Brian C. Keegan

(he/his/him)

3

Articles

0

Comments

Brian C. Keegan, Ph.D. is a computational social scientist using data science tools to answer social science questions. His research interests include (1) high-tempo online collaborations, (2) governing information commons, and (3) public interest data science. I use digital traces of social behavior to explore how disruptions illuminate the emergence, stabilization, and dissolution of collaborative social structures. His research has explored how Wikipedia editors self-organize to write article about current events, how millions of players learn new strategies after software patches, and how Twitter is used during media events like presidential debates and sporting championships. In AY25-26, he is on research sabbatical at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies working on a monograph about ecofascist data science. Keegan is an associate professor at the Department of Information Science at the University of Colorado Boulder, worked a researcher at the Harvard Business School and Northeastern University, received his M.A. and Ph.D. from Northwestern University's School of Communication, and his S.B. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Experience

  • 2025–present
    Associate professor, University of Colorado Boulder
  • 2025–2026
    Visiting scientist, Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies
  • 2016–2025
    Assistant professor, University of Colorado Boulder
  • 2014–2016
    Research associate, Harvard Business School
  • 2012–2014
    Postdoctoral research associate, Northeastern University

Education

  • 2012 
    Northwestern University, Ph.D., Media, Technology, & Society
  • 2010 
    Northwestern University, M.A., Media, Technology, & Society
  • 2006 
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology, S.B., Science, Technology, & Society
  • 2006 
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology, S.B., Mechanical Engineering

Grants and Contracts

  • 2022
    RAPID: Documenting and understanding large-scale migrations between social media platforms
    Role:
    PI
    Funding Source:
    National Science Foundation
  • 2019
    CHS: Small: A Genealogical Framework to Understand the Emergence of Online Groups
    Role:
    PI
    Funding Source:
    National Science Foundation
  • 2018
    EAGER: Social Dynamics of Organizational Behavior in Temporary Virtual Teams
    Role:
    PI
    Funding Source:
    National Science Foundation

Contact Brian for

  • General
  • Media request
  • Speaking request
  • Consulting / Advising
  • Research collaboration
  • Research supervision