Maja Vestad

Image of Maja Vestad
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Visiting address Kristian Augusts gate 17 Domus Juridica 8.etg 0164 Oslo
Postal address Postboks 6706 St. Olavs plass 0130 Oslo

Academic interests

Vestad researches changes to forensic technology and crime scene investigations practice. 

1. DNA as evidence

There are differences in how "technological" the methods for collecting and interpreting forensic evidence is. While some methods are mostly algorithmic and require little human influence, others are almost entirely manual.

Vestad's PhD project “Forensic DNA Evidence Technologies and Criminological Horizons" investigates how crime scene technicians and forensic analysts in Norwegian and European law enforcement navigate the landscape of evidence production technologies. The project is part of Digital DNA, and brings empirical knowledge of 'high' and 'low tech' in policing to a discussion of how technological developments inform crime scene investigations.

2. The 25 June and 22 July terror attacks

Vestad in in change of the pilot project PRIDE25JUNE: RIPPLES, which investigates ripple effects of the 25 June 2022 terror attack. The initiative is part of LAW22JULY: RIPPLES, and aims to contribute an overview and analysis of issues related to memorial work, urban security, legal participation and legal settlement.

As part of LAW22JULY: RIPPLES, she investigates temporal 'micro-memorialisation' after the 22 July 2011 attack. The project is the main component in the Faculty of Law at the University of Oslo's initiative to commemorate 22 July.

Teaching

Background

Vestad has previously held research assistant positions at the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law and the Department of Public and International Law, University of Oslo. Vestad holds a Master’s degree in Criminology from the University of Oslo, and undergraduate degrees in Crime, Justice and Legal Studies, and Anthropology, from La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia.

Tags: Evidence, Digital criminology, DNA, Rural criminology, Criminology

Publications

  • Vestad, Maja (2024). The persistent attractions of low-tech: Challenging the efficiency paradigm of forensic technology. International Journal of Police Science and Management. ISSN 1461-3557. doi: 10.1177/14613557241231164. Full text in Research Archive
  • Kaufmann, Mareile & Vestad, Maja (2023). Biology and Criminology: Data Practices and the Creation of Anatomic and Genomic Body ‘Types’. Critical Criminology. ISSN 1205-8629. doi: 10.1007/s10612-023-09732-6. Full text in Research Archive
  • Vestad, Maja (2023). Norwegian Rural Vigilantism during COVID-19: Self-Protection against a Perceived Urban Threat. International Journal of Rural Criminology (IJRC). 7(2), p. 198–215. doi: 10.18061/ijrc.v7i2.8949. Full text in Research Archive
  • Vestad, Maja Viktoria Spigseth (2021). Mistenksomhetens spiral : Autoktoni og eskalasjonsmomenter i den norske hytteforbudkonflikten. Nordisk Tidsskrift for Kriminalvidenskab. ISSN 0029-1528. 108(3), p. 468–482. doi: 10.7146/ntfk.v108i3.129651. Full text in Research Archive

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  • Kaufmann, Mareile & Vestad, Maja (2024). Scientizing Police Work: Biometric data practices and the creation of anatomic and genomic ‘body types’ .
  • Vestad, Maja (2023). Evaluating policing practice. Modern technologies in policing (chair).
  • Vestad, Maja (2023). Materiality and low-tech at the crime scene: interactions between the analogue and the digital.
  • Vestad, Maja (2023). Queer Paradoxes after the Pride Terror Attack. PRIO Blogs.
  • Vestad, Maja (2023). Det kjennes annerledes å være skeiv i år. Jeg skal forklare hvorfor. Er trygghetens tid forbi? Aftenposten (morgenutg. : trykt utg.). ISSN 0804-3116.
  • Vestad, Maja; Boyle, Rose Elizabeth & Foshaugen, Marina Hiller (2023). 5-star hotel, with terrible room service? A digital criminology of prisons featured in Google Maps’ reviews. Nordic Criminology Blog.
  • Vestad, Maja (2023). Teknologi i kriminalteknisk arbeid: vekslinger mellom det analoge og det digitale.
  • Foshaugen, Marina Hiller; Vestad, Maja & Boyle, Rose Elizabeth (2023). ‘A 5-star hotel, but hard to escape’: Online reviews of Norwegian prisons.
  • Vestad, Maja (2023). Helena Machado and Rafaela Granja, Forensic Genetics in the Governance of Crime (London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2020, 123 pp., £31.70 paperback. Human Remains and Violence: An Interdisciplinary Journal. ISSN 2054-2240. 9(1), p. 113–115. doi: 10.7227/HRV.9.1.7.
  • Vestad, Maja (2023). Mellom fortid og fremtid: DNA-bevis, teknologi, og kriminologiske horisonter. Bevis. ISSN 0803-3544. 34(1), p. 12–14.
  • Kaufmann, Mareile & Vestad, Maja (2022). Visualizing Suspect Bodies.
  • Kaufmann, Mareile & Vestad, Maja (2022). Measuring Bodies.
  • Vestad, Maja & Foshaugen, Marina Hiller (2022). Policing acute and crowded crime scenes: Confluences of proactive and reactive police work.
  • Vestad, Maja & Kaufmann, Mareile (2022). Measuring Suspect and Deviant Bodies: Science and technology in forensic biometrics.
  • Vestad, Maja (2022). Mala prohibita - Mala in se: Key Principles in Criminology.
  • Kaufmann, Mareile & Vestad, Maja (2022). Blood stains, skulls & DNA – when evidence goes digital. Nordic Criminology Blog.
  • Vestad, Maja & Kaufmann, Mareile (2022). Visualising Suspect Bodies: Science and technology in forensic biometrics.
  • Vestad, Maja (2022). Norway’s COVID-19 Cabin Controversies: Powers, Privileges, and Plagues.
  • Vestad, Maja (2022). Hvem vokter vokterne? Hyttesak i Høyesterett. Morgenbladet. ISSN 0805-3847. 14, p. 34–35.
  • Vestad, Maja (2022). «Hyttesaken» og pandemihåndteringens grenser. sosiologen.no.
  • Sandvik, Kristin Bergtora; Ikdahl, Ingunn; Lohne, Kjersti; Vestad, Maja; Sørlie, Anniken & Moe-Pryce, Marit (2022). Law after July 22, 2011: Survivors, Memory and Reconstruction. PRIO Paper. Full text in Research Archive
  • Vestad, Maja Viktoria Spigseth (2021). Nordiska experterna om svenska skjutningarna: En hotbild. [Newspaper]. Aftonbladet.
  • Vestad, Maja Viktoria Spigseth (2021). Overrasket over at ikke flere har saksøkt staten. [Internet]. NRK.

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Published Aug. 19, 2021 3:00 PM - Last modified Feb. 15, 2024 12:05 AM