A warm CrimSL welcome - and welcome back! - to alumna Professor Katharina Maier of the University of Winnipeg, who joins us as a Visiting Professor from July 2024 to June 2025 through CrimSL's Visiting Scholar Program.
Dr. Maier is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Winnipeg. She holds a Law Degree (J.D. equivalent) from the University of Münster (Germany) and a Master’s degree and PhD from the Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies at the University of Toronto. She completed her PhD under the supervision of Professor Rosemary Gartner in 2018. Her doctoral thesis, "Half Way to Freedom: The Role of Halfway Houses in Canada's Penal Landscape," is available online through U of T's TSpace Repository.
As a qualitative researcher, Maier examines issues surrounding drugs, homelessness, and poverty; the structural determinants of health; punishment (including people's experiences of parole and probation supervision); and the work of criminal justice and public health actors. Her collaborative research has been supported by SSHRC, CIHR, Canadian Bar Association, and other funding sources.
My research complements faculty expertise at the centre. I am currently co-leading the largest socio-criminological (qualitative) study on drugs and homelessness in Canada (500+ interviews with people who use drugs and people experiencing), as well as one of the only studies on probation in Canada (200+ interviews with probationers & probationer loved ones). I am also Co-PI on a large-scale, trans-disciplinary, CIHR-funded study investigating the intersections between HIV, drugs, and homelessness.
She says that CrimSL seems like the perfect setting to research and write during her sabbatical from the University of Winnipeg.
During my sabbatical, I will be working on my book project, titled "On these Streets: Drugs, Violence and the Hustle" (under contract with UBC Press).
As a graduate of the centre, I know that the collaborative, stimulating, and enriching environment of the centre would be the perfect place to learn with and from scholars and students in pursuit of this project.
Maier has published in various international and Canadian journals, including British Journal of Criminology, Social Problems, Theoretical Criminology, Punishment & Society, Deviant Behavior, and Law & Social Inquiry.
She is committed to mobilizing knowledge to diverse audiences, having presented her research to the Canadian Chiefs of Paramedics, community organizations, and other stakeholders.
She will be a featured speaker on our CrimSL Speaker Series in January 2025.
Join us in giving a warm CrimSL welcome to Visiting Professor Katharina Maier!