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Faculty
Rafael Alvarado
Associate Professor of Data Science
School of Data Science
Email: rca2t@virginia.edu
Phone: (434) 982-1029
Additional Contact Information
Office: 1919 Ivy Rd., Room 435
Lab: Humanities Data Science Lab
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ontoligent
Rafael Alvarado is an Associate Professor at the School of Data Science and former director of the M.S. in Data Science residential program. His areas of research include digital humanities, text analytics, and the anthropology of information. At the School of Data Science, Alvarado teaches courses on text analytics, programming, and data design.
A career digital humanist and anthropologist, Alvarado combines his expertise on the study of human culture with emerging quantitative methods. Prior to joining the School of Data Science, Alvarado worked and taught at Princeton University, Dickinson College, and the University of Virginia, participating in several projects, including the Charrette Project, the House Divided Project, and the Mandala Project.
Alvarado holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology and a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Virginia.
Education
- Ph.D., Anthropology, University of Virginia
- M.A., Anthropology, University of Virginia
- B.A., Philosophy, University of Virginia
Data Science Domains
Design; Data + Society
Areas of Practice
Data Ethics and Society
Selected Publications
- Alvarado, Rafael. In press. “Turing’s Children.” Social Science Computer Review, upcoming special issue on the sociology of AI.
- Alvarado, Rafael. 2025. “AI and Transductive Mimesis.” Written for the
symposium Reimagining AI for Environmental Justice and Creativity, Karsh Institute of Democracy, University of Virginia, 23 October 2024. - Alvarado, Rafael C. 2024. “What Large Language Models Know.” Critical AI. 2(1).
- Alvarado, R.C., 2023. “Data Science from 1963 to 2012.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2311.03292.
- Alvarado, R.C., 2023. “The 4+1 Model of Data Science.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2311.07631.
- Alvarado, Rafael C., and Philip E. Bourne. 2023. “AI in the Broader Context of Data Science.” In Artificial Intelligence for Science, 53–65. WORLD SCIENTIFIC.
- Alvarado, Rafael. 2023. “Datawork and the Future of Digital Humanities.” In The Bloomsbury Handbook of the Digital Humanities, James O’Sullivan, ed.
- Alvarado, Rafael. 2019. “Digital Humanities and the Great Project: Why We Need to Operationalize Everything.” In Debates in the Digital Humanities, Volume 3. Matthew K. Gold, ed. Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.
- Alvarado, Rafael. 2012. “The Digital Humanities Situation.” In Debates in the Digital Humanities. Matthew K. Gold, ed. Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.
- Alvarado, Rafael. 2012. “Figuring the Data in a Database of Figures.” in Dame Philology’s Charrette: Approaching Medieval Textuality through Chrtien’s Lancelot: Essays in Memory of Karl D. Uitti. Gina L. Greco and Ellen Thorington, eds. Tempe, Arizona: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.