Karissa Ketter
University of Toronto
About Me
Karissa is a PhD student in the department of sociology at the University of Toronto. Her research interests include global digital surveillance technologies and housing infrastructure. During her MA at the University of British Columbia, she was researching historical planning and lending policy in Vancouver, Canada and London, England.
Karissa acknowledges she is a settler living on the unceded territories and traditional lands of the Coast Salish peoples. Born in Metro Vancouver, she was raised on the ancestral territory of the q̓ic̓əy̓ (Katzie), q̓ʷɑ:n̓ƛ̓ən̓ (Kwantlen), Máthkwi (Matsqui), se'mya'me (Semiahmoo), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and shíshálh (Sechelt) First Nations.As she strives to be a good ally through word and action, she respectfully remembers that the Coast Salish People have been on this land for millennia.
Karissa is a PhD student in the department of sociology at the University of Toronto. Her research interests include global digital surveillance technologies and housing infrastructure. During her MA at the University of British Columbia, she was researching historical planning and lending policy in Vancouver, Canada and London, England.
Karissa acknowledges she is a settler living on the unceded territories and traditional lands of the Coast Salish peoples. Born in Metro Vancouver, she was raised on the ancestral territory of the q̓ic̓əy̓ (Katzie), q̓ʷɑ:n̓ƛ̓ən̓ (Kwantlen), Máthkwi (Matsqui), se'mya'me (Semiahmoo), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and shíshálh (Sechelt) First Nations. As she strives to be a good ally through word and action, she respectfully remembers that the Coast Salish People have been on this land for millennia.
Research
Education
Karissa's Master of Arts research explores the orchestration of cultural, financial, and symbolic capital in Vancouver, Canada and London, England through the historic work of urban planners and mortgage lenders. She is a research assistant in the Integration and Infrastructure Lab at the University of British Columbia. Here, she is exploring the application of "superdiversity" in Vancouver.
Her past projects include researching global digital surveillance technologies against globally subordinated populations. Israel's surveillance of Palestinians, the USA's surveillance of illegalized immigrants, and China's surveillance of Uighur Muslims. This work was completed as a research assistant for Dr. Darren Byler.
Education
B.A., Simon Fraser University, International Studies, 2024
M.A., University of British Columbia, Sociology, 2026
Ph.D., University of Toronto, Sociology, ongoing
Publications
Capital Over Cash [Presentation]
Ketter, K. (2026, June 13). Capital Over Cash. Canadian Sociological Association Conference. Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Superdiversity in Vancouver, Canada
Ketter, K. (2026). Superdiversity in Vancouver, Canada: Mapping Vancouver's Diversity. The Infrastructure and Integration Lab
Subordinated Inclusion: Population Sorting Technologies as Digital Confinement
Ketter, K., & Byler, D. (2025). Subordinated Inclusion: Population Sorting Technologies as Digital Confinement in the United States, China, and Israel. Surveillance & Society, 23(4), 398–413.
On the Travel of State Crimes by Algorithm
Byler, D., & Ketter, K. (2024, January 25). On the Travel of State Crimes by Algorithm: Chinese Camera Systems in Israel. Made in China Journal
Sociology Admission Merit Award
University of Toronto, 2026
Doctoral Recruitment Award
University of Toronto, 2026
Kurt and Anne Paulus Memorial Scholarship
University of British Columbia, 2025
Sociology Graduate Scholarship
University of British Columbia, 2025
Patricia Marchak International Research Scholarship in Sociology
University of British Columbia, 2025
Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Master's
SSHRC, 2025
The British Columbia Graduate Scholarship
University of British Columbia, 2024
Undergraduate Scholars Entrance Scholarship with Distinction
Simon Fraser University, 2020–2024
Sociology Admission Merit Award
University of Toronto, 2026
Doctoral Recruitment Award
University of Toronto, 2026
Kurt and Anne Paulus Memorial Scholarship
University of British Columbia, 2025
Sociology Graduate Scholarship
University of British Columbia, 2025
Patricia Marchak International Research Scholarship in Sociology
University of British Columbia, 2025
Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Master's
SSHRC, 2025
The British Columbia Graduate Scholarship
University of British Columbia, 2024
Undergraduate Scholars Entrance Scholarship with Distinction
Simon Fraser University, 2020–2024