Hello!

I am a sociologist and postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology, University of Bern.

My research lies at the intersection of sociology, criminology, and political science.

My work combines tools from the computational social sciences with standard statistical analysis to study social norms, inequalities, and resilience. My current projects examine the topics and sentiments associated with digital media discourse on contentious social issues and its impact on public opinion, the social networks and dynamics that have led to the emergence and evolution of extremist movements in contemporary societies, and the impact of generative AI on the resilience of democracies.

I am a former fellow at the Belfer Center at Harvard Kennedy School. I was a fellow with Harvard Kennedy School’s Cyber Project (2020-2022), a postdoctoral fellow with the Belfer Center’s International Security Program (2018-2020), and a member of the Belfer’s team that produced the National Cyber Power Index 2020 (downloaded more than 4,300 times). Previously, I held positions as a postdoctoral associate at the University of Maryland, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, and as a graduate researcher at the Max-Planck Institute for Foreign Criminal Law and Criminology in Germany (2013-2018). I am a recipient of grants from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the University of Bern, and the Fondazione Leonardo among others. I am a Board Member of the Academy of Sociology and serve as one of the 200 elected members of the Global Young Academy. I am also affiliated with the Swiss Centre of Expertise in Life Course Research and the Digital Society Initiative.

Curriculum Vitae (Updated September 2024)

Contact

Email: anina.schwarzenbach@unibe.ch

Address:
Department of Law
University of Bern
Schanzeneckstrasse 1, 3012 Bern
Switzerland