Details
Summary: Join the NSF-funded PRISM Center for a virtual seminar with Rafael Mrowczynski, Ph.D., sociologist and political scientist with Empirical Research Support at the CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security in Saarbrücken, Germany. In his talk, “At the Edge of Sociology: Cybersecurity & Data Privacy,” Dr. Mrowczynski will examine cybersecurity and data privacy through a sociological lens, exploring how social, societal, and cultural contexts shape security-related behavior. Drawing on recent human-centered cybersecurity and privacy research at CISPA, he will discuss how social expectations, institutional structures, and cultural meanings influence research design, interpretation, and seemingly technical security practices. The seminar is open to all.
PRISM Speaker Series (virtual): At the Edge of Sociology: Cybersecurity & Data Privacy
Speaker: Rafael Mrówczyński, PhD (Sociologist And Political Scientist, Empirical Research Support (Ers), Cispa Helmholtz Center For Information Security, Saarbrücken, Germany, European Union)
Host: Kevin Butler, PhD (University of Florida)
Followed by a student meeting at 3pm ET / 12pm PT
Zoom Registration (required): https://bit.ly/PRISM-SepTalk
Student Meeting Registration (required): https://bit.ly/4uWmMuz
Abstract: Cybersecurity and privacy researchers have increasingly recognized the limits of understanding security and privacy as purely technical problems. This talk offers a sociological perspective for security researchers by examining the broader social, societal, and cultural contexts that shape security-relevant behavior. Dr. Rafael Mrowczynski introduces the concept of social/societal embeddedness to describe the multilayered social relations in which IT developers, maintainers, and users are situated. Drawing on recent studies conducted at CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security, the presentation shows how this conceptual lens can be applied in empirical research, including study design, data collection, interpretation, and collaboration across disciplinary boundaries. Examples from human-centered cybersecurity and privacy studies illustrate how social contexts become visible in research findings, and how seemingly technical practices often depend on social expectations, institutional arrangements, cultural meanings, and collaborative infrastructures.
Speaker Bio;
Rafael Mrowczynski, Ph.D., is a sociologist and political scientist currently working in Empirical Research Support at CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security in Saarbrücken, Germany. His primary role is to advise CISPA researchers, most of them computer scientists, on methods of qualitative behavioral and social research. He is also frequently involved as a co-author in projects conducted by CISPA researchers. Before joining CISPA in 2022, Rafael Mrowczynski studied political science at Goethe University Frankfurt and pursued a Ph.D. in sociology at Leibniz University Hanover. He has held research and teaching positions at institutions in Germany and Russia, with work spanning comparative sociology, qualitative methods, legal professions, post-socialist societies, and social research methodology.
About PRISM: The Center for Privacy and Security of Marginalized and Vulnerable Populations (PRISM), supported by the National Science Foundation hosts a virtual seminar series to highlight work from cross-disciplinary academic, industry, policy, and community organizations. Seminars are held approximately every other month on the third Thursday, at 2pm ET / 11am PT. More information, https://prism.eng.ufl.edu/events/. To nominate a speaker, contact Miriam.Buhr@eng.ufl.edu.