Carrie James
A sociologist by training, Carrie is ever-curious about young people’s experiences growing up with technology. She loves working with youth and educators to build relevant resources for digital agency and well-being. PZ has been her homebase for 22+ years. Alongside her research, Carrie is honored to co-direct the PZ "mothership."
PZ Work
Project Zero's co-director, a PZ principal investigator, and co-founder of the Center for Digital Thriving (CDT), Carrie leads research and design work focused on youth and digital life.
For over a decade, her research has explored how youth engagement with digital media intersects with their civic lives, ethical perspectives, and wellbeing. At present, this work is carried out as part of the CDT—a research and innovation center at PZ that bridges the gap between research on teens and screens and classroom practice. CDT's mission is to empower educators with practical, research-based resources and frameworks to support their students to thrive in a world of ever-changing technologies.
In 2022, Carrie and Emily Weinstein published Behind Their Screens, which documented insights from over 3,000 teens. A perennial feature of her work is the translation of insights from qualitative research with youth toward the design of resources for classrooms and other learning contexts. She loves sharing CDT research findings at PZ's annual Project Zero Classroom for educators, at interdisciplinary conferences like the Connected Learning Summit, and through online offerings like the CDT's 8 Mindshifts for Teaching Digital Well-being self-paced course.
Beyond PZ
Carrie holds a M.A. (1996) and a Ph.D. (2003) in Sociology from New York University.
Fun Facts
In her life outside PZ, Carrie is an early morning runner, seasonal knitter, coffee lover, fan of 90s "riot grrrl" music, and parent to two daughters, ages 16 and 20.
Carrie's Projects and Publications
Carrie's PZ Pick
"I love the CDT’s resource on Thinking Traps. We designed it to empower youth with strategies to navigate negative thinking spirals that can be triggered by tech features like read receipts and social media metrics."