SOCIOL 208B Reading Schedule

Fall 2026

THIS IS A LIVE SCHEDULE. CHECK REGULARLY FOR UPDATES

Assigned articles and book chapters with DOIs are linked directly below. Readings without DOIs are available in the Course Files Folder.

Class meets on Mondays from 3:00 p.m. to 5:50 p.m. in Public Affairs Building Room 2325.

Analytic Memos: Weekly memos (500–1000 words) are due Sundays by 5:00 p.m. PT (Weeks 1–10) via Bruin Learn Assignments. Each memo should reference at least four readings total, including at least one from Part 1 and at least one from Part 2.

1 Week 1: Networks As Theory and Perspective

1.1 Mon., Sep. 28

Note: Analytic Memo 1 due Sunday, Sep. 27 by 5:00 p.m. PT via Bruin Learn.

1.1.1 Part 1: Structural Foundations & Network Theory

  • Wellman, B. (1988). Structural Analysis: From Method and Metaphor To Theory and Substance. In B. Wellman & S. D. Berkowitz (Eds.), Social Structures: A Network Approach (pp. 19–61). Cambridge University Press. Course Files
  • Martin, J. L. (2009). Social Structures. Princeton University Press (selections). link
  • Borgatti, S. P., & Halgin, D. S. (2011). On Network Theory. Organization Science, 22(5), 1168–1181. link
  • Rivera, M. T., Soderstrom, S. B., & Uzzi, B. (2010). Dynamics of Dyads in Social Networks: Assortative, Relational, and Proximity Mechanisms. Annual Review of Sociology, 36(1), 91–115. link

1.1.2 Part 2: Relational Sociology, Culture, and Agency

  • Erikson, E. (2013). Formalist and Relationalist Theory In Social Network Analysis. Sociological Theory, 31(3), 219–242. link
  • Erices-Ocampo, P., Lubbers, M. J., & adams, j. (2025). Toward a Unified Conceptualization of Social Capital. Annual Review of Sociology, 51. link
  • Fuhse, J. (2020). Theories of Social Networks. In R. Light & J. Moody (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Social Networks (pp. 34–49). Oxford University Press. link

2 Week 2: Brokerage and Intermediation

2.1 Mon., Oct. 5

Note: Analytic Memo 2 due Sunday, Oct. 4 by 5:00 p.m. PT via Bruin Learn.

2.1.1 Part 1: Weak Ties, Brokerage Roles, and Mediation

  • Granovetter, M. S. (1973). The Strength of Weak Ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78(3), 1360–1380. link
    • (Optional) Rejection letter from American Sociological Review of the first (1969) version of the paper. pdf
    • (Optional) Granovetter, M. S. (1969). Alienation Reconsidered: The Strength of Weak Ties. Reprinted in Connections 5(2): 4-16. pdf
  • Kim, M., & Fernandez, R. M. (2023). What Makes Weak Ties Strong? Annual Review of Sociology, 49(1), 177–193. link
  • Gould, R. V., & Fernandez, R. M. (1989). Structures of Mediation: A Formal Approach To Brokerage In Transaction Networks. Sociological Methodology, 89–126. link
  • Obstfeld, D., Borgatti, S. P., & Davis, J. (2014). Brokerage As a Process: Decoupling Third Party Action From Social Network Structure. Research In The Sociology of Organizations, 40, 135-159. link
  • Stovel, K., & Shaw, L. (2012). Brokerage. Annual Review of Sociology, 38, 139-158. link

2.1.2 Part 2: Structural Holes, Embeddedness, and Information Bandwidth

  • Burt, R. S. (2004). Structural Holes and Good Ideas. American Journal of Sociology, 110(2), 349-399. link
  • Goldberg, A., Srivastava, S. B., Manian, V. G., Monroe, W., & Potts, C. (2016). Fitting In Or Standing Out? The Tradeoffs of Structural and Cultural Embeddedness. American Sociological Review, 81(6), 1190-1222. link
  • Aral, S., & Van Alstyne, M. (2011). The diversity-bandwidth trade-off. American Journal of Sociology, 117(1), 90-171. link

3 Week 3: Networks and the Economy and Organizations

3.1 Mon., Oct. 12

Note: Analytic Memo 3 due Sunday, Oct. 11 by 5:00 p.m. PT via Bruin Learn.

3.1.1 Part 1: Embeddedness, Price Setting, and Market Dynamics

  • Uzzi, B. (1996). The Sources and Consequences of Embeddedness for the Economic Performance of Organizations: The Network Effect. American Sociological Review, 61(4), 674–698. link
  • Fernandez-Mateo, I. (2007). Who Pays the Price of Brokerage? Transferring Constraint through Price Setting in the Staffing Sector. American Sociological Review, 72(2), 291–317. link
  • Duxbury, S. W., & Haynie, D. L. (2021). Shining a Light on the Shadows: Endogenous Trade Structure and the Growth of an Online Illegal Market. American Journal of Sociology, 127(3), 787–827. link

3.1.2 Part 2: Market Status, Interfirm Networks, and Hybrid Economic Forms

  • Podolny, J. M. (2001). Networks as the Pipes and Prisms of the Market. American Journal of Sociology, 107(1), 33–60. link
  • Uzzi, B. (1997). Social Structure and Competition in Interfirm Networks: The Paradox of Embeddedness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42(1), 35–67. link
  • Mani, D., & Moody, J. (2014). Moving beyond Stylized Economic Network Models: The Hybrid World of the Indian Firm Ownership Network. American Journal of Sociology, 119(6), 1629–1669. link

4 Week 4: Networks In Science

4.1 Mon., Oct. 19

4.1.1 Part 1: Specialization, Novelty, and Idea Diffusion

  • Smith, D., Kennard, N., Du, T., & McFarland, D. (2025). How Values and Uncertainty Shape Scientific Advance in Peer Review. American Sociological Review, 90(5), 879–915. link
  • Heiberger, R. H., Munoz-Najar Galvez, S., & McFarland, D. A. (2021). Facets of specialization and its relation to career success: An analysis of US sociology, 1980 to 2015. American Sociological Review, 86(6), 1164-1192. link
  • Leahey, E., Lee, J., & Funk, R. J. (2023). What types of novelty are most disruptive?. American Sociological Review, 88(3), 562-597. link

4.1.2 Part 2: Innovation Strategies, Scientific Consensus, and Curation

  • Foster, J. G., Rzhetsky, A., & Evans, J. A. (2015). Tradition and Innovation In Scientists’ Research Strategies. American Sociological Review, 80(5), 875-908. link
  • McMahan, P., & McFarland, D. A. (2021). Creative Destruction: The Structural Consequences of Scientific Curation. American Sociological Review, 86(2), 341-376. link
  • Shwed, U., & Bearman, P. S. (2010). The Temporal Structure of Scientific Consensus Formation. American Sociological Review, 75(6), 817-840. link

5 Week 5: Collaboration, Creativity, and Field Dynamics

5.1 Mon., Oct. 26

5.1.1 Part 1: Structural Folds & Small Worlds of Creativity

  • Vedres, B., & Stark, D. (2010). Structural Folds: Generative Disruption In Overlapping Groups. American Journal of Sociology, 115(4), 1150-1190. link
  • Uzzi, B., & Spiro, J. (2005). Collaboration and Creativity: The Small World Problem. American Journal of Sociology, 111, 447-504. link
  • De Vaan, M., Stark, D., & Vedres, B. (2015). Game Changer: The Topology of Creativity. American Journal of Sociology, 120(4), 1144-1194. link
  • Lutter, M. (2015). Do Women Suffer from Network Closure? The Moderating Effect of Social Capital on Gender Inequality in a Project-Based Labor Market, 1929 to 2010. American Sociological Review, 80(2), 329–358. link

5.1.2 Part 2: Interorganizational Fields & Team Spillovers

  • Powell, W. W., White, D. R., Koput, K. W., & Owen-Smith, J. (2005). Network Dynamics and Field Evolution: The Growth of Interorganizational Collaboration In The Life Sciences. American Journal of Sociology, 110(4), 1132-1205. link
  • Rossman, G., Esparza, N., & Bonacich, P. (2010). I’d Like To Thank The Academy, Team Spillovers, and Network Centrality. American Sociological Review, 75(1), 31-51. link

6 Week 6: Networks and Culture and Culture in Networks

6.1 Mon., Nov. 2

📌 Milestone: Final Project Extended Abstract due Friday, Nov. 6 by 11:59 p.m. PT.

6.1.1 Part 1: Dualities of Culture & Structure and Tie Formation

  • Lizardo, O. (2023). Culture and Networks. Pp. 188-201 in The SAGE Handbook of Social Network Analysis. SAGE Publications Ltd. link
  • Lewis, K., & Kaufman, J. (2018). The Conversion of Cultural Tastes Into Social Network Ties. American Journal of Sociology, 123(6), 1684-1742. link
  • Fuhse, J. A., & Gondal, N. (2024). Networks from culture: Mechanisms of tie-formation follow institutionalized rules in social fields. Social Networks, 77, 43–54. link

6.1.2 Part 2: Meaning Structures, Relational Sociology, and Publics

  • Fuhse, J. A. (2009). The Meaning Structure of Social Networks. Sociological Theory, 27(1), 51-73. link
  • Mützel, S., & Breiger, R. (2021). Duality Beyond Persons and Groups. In The Oxford Handbook of Social Networks. Oxford University Press. link
  • Fuhse, J., & Mische, A. (2024). Relational Sociology: Networks, Culture and Interaction. In J. McLevey, J. Scott, & P. J. Carrington (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Social Network Analysis (2nd ed., pp. 55–71). SAGE. link

7 Week 7: Diffusion In Networks

7.1 Mon., Nov. 9

7.1.1 Part 1: Complex Contagion, Clustering, and Spatial Diffusion

  • Centola, D., & Macy, M. (2007). Complex Contagions and the Weakness of Long Ties. American Journal of Sociology, 113(3), 702–734. link
  • DellaPosta, D., Shi, Y., & Macy, M. (2015). Why Do Liberals Drink Lattes? American Journal of Sociology, 120(5), 1473-1511. link
  • Centola, D. (2015). The social origins of networks and diffusion. American Journal of Sociology, 120(5), 1295-1338. link
  • Cheng, M., Smith, D. S., Ren, X., Cao, H., Smith, S., & McFarland, D. A. (2023). How new ideas diffuse in science. American Sociological Review, 88(3), 522–561. link
  • Becker, S. O., Hsiao, Y., Pfaff, S., & Rubin, J. (2020). Multiplex Network Ties and the Spatial Diffusion of Radical Innovations: Martin Luther’s Leadership In The Early Reformation. American Sociological Review, 85(5), 857-894. link
  • Keuchenius, A., Törnberg, P., & Uitermark, J. (2021). Adoption and Adaptation: A Computational Case Study of the Spread of Granovetter’s Weak Ties Hypothesis. Social Networks, 66, 10-25. link

7.1.2 Part 2: Associative Diffusion & Cultural Currents

  • Goldberg, A., & Stein, S. K. (2018). Beyond Social Contagion: Associative Diffusion and The Emergence of Cultural Variation. American Sociological Review, 83(5), 897-932. link
  • Bail, C. A., Brown, T. W., & Mann, M. (2017). Channeling hearts and minds: Advocacy organizations, cognitive-emotional currents, and public conversation. American Sociological Review, 82(6), 1188-1213. link

8 Week 8: Networks In History

8.1 Mon., Nov. 16

8.1.1 Part 1: Robust Action, Mobilization, and Historical Networks

  • Padgett, J. F., & Ansell, C. K. (1993). Robust Action and the Rise of the Medici, 1400-1434. American Journal of Sociology, 98(6), 1259–1319. link
  • Gould, R. V. (1991). Multiple Networks and Mobilization In The Paris Commune, 1871. American Sociological Review, 56(6), 716-729. link

8.1.2 Part 2: Global Trade, Malfeasance, and Historical Sequences

  • Erikson, E., & Bearman, P. (2006). Malfeasance and the Foundations For Global Trade: The Structure of English Trade In The East Indies, 1601–1833. American Journal of Sociology, 112(1), 195-230. link
  • Bearman, P., Faris, R., & Moody, J. (1999). Blocking The Future: New Solutions For Old Problems In Historical Social Science. Social Science History, 23(4), 501-533. link

9 Week 9: Networks and Inequality

9.1 Mon., Nov. 23

9.1.1 Part 1: Homophily, Elite Kinship, and Intergroup Network Inequalities

  • DiMaggio, P., & Garip, F. (2011). How network externalities can exacerbate intergroup inequality. American Journal of Sociology, 116(6), 1887-1933. link
  • Leszczensky, L., & Pink, S. (2019). What Drives Ethnic Homophily? A Relational Approach on How Ethnic Identification Moderates Preferences for Same-Ethnic Friends. American Sociological Review, 84(3), 394–419. link
  • O’Brien, S. (2026). Kinship Interlocks: How the Intimate Exchange of Wealth, Status, and Power Generates Upper-Class Persistence. American Sociological Review, 91(2), 191–226. Course Files

9.1.2 Part 2: Academic Status Hierarchies, Network Segregation, and Migration

  • Gondal, N. (2018). Duality of departmental specializations and PhD exchange: A Weberian analysis of status in interaction using multilevel exponential random graph models (mERGM). Social Networks, 55, 202-212. link
  • Zhao, L. (2025). Uneven Mixing, Network Segregation, and Immigrant Integration. American Sociological Review, 90(3), 521–559. Course Files
  • Leal, D. F. (2021). Network Inequalities and International Migration in the Americas. American Journal of Sociology, 126(5), 1067–1126. link