James Cook — Curriculum Vitae

James M. Cook, Ph.D.

phone: 207-706-6056 | e-mail: jamescook@realsociology.com

ORCid: orcid.org/0000-0003-3705-8540

Professional Specializations

• Social network analysis

• Social media research

• Political sociology

• Sociology of gender

Professional and Educational History

University of Maine at Augusta

• Assistant Professor of Social Science, 2011-2017

• Associate Professor of Sociology, 2017-2025

 Duke University

• Assistant Professor of Sociology, 2000-2006

University of Arizona (Ph.D., Sociology, 2000)

• Graduate Assistant, 1994-2000

• Dissertation: "The Social Structure of Political Behavior: Action, Interaction and Congressional Cosponsorship."

University of Arizona (M.A., Sociology, 1996)

Oberlin College (B.A., Sociology, 1993)

Peer-Reviewed Publications

• Clemens, Elisabeth and James M. Cook. 1999. "Politics and Institutionalism: Explaining Durability and Change." Annual Review of Sociology 25: 441-466.

• Cook, James M. and Kristie A. Taylor. 2000. "National Power on the Local Stage: How Cable Captured Congress and Cornered Cities." Sociological Perspectives 43: 651-670.  

• McPherson, Miller, Lynn Smith-Lovin and James M. Cook. 2001. "Birds of a Feather: Homophily in Social Networks." Annual Review of Sociology 27: 415-444.

• Cook, James M. 2005. "Filling Structural Holes: Social Networks in the Introductory Course." Teaching Sociology 33: 170-180.

• Cook, James M. 2011. "Gender, Voting, and Cosponsorship in the Maine State Legislature." New England Journal of Political Science 6: 2-30.

• Cook, James M. 2016. "Are American Politicians as Partisan Online as they are Offline? Twitter Networks in the U.S. Senate and Maine State Legislature." Policy & Internet 8(1): 55-71.

• Cook, James M. 2016. "Gender, Party, and Presentation of Family in the Social Media Profiles of 10 State Legislatures." Social Media + Society 2(2): 1-11.

• Cook, James M, 2016. "Twitter Adoption in U.S. Legislatures: A Fifty-State Study." Proceedings of the 2016 International Conference on Social Media & Society. DOI: 10.1145/2930971.2930982.

• Cook, James M. and Dawn Plourde. 2016. "Do Scholars Follow Betteridge's Law? Questions in Journal Article Titles." Scientometrics 108(3): 1119-1128.

• Cook, James M. 2017. "Twitter Adoption and Activity in US Legislatures: A 50-State Study." American Behavioral Scientist 61(7): 724-740.

• Cook, James M., Carrie Hill and Jennifer Chase. 2018. “From Offline Politics to Online Action: Social Media Adoption and Communication by the Legislators, Lobbyists, and Business Groups of Maine.” In Sub-National Democracy and Politics through Social Media (Mehmet Zahid Sobacı and İbrahim Hatipoğlu, eds.). Heidelberg, Germany: Springer.

• Duguay, Ashley, Todd Loughead and James M. Cook. 2019. "Athlete Leadership as a Shared Process: Using a Social Network Approach to Examine Athlete Leadership in Competitive Female Youth Soccer Teams." The Sport Psychologist 33(3): 189-202.

• Gurnack, Anne M., and James M. Cook. 2021. "Polish Americans, Political Partisanship and Presidential Elections Voting: 1972-2020." European Journal of Transformation Studies 9(2): 30-39.

• Rubinsky, Valerie, and James Cook. 2023. "More than Two… but not Right Now: Interpretations and Responses to Covid-19 Measures on Reddit for Two Communities of Consensual Non-Monogamy." Sexuality & Culture 27(3): 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-022-10056-w.

• Cook, James M. 2023. “Social Media and Heroism.” In Encyclopedia of Heroism Studies, Scott Allison et al. (editors). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17125-3_79-1.

•  Currently Under Peer Review at Substance Use and Misuse: Hartwig, Jadyn, Jared Kendrick, Ghonwa Ahmad, James Cook, Douglas B. Matthews, and Pravesh Sharma. 2024. “Exploring User Experiences with Amanita Muscaria: A Thematic Analysis of Reddit Online Forum.”\

• Currently Under Peer Review at Sexuality & Culture: Cook, James M. 2024. “Sexual Identity in Online Social Context: Mapping Community Connections Surrounding r/Bisexuality on Reddit”

Other Publications

• Cook, James M. 2006. "The Social Logic of Politics: Personal Networks as Contexts for Political Behavior (Book Review)." Social Forces 84: 1844-1845.

• Cook, James M. 2013. “Usability Study for the Website of the Maine State Legislature: Final Report.” Private research product distributed to the executive offices of the Maine State Legislature.

• Cook, James M. 2015-2017.  Column author for Kennebec Journal’s College Connection.  500-word solicited newspaper column.  Titles:

  • “Is Your Professor Paid Off?” May 23, 2017

  • “Alternative Facts Aren’t Fake; They’re Real.” March 28, 2017

  • “To Avoid Fake News, Forget Reputation and go Straight to the Source.” February 8, 2017

  • “President Trump Insults Maine Residents, but is he Right?” December 13, 2016

  • “This Election, do we Show Up or Crumble?” October 20, 2016

  • “A Glimpse of Maine Senate Races via Social Media.” September 13, 2016

  • “This Quirky Little Social Law Could End your Life.” July 12, 2016

  • “American Culture Gets it Wrong: Limits are Real.” June 7, 2016

  • “When Mainers Act Like Rats (And Why That’s a Good Thing).” May 10, 2016

  • “In Games and Codes, What are the Gender Limits?” March 29, 2016

  • “Interdisciplinarity Reaps a Rich View of Maine Politics.” February 17, 2016

  • “African Immigrants to Maine are Young, Educated, and Integrating.” January 7, 2016

  • “In Crime Debates, Let’s Use Facts vs. Fears.” November 24, 2015

  • “Hammers, Numbers, and Stories: What Good is a Social Science Degree?” October 13, 2015

  • “Examining Temptation, Ethics, and the University.” September 3, 2015

  • “Do the Math: How Partisan is the Maine Legislature?” July 22, 2015

  • “How Relations Affect Maine Leadership PACs.” June 9, 2015

  • “Women and Men at the State House: Is there a Difference?” April 16, 2015

  • “Why Does Augusta get a Bum Rap on Crime?  It’s a City Thing.” April 7, 2015

• Cook, James M. 2016. “2016 Voter Registrations and 2014 General Election Voter Turnout: Local Variation in the State of Maine.” Private research product prepared for the League of Women Voters.

• Cook, James M. 2019. “Talking Donald Trump: A Sociolinguistic Study of Style, Metadiscourse, and Political Identity (Book Review).”  Presidential Studies Quarterly 49(2): 483-484.

• Gruzd, Anatoliy, Philip Mai, Raquel Recuero, Ángel Hernández, Chei Sian Lee, James Cook, Jaigris Hodson, Bree McEwan, and Jill Hopke. 2020. “An Introduction to the 2020 Conference on Social Media and Society: Diverse Voices – Promises and Perils of Social Media for Diversity.”  SMSociety ’20: International Conference on Social Media and Society July: 1-4.

• Smith, Sally and Cook, James M. 2022. “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Student Experience.” Private research product distributed to the Five Town Community School District.

• Cook, James M. 2022 and 2023.  “Gender Pay Gaps and Gender Segregation at UMA.”  Private research report distributed to faculty and administration of the University of Maine at Augusta.

• Cook, James M., Elizabeth Powers, BJ Kitchin, and Richard Lumb. 2024. “UMA Student Worker Experience Project: Report of Findings.”  Private research report distributed to faculty, staff, student, and administration shared governance groups and the University of Maine System Board of Trustees.

Presentations

• “Identity in Online Social Context: Mapping Community Connections Surrounding r/Bisexuality on Reddit.” Presentation to the University of Maine at Augusta Research Colloquium (UMARC) series, November 14 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPIqoyW98bc

• “Bisexuality in Social Media Context: Mapping Connections Between the Communities Surrounding r/Bisexuality on Reddit.” At the 3rd International Bisexuality+ Research Conference, October 5 2024.

• “Triune Sociocultural Graphs of Bisexual Identities in a Social Media Environment.” at the 2023 Bisexual+ Research, Activism, and Community Conference, September 30 2023.

• “What does your Professor want from you?”  Invited Presentation to the UMA Trail Blazer Workshop, Fall 2021.

• “10 Habits of Highly Effective Students.”  Invited Presentation to the UMA Trail Blazer Workshop, Fall 2021.

• “The Hidden Curriculum of a College Education.”  Invited Presentation to the UMA Trail Blazer Workshop, Fall 2021.

• “The Impact of Homophily on Achieving Corporate Diversity.” Invited presentation to Leadership Lyceum, Chicago IL, February 15, 2021.

• “Democracy and Authoritarianism in America: How to Protect one and Prevent the Other.” Invited presentation to Democracy & Authoritarianism Speaker Series at Ferry Beach Center, Saco ME, October 29 2020.

• Participant, Groundwork Reunion Art Jam, October 2020.

• “Rebuilding Trust in the Current Environment.” Invited presentation to Democracy & Authoritarianism Speaker Series at Ferry Beach Center, Saco ME, January 22 2020.

• “Watch, Swim, or Surf: Data and Civic Engagement Involvement” at CLICK (Connect Learning in Community Knowledge) miniconference, Jewett Hall, UMA Augusta, October 3, 2019.

• “Nonmonogamy Online: Comparing Content and Structure of Polyamory and Swinging Communication over Social Media” at the Social Media & Society 2019 International Conference in Toronto, Canada, July 19-21, 2019.

• “Gender, Party, and the Kavanaugh Nomination: American State Legislators on Twitter” at the Social Media & Society 2019 International Conference in Toronto, Canada, July 19-21, 2019.

• “Gender, Party, & the Kavanaugh Nomination” at the Research and Pedagogy Colloquium Series, UMA Augusta, April 24, 2019.

• “Measuring Community in Political Networks” at VIT University, Tamil Nadu, India, August 7, 2018.

• “A Moving Average of Our Associates” at Groundwork VII in East Wakefield, NH, April 7, 2018.

• “Safety Net: Online Behavior Management Strategies” at University College 2016 Faculty Institute in Augusta, ME, May 18, 2017.

• “Applying the Principles of Community Engagement to the Practice of Community Gardening,” with Laura Kate Corlew at the 2017 Eastern Psychological Association Conference in Boston, MA, March 18, 2017.

• Community forum on discrimination and the KKK, invited public panel discussant, University of Maine at Augusta, February 8, 2017.

• “Social Threat, Social Media and Political Campaigns: 2016 Election Season Trends,” invited presentation to the Lewiston Wisdom Lunch, Lewiston, ME, October 2016.

• Interview regarding gubernatorial politics on The Maine Event (MPBN TV), September 2016.

• “Fears, Data and the 2016 Maine Elections,” invited presentation to the Maine Credit Union League, Bangor, ME, September 2016.

• “Twitter Adoption in U.S. Legislatures: A Fifty-State Study” at the 2016 International Social Media & Society Conference in London, UK, July 13, 2016.

• “Beyond the Course by 2030: Redesigning State University Education as an Open Structure of Learning Objects” at University College 2016 Faculty Institute, May 20, 2016.

• “Going Outside: We Tied Our Courses to a Garden, a Foreign Policy Conference, and Statuary Hall, and Thrived” at University College 2016 Faculty Institute, May 20, 2016.

• “Access Delayed is Access Denied: Equality of Information in the Age of Social Media” at League of Women Voters New England Leadership Conference in Wells, ME, April 9, 2016.

• “Faculty Panel: Research Across the Disciplines,” presentation as part of Research and Pedagogy panel at the University of Maine at Augusta, delivered February 2016.

• “Social Media and Politics,” invited appearance on MPBN’s Maine Calling, December 2015.

• “Online Education in the Year 2030” Research and Pedagogy colloquium presentation, University of Maine at Augusta, October 15, 2015.

• “The Sociology of Social Media,” invited appearance on MPBN’s Maine Calling, September 2015.

• “Stages of Teaching and Learning Social Media Analytics” at the 2015 meetings of the International Communication Association in San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 24, 2015.

• “Open Maine: Making Politics Social,” Research and Pedagogy lecture at the University of Maine at Augusta, delivered April 2015.

• “When Friendship Gets Fuzzy: Tie Formation and Role Performance Among Teddy Bears Online” at the Social Media & Society 2014 International Conference in Toronto, Canada, September 27-28, 2014.

• “When is Online On Task? Matching Social Media to Teaching Style and Learning Outcomes” at the 2014 University of Maine System Faculty Institute, May 15, 2014.

• “Making Connections: Twitter Networks of the Maine State Legislature,” at the 2014 New England Political Science Association Conference in Woodstock, Vermont, April 24-26, 2014.

• “Choosing a teaching career after the PhD” at Harvard University Department of Sociology, April 11 2014.

• “Beat the ‘Suite: Free Alternatives for Social Media Analytics” at Social Media Breakfast Central Maine, Thomas College, February 25 2014.

• “Twitter Talk in the U.S. Senate” at the 2013 Social Media and Society Conference at Dalhousie University, September 14 2013.

• “Your Course is a Network, Not a Line: Implementing a Graphic Syllabus Online” at the Third New England Regional Sloan-C Conference on Online Learning in Portland, Maine, on October 26 2012.

• “Domains, Ceilings and Escalators: Committee Gender Composition and Legislative Leadership in the State House” at the New England Political Science Association meetings in April 2012.

• “Is a Corporation a Person?” lecture for Constitution Week, University of Maine at Augusta, Randall Student Center, September 20 2011.

Courses Developed (first year taught in parentheses)

• Analyzing Social Media (2013)

• Basic Research Methods (2019)

• Business and Politics in American Society (2001)

• Collective Behavior and Social Movements (1999)

• Criminology (2011)

• Cultivating Community: The Garden Seminar (2014)

• Introduction to Research Literacy (2024)

• Introduction to Sociology (1997)

• Introduction to the Social Sciences (2025)

• Learning and the College Community (2022)

• Political Investigation (2025)

• Political Networks (2000)

• Political Sociology (2002)

• Research Methods in the Social Sciences (2014)

• Social Bases of Politics (2001)

• Social Media Certificate (2012)

• Social Networks (2012)

• Social Problems (2011)

• Social Science Capstone Course (2018)

• Sociology of Gender (2014)

• Sociology of Women (1996)

Modalities Taught

In Person at Campuses and Centers (1997-2024):

• University of Arizona:

  • On campus: Tucson, AZ

  • Off campus: Nogales, AZ

• Duke University:

  • On campus: Durham, NC

• University of Maine at Augusta:

  • On campus: Augusta, Bangor

  • In centers: Brunswick, Ellsworth, Rockland

  • Online (2012-2024)

  • Maine State Prison, Maximum Security (2018-2024)

Awards           

• Office of Civic Engagement Outstanding Faculty Service Award, April 2012

• Meritorious Achievement Award for the College of Arts and Sciences, 2016-2017

• Maine Campus Compact President’s Campus Leadership Award (Social Science Program), 2022

• University of Arizona Sociology Program Political Action Award, 1998

University Service

• UMA Research Colloquium, Organizer and Chair (Fall 2024 - Spring 2025)

• UMA Student Worker Pay Project, Principal Investigator and Chair (Fall 2022 - Spring 2025)

• Maine Policy Scholars Faculty Advisor (Fall 2015 – Fall 2020, Fall 2023 - Spring 2025)

• UMA Maine Policy Scholars Selection Committee (Chair, 2016 - Spring 2025)               

• UMA Student Research Conference Organizing Committee (Spring 2016 - Spring 2025 )

• Social Science Program Secretary (Fall 2011 - Spring 2025)

• Diversity Committee, Steering Committee (Fall 2023- Spring 2024)

• Institutional Review Board (Fall 2022 – Spring 2024)

• UMA AFUM Secretary (Fall 2022 – Spring 2024)

• General Education Workgroup on Social Science (Fall 2023 – Spring 2024)

• General Education Workgroup on Quantitative and Computer Literacy (Fall 2023 – Spring 2024)

• University of Maine System Student Conduct Board (Fall 2021 – Spring 2024, Chair Fall 2022 – Spring 2024)

• UMA Conduct Committee Faculty Chair (Summer 2016)

• UMA Conduct Committee (Fall 2015 - Fall 2016)

• Sabbatical Committee (Chair 2020, Member 2021)

• Shared Governance Review Committee (Chair Fall 2020 – Spring 2021)

• Provost’s Committee on Faculty Hiring (Fall 2020 – Spring 2021)

• Social Science Program of the Future Author, Member, Project Manager (2019-2020)

• Brightspace Pilot Participant (Spring 2020)

• Augusta Assembly Co-Organizer (Fall 2018 – Spring 2020)

• UMA Bookstore Advisory Committee (Fall 2019)

• UMA Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Unified Accreditation (Fall 2019 -- Spring 2020)

• UMA Augusta Community Garden Co-Coordinator (Fall 2015 – Fall 2017), Coordinator (Spring 2018 – Fall 2022)

• UMA Bangor Community Garden Co-Coordinator (Spring 2017 – Spring 2019)

• Psychology Degree Development Committee (Fall 2018 – Spring 2019)

• Board Policy 214 Task Force (Spring 2018)

• Faculty Senate (Spring 2014, Fall 2017 – Spring 2020, Spring 2022)

• Social Science Communications Hiring Committee (2018-2019)

• Civic Engagement Advisory Committee (Fall 2017 – Fall 2019)

• Social Science Hiring Committee Chair (2013-2014, 2017-2018)

• UMA Colloquium Committee (Spring 2017 – Fall 2018)

• Bridge Year Program Oversight Committee (Spring 2015 – Spring 2018)

• Interdisciplinary Studies Council (Spring 2015 – Fall 2016)

• Advocating Wicked Scholarship in Maine Committee, Chair (Fall 2014 – Fall 2016)

• Convocation Speaker (Fall 2014)

• Moderator, UMA Augusta Mayoral Debate (Fall 2014)

• UMA Library Hiring Committee (Spring 2013)

• Office of Institutional Research Hiring Committee (Fall 2012 - Spring 2013)

• Computer Information Systems Hiring Committee (Fall 2012 - Spring 2013)

• Civic Engagement Strategic Planning Committee, Chair (Fall 2012 – Spring 2013)

• UMA-UC Committee (Spring 2013)

• Research and Pedagogy Colloquium Series Organizer (Spring 2011- Spring 2020)

• Office of Civic Engagement Advisory Group (Fall 2011 – Spring 2014)

Community-Centered Service

• The Audacity, Founder and Facilitator (2024-)

• Midcoast Community Chorus, Board Member (2021), Vice Chair (2022), Chair (2023 -)

• Five Town Community School District DEI Task Force (2021-2022)

• Watts Hall Community Players Count Me In Historical Research Group (2021)

• Co-Founder and Facilitator, Midcoast Maine Indivisible (2017-2021)

• Founder, Bangor Indivisible (2017)

Research Peer Review Service

Conferences

•             International Social Media & Society Conference Chair (2022)

•             International Social Media & Society Working Papers Chair (2020)

•             International Social Media & Society Conference Program Committee (Fall 2018 - )

•             Association of Internet Researchers Program Committee (2018-2019)

•             26th International World Wide Web Conference Program Committee (2017)

Books

•             Social Structure by Jon Eastwood (Polity)

• Introduction to Criminology by Anthony Walsh (Sage)

•             Selling Social Media by Daniel Faltesek (Bloomsbury)

•             Social Media Freaks by Dustin Kidd (Westview)

Grants

•             Canada Research Chairs

•             National Science Foundation

• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

Journals

• American Journal of Sociology

• American Sociological Review

• Cogent Social Sciences

• Humanities and Social Sciences Communications

• Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication

• Journal of Experimental Psychology

• Journal of Interactive Marketing

• Journal of Politics

• Nature Climate Change

• Nature Human Behavior

• Policy & Internet

• Politics & Gender

• Quantitative Science Studies

• Review of Policy Research

• Review of Religious Research

• Sage Open

• Social Forces

• Social Media + Society

• Social Science Research

• Sociological Forum

• Sociological Spectrum

• The Sociological Quarterly

Professional Memberships

• American Sociological Association

• International Social Media & Society Conference Organization