Maja Vestad

Academic interests
Vestad works primarily with questions related to agency, legal consciousness, crisis communication and technology.
1. DNA as evidence
Vestad's PhD project “Forensic DNA Evidence Technologies and Criminological Horizons" investigates how forensic professionals and database technicians within Norwegian and UK law enforcements operate digital evidence production technologies (hardware and software). The project is part of Digital DNA, and contributes empirical knowledge of how developments in DNA technology informs crime scene procedures, criminal investigations, and the legal consciousness of actors in the field.
2. The Cabin Ban and the Swedish border
Vestad worked on the national Norwegian cabin ban of March and April 2020, and has since followed the cabin owners' class action lawsuit against the State throughout the Oslo District Court and Borgarting Court of Appeal. A Supreme Court trial to determine whether mandatory quarantine regulations post visitation of secondary properties in Sweden breaches constitutional and international rights is set for early March 2022. The cabin studies are part of Vestad's contribution to Corona and the Rule of Law.
3. The 22 July terror attack
Vestad is part of LAW22JULY: RIPPLES - the main component in the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo's initiative to commemorate 22 July, investigating temporal 'micro-memorialisation' after the attack.
Teaching
- Introduction to Criminology (KRIM1100)
- Surveillance: Data, technologies, practices (KRIM2957/KRIM4957)
- Sociology of Law I (JUS4122)
Coordinating roles
- The research initiative Corona and the Rule of Law
- The research project LAW22JULY: RIPPLES
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.
Publications
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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 Show summary
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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 Show summary
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Vestad, Maja (2022). Mala prohibita - Mala in se: Key Principles in Criminology.
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Kaufmann, Mareile & Vestad, Maja (2022). Blood stains, skulls & DNA – when evidence goes digital. Nordic Criminology Blog.
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Vestad, Maja & Kaufmann, Mareile (2022). Visualising Suspect Bodies: Science and technology in forensic biometrics.
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Vestad, Maja (2022). Norway’s COVID-19 Cabin Controversies: Powers, Privileges, and Plagues.
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Vestad, Maja (2022). Hvem vokter vokterne? Hyttesak i Høyesterett. Morgenbladet. ISSN 0805-3847. 14, p. 34–35. Show summary
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Vestad, Maja Viktoria Spigseth & Sandvik, Kristin Bergtora (2021). The nation as memorial cartography: mapping commemorative sites outside the canon.
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Sandvik, Kristin Bergtora & Vestad, Maja Viktoria Spigseth (2021). Transitional Justice and Contested Memorialization after Terror: The Norwegian 22 July Attacks.
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Vestad, Maja Viktoria Spigseth (2021). Nordiska experterna om svenska skjutningarna: En hotbild. [Newspaper]. Aftonbladet.
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Vestad, Maja Viktoria Spigseth (2021). Overrasket over at ikke flere har saksøkt staten. [Internet]. NRK.