People :: Sociology Department

Noah Mark, Visiting Associate Professor

Noah Mark

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Visiting Associate Professor

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Office:	348 Soc/Psych
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I conduct theoretical research on the evolution of social structures and cultural patterns. I am particularly interested in the origins of inequality, social differentiation, and cultural heterogeneity.

I am currently getting started on a theoretical research project that explores one of the most important sociological paradoxes that has unfolded over the past 10,000 years. This is the paradox of population growth and the shrinking world: Over the past 10,000 years, the number of people living on earth has increased, and the expected network distance between two randomly chosen people (i.e., the expected length of the shortest chain of acquaintances connecting two randomly chosen people) has declined. I believe that seeking to explain the relationship between population size and network distances may force us to confront and develop a coherent set of answers for a number of sociological question, including questions about the origins of war, the increasing size of societies, the decreasing number of societies, the origins of social inequality, and the relationship between social inequality and social order.

Selected Publications/Recent Research:

Mark, Noah, Culture and Competition: Homophily and Distancing Explanations for Cultural Niches, American Sociological Review, vol. 68 (2003), pp. 319-345.
Mark, Noah, Cultural Transmission, Disproportionate Acquisition, and the Evolution of Cooperation, American Sociological Review, vol. 67 (2002), pp. 323-344.
Mark, Noah, Birds of a Feather Sing Together, Social Forces, vol. 77 (1998), pp. 453-485.
Mark, Noah, Beyond Individual Differences: Social Differentiation from First Principles, American Sociological Review, vol. 63 (1998), pp. 309-330.

Course Descriptions

Sociology
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