Society, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-025-02586-2
Petricini, T. (2025). Teaching at the speed of change: A communication instructor’s journey into AI literacy and ethical pedagogy. The Journal for Research and Practice in College Teaching, 10(2).
Rapanta, C., Bhatt, I., Bozkurt, A., Chubb, L. A., Erb, C., Forsler, I., … Jandrić, P. (2025). Critical GenAI literacy: Postdigital configurations. Postdigital Science and Education, 1–38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-025-00573-w
Petricini, T., Zipf, S., & Wu, C. (2025). Communicating academic honesty: Teacher messages and student perceptions about generative AI. Frontiers in Communication, 10, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1544430
Zipf, S., Wu, C., & Petricini, T. (2025). Using the information inequity framework to study GenAI equity: Analysis of educational perspectives. Information Research: An International Electronic Journal, 30(iConf), 533–547. https://doi.org/10.47989/ir30iConf47284
Petricini, T. (2025). The freedom to think otherwise: Dialogue with and about artificial intelligence in higher education. The Journal of Dialogic Ethics, 4(1), 28–46. https://doi.org/10.5840/jde2025413
Petricini, T. (2025). Media ecology in the postdigital condition. Postdigital Science and Education, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-025-00578-5
Petricini, T., Zipf, S., & Wu, C. (2024). Perceptions about generative AI and ChatGPT use by faculty and students. Transformative Dialogues: Teaching and Learning Journal, 17(2). https://doi.org/10.26209/td2024vol17iss21825
Cruz, L., Atterholt, R., Divens, T., Humphrey, J., Jewell, J., Petricini, T., Pettitt, A., & Shaffer, K. (2024). Fourth space: An autoethnography of a scholarship of teaching and learning micro-community. Transformative Dialogues: Teaching and Learning Journal, 17(2). https://doi.org/10.26209/td2024vol17iss21813
Petricini, T. (2024). Special issue introduction: AI and media ecology. Explorations in Media Ecology, 23(1), 93–103. https://doi.org/10.1386/eme_00198_2
Petricini, T. (2024). What would Aristotle do? Navigating generative artificial intelligence in higher education. Postdigital Science and Education, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-024-00463-7
Petricini, T. (2024). ChatGPT: Everything to everyone all at once. ETC: A Review of General Semantics, 80(3), 340–350.
Petricini, T. (2019). Explorations in the noosphere: Hermeneutic presence and hostility in cyberspace. Explorations in Media Ecology, 18(1–2), 57–71. https://doi.org/10.1386/eme.18.1-2.57_1
Petricini, T. (2017). Synchronic responsibility: A commentary on Walter J. Ong’s work on time consciousness. Explorations in Media Ecology, 16(2–3), 195–203. https://doi.org/10.1386/eme.16.2-3.195_1
Encyclopedia Entries
Petricini, T. (2025). Postdigital presence. In P. Jandrić (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Postdigital Science and Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35469-4_89-1
Petricini, T. (2025). Postdigital friendship. In P. Jandrić (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Postdigital Science and Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35469-4_88-1
Conference Proceedings
Petricini, T. (2025). Forgetting and remembering in the social media age: Engaging the voice of Walter Ong. In Proceedings of the 2024 Orality and Literacy Conference (pp. 183–209). Geneva College.
Reports
Petricini, T., & Driver, J., et al. (2025). Report from the Joint Standing Committee for AI in Instruction. Available at https://senate.psu.edu/senators/senate-resources/senate-meeting-agendas-records/november-18-2025-plenary-agenda/
Futures of AI in Rural Education Working Group (FAIR). (2025). FAIR Summit Report 2025. Available at https://bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.psu.edu/dist/e/197606/files/2025/10/FAIR-Report.pdf
Ramsay, C., & Petricini, T., et al. (2024). Final Report of the Joint Standing Committee on Effective and Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education Instruction. Penn State. https://senate.psu.edu/senators/committees/other-committees/joint-standing-committee-on-effective-and-responsible-use-of-artificial-intelligence-in-higher-education-instruction/
Education
Women in AI Fellow, EDSAFE AI Alliance, 2025–26; selected as one of 40 women worldwide for a yearlong program supporting exceptional, impact-driven individuals through a platform focused on exploring the role of AI in education.
Introduction to Teaching with AI Program, Penn Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, 2025; 4 Continuing Education (CE) credits, 40 Pennsylvania ACT 48 credits
Carnegie Mellon LearnLab Learning Engineering Summer School, Educational Data Mining Track, Carnegie Mellon University, July 28–Aug. 1, 2025
Teaching and Learning with Technology Faculty Fellow, Penn State University, 2024–26, State College, PA
Global Learning Faculty Fellow, Penn State University, 2024; State College, PA
Ph.D., Rhetoric, concentrations in Technology, Ethics, and Interpersonal/Intercultural Communication, Duquesne University, 2020; Pittsburgh, PA
M.A., Communication Studies, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, 2014; Edinboro, PA
B.A., Communication Studies, concentration in Interpersonal Communication, Youngstown State University, 2009; Youngstown, OH