Maya R. Elsner
Maya R. Elsner is an interdisciplinary artist and PhD student in Sociology and Public Policy at the University of Michigan.
Maya studies the political economy of racial capitalism, with particular attention to how housing and financial systems produce spatial inequality and wealth stratification in urban, rural, and semi-rural contexts. Engaging traditional and decolonial methods, Maya examines gentrification, segregation, labor markets, and questions of cultural preservation within global capitalism's historical development.
Her current research investigates how finance capitalism and digital labor in the post-COVID era contribute to spatial inequality, gentrification, depopulation, and culture loss.
Maya's research is informed by lived experience with economic precarity, housing insecurity, and deindustrialization. A 16th generation New Mexican, her work and research interests are deeply influenced by place-based culture, land relationships, and the contemporary socioeconomic impacts of colonialism in the American Southwest.
A nontraditional student, Maya has professional experience in nonprofit fundraising, systems management, data management, and finance. Most recently, she was the Director of Finance at Craig's Doors, a housing-focused human services organization providing shelter, resources, and supportive opportunities to unhoused residents of Hampshire County, MA.
Maya graduated magna cum laude from Mount Holyoke College in 2024, as a Frances Perkins Scholar and member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. In 2023, she was selected to represent the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a Truman Scholar by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation.
When not on campus, Maya can be found quilting, painting, drawing, acting or hanging out with her two cats, Carolina and the Colonel.
About
Education
PhD Pre-Candidate
Sociology & Public Policy, University of Michigan
B.A., Critical Social Thought
2021 - 2024 | Mount Holyoke College
magna cum laude
Awards & Honors
Rackham Merit Fellowship
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
2024
Competitive named fellowship awarded to students with outstanding academic qualifications, exceptional potential for scholarly success, and promise for contributing to wider academic, professional, or civic communities.
Member, Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society
Since 2024
America's oldest honor society celebrating and advocating excellence in the liberal arts and sciences. Membership awarded spring 2024.
Susan B. and Peter R. Betzer Fellowship Fund
2024
Institutional research funding awarded for travel to Santa Fe, New Mexico, during field work on No Going Back: Gentrification and Precarity in Santa Fe, New Mexico in spring 2024.
Harry S. Truman Scholarship
2023
Highly competitive, federally funded merit scholarship awarded to undergraduates who have outstanding leadership potential and who intend to pursue careers in public service.
