Workshop title: "The origins and history of the social network’s perspective."

Please consider attending this workshop at Sunbelt 2025. For any questions, please feel free to contact me!

The development of the social network perspective has progressed rapidly, evolving from "random pieces sitting out in the midst of the desert (forest?)” (Mullins & Mullins, 1973, p. 264) to a field of study that is " Finally, there is reason to be hopeful since the field of social network analysis is currently very “hot,” growing at an amazing rate.” (Freeman, 2004, p. 167). Much has changed since these early observations, as we will see through recent bibliometric studies (e.g., Espinosa-Rada & Ortiz, 2022; Maltseva & Batagelj, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024). The history of social network analysis reveals key groups and institutional milestones that have driven its development and consolidation, including events like the Sunbelt conferences, the establishment of INSNA, and the launch of network-focused journals (Freeman, 2004; Scott, 2011). The field of network science (Brandes et al., 2013) has also significantly influenced this trajectory. Furthermore, we aim to contextualize phenomena such as the “physicist invasion” and the more recent “data scientist invasion,” as well as the emergence of advanced statistical models in social network research to identify the contribution of modern interdisciplinary trends. The field continues to be shaped by a vibrant community of practitioners, as illustrated in resources like the Knitting Networks podcast.

By revisiting the history of the social network perspective, participants will gain insight into the origins of key concepts such as homophily, structural balance, cliques, or roles. They will also explore how different research groups have used social network approaches to address core questions in the social sciences. By understanding the field’s evolution, participants can more fully appreciate the opportunities and challenges the social network perspective faces today, leveraging historical insights to shape future research.

Names and contact information of all organizers: Alejandro Espinosa-Rada (anespinosa@uc.cl)

Length of the workshop (3 or 6 hours): 3 hours

Organized session: "Scientific Collaboration Networks: data, methods, and empirical applications."

Please consider submitting an abstract to the Sunbelt 2025 organized session “Scientific Collaboration Networks: data, methods, and empirical applications”. Deadline until the 20th of February (https://www.insna.org/events/sunbelt-2025--paris). Further information on the session is below. For any questions, please feel free to contact me or any of the organizers!

Session: Scientific Collaboration Networks: data, methods, and empirical applications

Format: In-person (Paris, June 23-29, 2025)

Webpage: https://sunbelt2025.org

Organizers:

• Luka Kronegger (University of Ljubljana)

• Dominika Czerniawska (University of Leiden)

• Alejandro Espinosa-Rada (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile)

• Domenico De Stefano (University of Trieste)

• Viviana Amati (University of Milano-Bicocca)

• Marjan Cugmas (University of Ljubljana)

• Susanna Zaccarin (University of Trieste)

Description: Scientific collaboration networks have been a main area of interest to social network researchers for the study of socio-cognitive ties by investigating scientific inequalities, the formation of different morphological network structures (such as paradigmatic groups, specialties, or invisible colleges), knowledge production, their interrelation and impact on public policies, among others. While most of the research often uses the formal channels of communication of science as a proxy of social ties (e.g., through the usage of co-authorship, citations, or thesis supervision), there is an increased interest in gathering more data by considering the informal channels of communication in science through classical research methods from the social science (e.g., surveys, interviews, ethnographies, secondary documents) or the expansion of established or new and more sophisticated large-scale data to understand the inner workings of science and knowledge (e.g., Web of Science, Scopus, Dimensions, SciSciNet) and their intertwines in the contemporary society. In this session, we are interested in expanding and moving beyond bibliometrics towards a more comprehensive social network approach for the study of scientific networks to discuss data quality and data collection, new methods, and models for the study of the structure of scientific collaboration networks as well as their evolution over time. We also welcome empirical applications in the field, including but not limited to local and global scientific networks, policy-driven change in scientific collaboration, politically driven shifts in science and knowledge production, and addressing global challenges through scientific collaborations and consortia.

The International Sunbelt Social Network Conference (SUNBELT), formerly the Sunbelt/Sun Belt Social Network Conference, is the official conference of the International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA).

SUNBELT provides an interdisciplinary venue for social scientists, mathematicians, computer scientists, ethnologists, and others to present current work in the area of social networks. Workshops and conference sessions allow individuals interested in theory, methods, or applications of social network analysis to share ideas and explore common interests.