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James Cook
Assistant Professor of Social Science

Office Location: 120 Jewett Hall, Augusta Campus
Phone: (207) 621-3190
Email: james.m.cook@maine.edu
Social: Facebook | Twitter | Google+

Office Hours:
Monday 1 pm - 4 pm at UC Rockland Campus 

Wednesday 12 pm - 3 pm in Jewett 120, Augusta

Text or Video Chat upon request

JamesCook

 

About

Education

B.A. Oberlin College, Sociology, 1993
M.A. University of Arizona, Sociology, 1996
Ph.D. University of Arizona, Sociology, 2000

 

My primary areas of interest in research and teaching are political organizations and social networks, and that interest is reflected in the development of new courses at UMA in Social Networks and Analyzing Social Media and in community service (where my current projects are attempts to deepen student connections with the UMA Office of Civic Engagement and the Maine State Legislature).

My present research interests include tracking transparency in state legislatures, the development and testing of a social network model of the Maine State Legislature, and the application of workplace theories of glass ceilings and escalators to explain patterns of cooperation among legislators along and across lines of gender. 

Vitae

PROFESSIONAL HISTORY

University of Maine at Augusta

  • Assistant Professor of Social Science 2011-
  • Courses Taught: Criminology (2011, 2013), Introduction to Sociology (2011-2013), Social Problems (2011-2013), Social Networks (2012,2013)
  • Curriculum Development: Social Networks Course (2011), Analyzing Social Media Course (2012), Social Media Certificate (2012)

 

Duke University

  • Assistant Professor of Sociology 2000-2006
  • Courses Taught: Introduction to Sociology (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006), Business and Politics in American Society (2001, 2002, 2005), Political Sociology (2002), Political Networks (2000, 2001), Social Bases of Politics (2001, 2004, 2005)

 

University of Arizona

  • Ph.D., Sociology 2000
  • Areas of Concentration: Political Sociology, Social Networks
  • Dissertation: "The Social Structure of Political Behavior: Action, Interaction and Congressional Cosponsorship."
  • Courses Taught: Introduction to Sociology (1998, 1997), Introduction to Sociology Remote Interactive Course (1998), Political Sociology (1999), Collective Behavior and Social Movements (1999), Sociology of Women (1996)

 

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. 2006. "The Social Logic of Politics: Personal Networks as Contexts for Political Behavior." Review for Social Forces 84: 1844-1845.
  • Cook, James M. 2011. "Gender, Voting, and Cosponsorship in the Maine State Legislature." New England Journal of Political Science 6: 2-30.

 


RESEARCH IN PROGRESS

  • Cook, James M. 2012. "Domains, Ceilings and Escalators: Committee Gender Composition and Legislative Leadership in the State House." Assesses the fit of three relational theories of gender to the experience of women working in legislative committees of the 124th Maine State Legislature. Presented at the 2012 New England Political Science Association meetings.
  • Cook, James M. and Sarah Therrien. 2012. "Transparency in State Legislative Websites: a 50-State Review." The nation's fifty state legislative websites are ranked according to the extent to which they clearly and completely share information on a variety of legislative procedures and decisions.
  • Cook, James M. 2012. "Your Course is a Network, Not a Line: Implementing a Graphic Syllabus Online." Tradition straightjackets course syllabi into linear, cumulative form, but relational technology allows us to depict the university course as a network of ideas, not a straight line. This paper updates Linda Nilson's The Graphic Syllabus to show how techniques of network analysis and online presentation can lend formal rigor and practical function to the graphic arrangement of a course syllabus.  Presented at the 2012 New England Regional Sloan-C Conference on Online Learning.

 

CURRICULUM DEVELOPED (Years taught in parentheses)

  • Analyzing Social Media (2013)
  • Business and Politics in American Society (2001, 2002, 2005)
  • Collective Behavior and Social Movements (1999)
  • Criminology (2011-2013)
  • Introduction to Sociology (1997-2013)
  • Political Networks (2000, 2001)
  • Political Sociology (2002)
  • Social Bases of Politics (2001, 2004, 2005)
  • Social Media Certificate (developed 2011, implemented 2012)
  • Social Networks (2012-2013)
  • Social Problems (2011-2013)
  • Sociology of Women (1996)

 

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

  • American Sociological Association
  • Eastern Sociological Society
  • New England Political Science Association

Courses

2011-2012 Courses Taught:
  • SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology
  • SOC 201: Social Problems
  • JUS/SOC 316: Criminology

 

2012-2013 Courses Taught:

 

2013-2014 Courses Taught:

  • SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology
  • JUS/SOC 316: Criminology
  • SOC 350: Sociology of Gender
  • COM/SOC 475: Analyzing Social Media
 

Activities

Spring 2013 selected activities:

  • Co-organizing the Research and Pedagogy academic colloquium series on the Augusta and Rockland campuses of UMA
  • Distributing the Office of Civic Engagement Strategic Planning Document
  • Developing the COM/SOC 475 Analyzing Social Media Course for the Social Science program and the Social Media certificate
  • Implementing and reporting on a usability study of the website of the Maine State Legislature
 

Fall 2012 selected activities:

  • Co-organizing the Research and Pedagogy academic colloquium series on the Augusta, Bangor, and Rockland campuses of UMA
  • Chairing the Office of Civic Engagement Strategic Planning Committee
  • Convening and moderating a faculty panel for Constitution Week: "Corporate Personhood and Your Personhood: Whose Rights in American Politics?," September 19 2012 on the UMA Augusta Campus
  • Pedagogical paper presentation: "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
  • Voter registration activity on UMA's Rockland and Augusta campuses

 

 

Spring 2012 selected activities:

  • Getting an Education, Getting a Job: curation of statistics on employment in Maine and the transition from higher education to the workforce for the Office of Civic Engagement
  • Employment in Maine, Creating a Vision for Change: moderating a listening session bringing together Maine's students, community members, political leaders and business leaders to discuss barriers to employment and visions for overcoming those barriers
  • Successful development of a new course for the Social Science Program: COM/SOC 475, Analyzing Social Media
  • Successful initiation of a new Social Media certificate program at UMA.
  • Research paper published in the New England Journal of Political Science: "Gender, Voting, and Cosponsorship in the Maine State Legislature."
  • Research paper presentation: "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

 


Fall 2011 selected activities:

  • A public lecture, "Is a Corporation a Person?," delivered September 20 2011 at the Randall Student Center
  • A public forum on the new Occupy movement (organized jointly with the Office of Civic Engagement) held on the UMA campus green October 27 2011, inviting representatives of Maine's political and public advocacy sectors to speak and observe
  •  An academic panel on the Occupy movement November 8 2011, gathering four professors from different departments and colleges of UMA, each bringing his or her professional expertise to bear to understand this new phenomenon
  • Successful development of a new course for the Social Science Program: COM/SOC 375, Social Networks