About

Jennifer C. Lena is a sociologist of culture at Columbia University. She studies pop music, art, non-profit organizations, authenticity, legitimation, organizations, and classification.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Sociology
• Epistemology
• Political Science
• Social psychology
• Engineering
• Social Science
• Psychology
• Demographic economics
• Management science
• Engineering ethics
• Economics
• Demography
• Knowledge management
• Geography

Selected publications

• Creative ML Assemblages: The Interactive Politics of People, Processes, and Products

  Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · 2024-04-17 · 6 citations

  articleOpen access

  Creative ML tools are collaborative systems that afford artistic creativity through their myriad interactive relationships. We propose using "assemblage thinking" to support analyses of creative ML by approaching it as a system in which the elements of people, organizations, culture, practices, and technology constantly influence each other. We model these interactions as "coordinating elements" that give rise to the social and political characteristics of a particular creative ML context, and call attention to three dynamic elements of creative ML whose interactions provide unique context for the social impact a particular system has: people, creative processes, and products. As creative assemblages are highly contextual, we present these as analytical concepts that computing researchers can adapt to better understand the functioning of a particular system or phenomena and identify intervention points to foster desired change. This paper contributes to theorizing interactions with AI in the context of art, and how these interactions shape the production of algorithmic art.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Polyoccupationalism: Expertise Stretch and Status Stretch in the Postindustrial Era

  American Sociological Review · 2023 · 21 citations

  • Sociology
  • Political Science
  • Psychology

  Past research has posited that occupations are distinct and exclusive communities of workers and used single-entry questions in surveys to measure occupational self-identification. Our study challenges that view by reporting the existence of polyoccupationalism, or workers’ simultaneous identification with multiple occupations. We predict this phenomenon co-occurs with postindustrial forms of work organization and that its expression varies with workers’ position in the occupational structure. Using a survey on creative workers that uniquely allowed respondents to identify with multiple occupations, we find individuals report higher levels of polyoccupationalism when their work is more contract- and project-based, net of other individual and occupational attributes. We further show that polyoccupationalism takes different forms at the top and the bottom of the occupational hierarchy: whereas the polyoccupationalism of high-status “entrepreneurs” stretches expertise—they identify with occupations that are similar in status but functionally distinct—that of lower-status “hustlers” stretches status—the occupations they report involve similar tasks but stand farther apart on the occupational status scale. We discuss the implications of these findings for understanding workers’ occupational identities and the dynamics of occupational hierarchies.

  PublisherDOI

• Looking at Creative ML Blindspots with a Sociological Lens

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2022 · 1 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Sociology
  • Social Science
  • Sociology

  How can researchers from the creative ML/AI community and sociology of culture engage in fruitful collaboration? How do researchers from both fields think (differently) about creativity and the production of creative work? While the ML community considers creativity as a matter of technical expertise and acumen, social scientists have emphasized the role of embeddedness in cultural production. This perspective aims to bridge both disciplines and proposes a conceptual and methodological toolkit for collaboration. We provide a systematic review of recent research in both fields and offer three perspectives around which to structure interdisciplinary research on cultural production: people, processes, and products. We thereby provide necessary grounding work to support multidisciplinary researchers to navigate conceptual and methodological hurdles in their collaboration. Our research will be of interest to ML researchers and sociologists interested in creativity that aim to conduct innovative research by bridging both fields.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Living Legacy of W. McNeil Lowry: Vision and Voice

  The Journal of Arts Management Law and Society · 2021-03-31

  article1st authorCorresponding

  This book is a compendium of texts written or delivered by W. McNeil “Mac” Lowry, former Vice President of the Ford Foundation and Director of its Program in Humanities and the Arts. The Humanities...

  PublisherDOI

• Issue Information

  Sociology Compass · 2020-04-01

  paratextOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Issue Information

  Sociology Compass · 2020-09-01

  paratextOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Frontmatter

  Stanford University Press eBooks · 2020

  • Computer Science
  • Computer Science
  DOI

• Issue Information

  Sociology Compass · 2020-07-01

  paratextOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Issue Information

  Sociology Compass · 2020-11-01

  paratextOpen access

  No abstract is available for this article.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Conclusion: The Future of Measuring Culture

  Columbia University Press eBooks · 2019-12-31 · 1 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Christopher A. Bail

  Duke University

  13 shared

• Terence E. McDonnell

  University of Virginia's College at Wise

  13 shared

• Omar Ližardo

  12 shared

• Margaret Frye

  12 shared

• Ann Mische

  12 shared

• Iddo Tavory

  11 shared

• Frederick F.VE Wherry

  9 shared

• Frederick F. Wherry

  Stanford University

  5 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Sociology

  Columbia University in the City of New York

  2003

• B.A., Sociology/Anthropology & English

  Colgate University

  1996

Awards & honors

• Best Paper Award, 2017 Davis Conference on Qualitative Resea…
• Choice Magazine “Outstanding Academic Titles of 2012” for Ba…
• Grammy Award nomination (co-commissioner). Best Small Ensemb…