Claire Maiers is a doctoral candidate in Sociology at the University of Virginia focusing on the sociology of knowledge and culture. Through a comparative study of medical informatics, predictive policing and security, and consumer research, her dissertation explores the constraints and affordances of data science practices. In addition to considering how such practices influence knowledge processes and products, her work also brings attention to the variation between developer and user contexts. Bringing attention to the kinds of knowledge that become dominant through data analysis, her work contributes to a broader project aimed at comprehending how knowledge and culture are constituted in modernity. In addition to sociology, Maiers also completed a master’s degree in musicology at Tufts University, where she researched the connection between cultural values and the business practices of nonprofit music organizations. Maiers was previously a Praxis fellow at the UVa Scholar’s Lab where she launched the PRISM tool that enables collaborative text interpretation online, and is currently a UVa Presidential Fellow in Data Science. You can follow her on Twitter @clairemaiers.
In addition to research, Maiers also participates in a number of other scholarly communities at UVa. Look for her at The UVa Scholars' Lab, The Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, and The Data Science Institute
Emails: cdm6zf at virginia dot edu