Conference Explores the Science of Political Networks

Some 185 attendees from around the academic world took part in June in the 11^th Annual Political Networks Conference and Workshops, presented this year at Founders Hall by the Schar School, the American Political Science Association’s Political Networks Section, and the National Science Foundation. The four-day event, hosted by Schar School Associate Professor Jennifer N. Victor, brought in experts who presented in talks, panel discussions, poster exhibitions, and workshops on network analysis and theory, big data, network visualization, latent factor models, and exponential random graph models, among other cutting-edge topics. Victor said this year’s conference set attendance records for women (36 percent) and people of color (more than 30 percent). Above, keynote speaker and pioneering network scientist Albert-László Barabási illustrates what success looks like on a big data network scale. Photo: Buzz McClain/Schar School