Cristian Capotescu - Incite at Columbia University

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Portait of Cristian Capotescu

I am the Associate Director of Columbia University's Trust Collaboratory, an inter- and transdisciplinary research center advancing fundamental insights into the social dynamics of trust. I also direct participatory research at the Center for Smart Streetscapes (CS3) at Columbia Engineering and co-lead its Public Interest Technology research team.

Projects

  • go to Closing the Gap Between Trustworthy and Trusted AI
    Closing the Gap Between Trustworthy and Trusted AI
    Jumpstarting conversations about trust in AI and its impact on trust in institutions. Funded by Columbia University
  • go to Covid-19 and Trust in Science
    Covid-19 and Trust in Science
    Documenting the experiences of Post-Covid Syndrome patients in the United States, Brazil, and China. Funded by Meta
  • go to Listening Tables
    Listening Tables
    Creating spaces on Columbia University's campus to navigate conflicts with mutual respect, empathy, and a commitment to rebuilding trust.
  • go to TrustWorkers
    TrustWorkers
    Partnering with community healthcare workers to explore how trust is obtained, repaired, and built. Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Related Works

  • open website

    Jenny Fondren, Cristian Capotescu, Gil Eyal, Gaurav Jain, Jennifer Laird, Nicole Lum, and Brian Smith., "Exploring Mediation of Assistive Wayfinding Technologies through Professional Organizations for Blind and Low-Vision People", Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness 120, no. 1 (2026). Special issue on Advancements and Innovations in Technology for Individuals with Visual Impairments., January 1, 2026

  • open website

    Cristian Capotescu, "When the Socialist ‘Good Life’ Met Its Demise: Austerity and Private Humanitarianism in 1980s Romania", Humanitarian Mobilization in Central and Eastern Europe: Local, National, and International Perspectives, edited by Anca Crețu and Michal Frankl. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2025., November 18, 2025

  • open website

    Renan Gonçalves Leonel da Silva, Amanda Curi, Larry Au, Cristian Capotescu, and Gil Eyal, "Contested Illness and Alternative Expertise Networks in Global Health: Post-Covid Syndrome in Brazil", Sociology of Health & Illness (2025), September 1, 2025

  • open website

    Gil Eyal, Larry Au, and Cristian Capotescu, "Trust Is a Verb! A Critical Reconstruction of the Sociological Theory of Trust", Sociologica 18, no. 2 (2024): 169–191, October 30, 2024

  • open website

    Gil Eyal, Larry Au, and Cristian Capotescu, "The Indeterminacy of Trust: A Response to Möllering and Esposito’s Commentaries", Sociologica 18, no. 2 (2024): 209–214., October 30, 2024

  • open website

    Cristian Capotescu, "Quiet Aid: Barbara Schöfnagel’s Private Humanitarianism in the Socialist Gray Area and What Else the Global East Can Teach Us", Care in a Time of Humanitarianism: Stories of Refuge, Aid, and Repair in the Global South, edited by Arzoo Osanloo and Cabeiri deBergh Robinson. New York: Berghahn Books, 2024., August 1, 2024

  • open website

    Cristian Capotescu and Gil Eyal, "Trust vs. Trustworthiness: Smart Cities in the Age of AI", Smart Cities World, April 18, 2024

  • open website

    Gil Eyal, Lary Au, Cristian Capotescu, and Sophie Sharp, "How People Decide to Trust in Science: Surveys Purporting to Document Increasing Mistrust in Research Are Oversimplifying Complex Phenomena", American Scientist 112 (January–February 2024): 38–45., January 1, 2024

  • open website

    Cristian Capotescu, Elizabeth Cohn, Gil Eyal, Judelysse Gomez, Jack LaViolette, Danielle Lee Tomson, "The TrustWorkers Project: Challenges and Methods of Building Trust into Public Scholarship", Public Philosophy Journal, May 9, 2023

  • open website

    Cristian Capotescu, Oscar Sanchez-Sibony, Melissa Teixeira, "Austerity without Neoliberals. Reappraising the Sinuous History of a Powerful State Technology", Capitalism: A Journal of History and Economics, December 1, 2022

  • open website

    Cristian Capotescu, Tashi Chodon, James Chu, Elizabeth Cohn, Gil Eyal, Rishi Goyal, Olusimbo Ige, Jack LaViolette, Sarah Mallik, Lula Mae Phillips, Paulette Spencer, Danielle Lee Tomson, "Community health workers' critical role in trust building between the medical system and communities of color", American Journal of Managed Care, October 28, 2022

  • open website

    Larry Au, Cristian Capotescu, Gil Eyal, Gabrielle Finestone, "Long covid and medical gaslighting: Dismissal, delayed diagnosis, and deferred treatment", SSM - Qualitative Research in Health, September 7, 2022

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