Overview
Dr. Christine Leuenberger's research specializes in Science & Technology Studies, qualitative methods, classical and contemporary sociological theory, sociology of knowledge, interactional sociology, sociology of culture, sociology of medicine, transformation studies of Eastern Europe, Middle Eastern Studies, Peace Studies, and the sociology and history of the human and behavioral sciences. Her current research interests include the social impact of borders and barriers, the social studies of cartography in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, science4policy, and strengthening the scientific enterprise in uncertain times.
Research Focus
Classical and contemporary sociological theory; sociology of knowledge; sociology of science; transformation studies of Eastern Europe; history and sociology of the human and behavioral sciences; Border Studies; Middle East Studies.
Awards and Honors
2024 U.S. National Science Foundation, Certification of Appreciation, Special Service Certificate.
2016 U.S. Department of State, Certificate of Appreciation.
Professional Experience
2022-25 Program Director, U.S. National Science Foundation. Directorate of Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences and Office of the Director.
2016-17 Science & Technology Policy Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
2020-25 & 2011-16 Fulbright Specialist, U.S. Fulbright Specialist Program, Fulbright Commission.
2008 U.S. Fulbright Scholar in the Middle East, North Africa, Central and South Asia Regional Research Program.
Affiliations
Richard P. Nathan Public Policy Fellow, Rockefeller Institute of Government, Albany, NY.
Publications
Selected Publications:
- “The social construction of maps: knowledge, maps and power” Research Handbook for the Sociology of Knowledge, edited by Fran Collyer. Edward Elgar Publishing. 2025: 350-360.
- Constructing Facts on the Map: The 2020 Vision for Peace Conceptual Maps of Israel/Palestine. In E. Vallet (eds.) Making a Divide: Mapping, Walling and Internalizing Borders and their Apparatus. Special Issue in Journal of Borderland Studies. 2023: 40/4: 841-857.
- The Politics of Maps: Cartographic Constructions of Israel/Palestine (with Izhak Schnell) Oxford University Press, 2020.
- “The Politics of Maps: Mapping the West Bank Barrier”, The Brown Journal of World Affairs. 2019: 25/2.
- "First we take Berlin then we take Jerusalem: The Geopolitics of Mapping Divided Cities and their Separation Walls," Geoforum Perspektiv 27. 2016: 14-32.
- "Maps as Politics: Mapping the West Bank Barrier," Journal of Borderlands Studies. 2016: 1-26.
"The West Bank Wall" (with Emily Wills and Reece Jones), Journal of Borderlands Studies. 2016: 1-9. - "Knowledge-Making and its Politics in Conflict Regions: Doing Research in Israel/Palestine" Special Issue on Contributions from European Symbolic Interactionists: Reflections on Methods for Studies of Symbolic Interaction. 2015: 44: 19-41.
- "Building a Neo-liberal Palestinian State under Closure: The Economic and Spatial Implications of Walls and Barriers" (with Ahmad Al-Atrash), Economic Sociology European Electronic Newsletter. 2015: 16/2: 21-31.
- "Mosquitos don't carry Visas: Walls, Environments and the Hope for Cooperation in Palestine-Israel" (with Ahmad El-Atrash), Palestine-Israel Journal: Natural Resources and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Vol.19 No.4 & Vol.20 No.1, 2014.
- "Technologies, Practices and the Reproduction of Conflict: The Impact of the West Bank Barrier on Peace Building", in Elisabeth Vallet (eds.) Borders, Fences and Walls: State of Insecurity? Ashgate (Burlington, VT). 2014: 211-230
- "Mapping Genres and Geopolitics: The Case of Israel" (with Izhak Schnell). Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. 2014: 39/4: 518-531.
- "The Rhetoric of Maps: International Law as a Discursive Tool in Visual Arguments", in Law & Ethics of Human Rights. 2013: 7/1: 73-107.
- "On Fences and Neighbors", in Olivia Snaije and Mitchell Albert (eds.) Keep Your Eye on the Wall: Palestinian Landscapes (London: Saqi Books): 2013.
- "Map-Making for Palestinian State-Making", Arab World Geographer / Le Géographe du monde arabe. 2013: 16/1: 54-74.
- "Mapping Israel/Palestine: Constructing National Territories across Different International Newspapers", Bulletin du Centre de recherche français à Jérusalem [En ligne], 23 | 2012, mis en ligne le 20 janvier 2013, Consulté le 15 avril 2013.
- "The Politics of Maps: Constructing National Territories in Israel" (with Izhak Schnell), Social Studies of Science. 2010: 40/6: 803-842.
- "The Self as Project: Politics and the Human Sciences". Osiris, 22, (co-edited with Greg Eghigian and Andreas Killan). Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2007.
- Cultures of Categories: Psychological Diagnoses as Institutional and Political Projects Before and After the Transition from State Socialism in 1989 in East Germany", Osiris, 22. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2007.
- "Introduction: The Self as a Political and Scientific Project in the 20th Century", (with Greg Eghigian and Andreas Killan), Osiris, 22. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2007.
- "Constructions of the Berlin Wall: How Material Culture is used in Psychological Theory", Social Problems. 2006: 53/1: 18-37.
Erving Goffman. Rede-Weisen: Formen der Kommunikation in sozialen Situationen (co-edited with Hubert Knoblauch and Bernt Schnettler). Konstanz: UVK Verlagsgesellschaft, 2005.
Selected Media Outreach:
“The Politics of Maps”, BBC Sounds, Feb 21, 2025.
“Map War in the Middle East: How cartographers charted and helped shape a regional conflict”, The Conversation, Feb 7, 2025.
“The Politics of Maps”, audio interview, New Book Network, May 4th, 2022.
“Mapping Israel/Palestine”, The Gateway podcast, produced by Al Bawaba News (Amman, Jordan), July 19, 2022.
“The Politics of Maps”, The Page 99 Test.
