Profile

Ryan Light is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the UO. His research focuses on social connectivity and social structure.  To this end, he uses tools from social network analysis and computational social science to examine inequality and cultural processes. His current research uses computational text analysis of digitized data to examine the structure of science and science movements. He is also in the early stages of an interdisciplinary project analyzing online social media and environmental hazards, including the Flint Water Crisis, with colleagues at the University of Oregon. He teaches classes on the sociology of culture, social theory, social networks, and research methods. He received his B.A. in Sociology form Kenyon College, and his Ph.D. in Sociology from The Ohio State University. He joined the University of Oregon faculty as an Assistant Professor of Sociology in 2009.