Shira Zilberstein
PhD Candidate, Sociology
I am a PhD candidate in sociology at Harvard University and a former Science and Technology Studies Fellow. My research focuses on cultural sociology, science and technology studies and organizations, using qualitative and mixed-methods. I am interested in the production, interpretation and evaluation of ideas and the dynamics between hegemonic and counter-hegemonic forms of knowledge in institutional and technical settings.
My dissertation analyzes applied interdisciplinary research collaborations and how knowledge is put into practice to define and address social problems. I draw on the case study of researchers and labs working to create machine learning models for healthcare. Through interviews, ethnography, and expansive document analysis, I analyze how machine learning researchers define and seek to address healthcare challenges, the opportunities and constraints of approaching machine learning projects from within differently configured collaborations and organizations, and how researchers go about translating high level ethical principles (fairness, accountability, privacy, etc.) into projects through everyday decision making. The research speaks to core questions about the relationship between culture, organizations, scientific practice, and innovation, and how research fields grapple with creating solutions to systemic social problems that exceed technological fixes. You can read a feature article about my dissertation research here.
My work has been recognized by the National Science Foundation, the American Sociological Association, the Russell Sage Foundation, the Knight Foundation, and The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine amongst others.
Publications
In print
Zilberstein, S.,Sanchez, M., Ayala-Hurtado, E. and D. Robey. 2024. “The Self in Action: Narrating Agentic Moments.” RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences. 10(5): 118–40. https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2024.10.5.05.
Zilberstein, S. 2024. "Ethical Dilemmas and Collaborative Resolutions in Machine Learning Research for Healthcare.” Socius, 10. https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231241259671.
Zilberstein, S. 2024. “Models of Generating Cultural Authority: Academics and Journalists on a Digital Platform.” Poetics, 102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2024.101871
Boag, W., A. Hasan, J.Y. Kim, M. Revoir, M. Nichols, W. Ratliff, S. Zilberstein, C.O'Brien, D. Tart, J. Theiling, M.A. Fuchs, T. Brown, Z. Samad, Z. Hoodbhoy, M. Ali, N.S. Khan, M. Gao, M. Patel, S. Balu, Dr Mark Sendak. 2024. "The Algorithm Journey Map: A tangible approach to Implementing AI solutions in Healthcare.” npj Digital Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-024-01061-4.
Zilberstein, S., Lamont, M., and M. Sanchez. 2023. "Recreating a Plausible Future: Combing Cultural Repertoires in Unsettled Times.” Sociological Science 10. https://sociologicalscience.com/articles-v10-11-348/
Zilberstein, S. 2022. ”Developing Artificial Intelligence For Good: Interdisciplinary Research Collaborations and the Making of Ethical AI.” In Proceedings of the 2022 AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (AIES’22), August 1–3, 2022, Oxford, United Kingdom. ACM, New York, NY, USA. https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3514094.3539516
Sanchez, M., M. Lamont, and S. Zilberstein. 2022. ”How American College Students Understand Social Resilience during Covid and the Movement for Racial Justice: Toward a Processual Approach.” Social Science and Medicine. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953622001964
Halliday, T., S. Zilberstein and W. Espeland. 2021. “Basic Legal Freedoms: An International Legal Complex and the Deviant Case of China.” Annual Review of Law and Social Science 17(1). https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-111620-013613
Zilberstein, S. 2019. “Space Making as Artistic Practice: The Relationship between Grassroots Art Organizations and the Political Economy of Urban Development.” City and Community 18(4): 1142-1161. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cico.12458
In progress
Zilberstein, S. "Organizational Constraints on a Problem-Solving Science."
Zilberstein, S. “Machine Learning Research for Health Equity: The Relationship Between Systemic and Scientific Problems.”
