Events
Past Event
WED@NICO SEMINAR: James Moody, Duke University "The Structural Dynamics of Groups and Roles in Early Adolescent Friendship Networks"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Lower Level Chambers Hall
Details
Speaker:
James Moody - Professor in the Department of Sociology and Director of the Duke Network Analysis Center, Duke University.
Talk Abstract:
A fundamental aspect of school life rests on the collective substructures of peer networks. We examine two intersecting substructures here: peer groups defined as dense communities of close friends and role positions, defined on the pattern of ties one is embedded within, which are closely aligned with the school status structure. Combined, these two dimensions define the social field of a school for adolescents. Despite intense policy interest in “peer pressure– and theoretical interests in generalizations of fields, there is little basic descriptive information on the life-history of these key social network substructures in real-world networks, in part due to lack of available data and appropriate methods. Here, we describe the dynamics of groups and roles in remarkable new dynamic data on 6 waves of peer network data in a way that lets us see the simultaneous emergence of behavior homophily and status stability.
Co-Sponsor:
This talk is co-sponsored by the CONNECT Research Program within the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing. CONNECT is focused around elucidating the complex mechanisms driving the health disparities of stigmatized populations, in particular gender and sexual minorities. In order to build cross-campus connections, CONNECT will be hosting a livestream of this talk on the Chicago Campus at 625 North Michigan Avenue in the 5th Floor Conference Room. Lunch will be served for attendees. Please contact Mich Elliott (me@northwestern.edu) with any questions.
Live Stream:
This talk is being livestreamed via BlueJeans.
To join the Meeting: https://bluejeans.com/353775799
To join via Browser: https://bluejeans.com/353775799/browser
Time
Wednesday, October 5, 2016 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
WED@NICO Fall Seminar Series returns on Sept 24th!
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
//
Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details

The Wednesdays @ NICO Fall Seminar Series returns on September 24th and will run through November 12th, 2025. Please visit our web site in early September for detailed speaker information, talk titles and abstracts.
This fall, we are honored to host the following distinguished speakers:
9/24 - Emma Alexander, Dept of Computer Science, Northwestern University
10/1 - Sebastien Martin, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
10/8 - Tomer Ullman, Dept of Psychology, Harvard University
10/15 - Patrick Park, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University
10/22 - Max Kreminski, Midjourney
10/29 - Elizabeth Gerber, Mechanical Engineering and Communication Studies, Northwestern University
11/5 - Julio Ottino, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University
11/12 - Blaise Aguera y Arcas, Google Research
Location:
In person: Chambers Hall, 600 Foster Street, Lower Level
Remote option: TBA via Zoom
About the Speaker Series:
Wednesdays@NICO is a vibrant weekly seminar series focusing broadly on the topics of complex systems, data science and network science. It brings together attendees ranging from graduate students to senior faculty who span all of the schools across Northwestern, from applied math to sociology to biology and every discipline in-between. Please visit: https://bit.ly/WedatNICO for information on future speakers.
Time
Wednesday, September 24, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
Calendar
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)