Teaching
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( skip to: undergraduate | graduate | workshops | publications )
Current Courses
(spring 2026)
- SOCY 398H, Diffusion: How things Spread - We’ll take a look at a variety of perspectives on how things spread - from diseases to (mis-)information; simple to complex. Syllabus.
- SOCY 550, Sociology of Science - This seminar explores how scientists have studied themselves, to better understand why science works the way it does, is structured the way it is, and why those questions matter. Syllabus.
Previous Courses
Undergraduate
South Carolina
- SOCY 308, Social Organization - This course addressed how organizations have been studied, focusing on theories of their formal and informal structure. Syllabus: 2025F.
- SOCY 360, Sociology of Medicine & Health - This elective addressed structural dimensions of health and health care, with a focus on barriers to health equity. Syllabus: 2024S.
- SOCY 398H, Diffusion: How things Spread - This seminar was a more sociological update on my previous social epidemiology version of examining contagion and diffusion processes. Syllabus: 2024S.
- SOCY 561, Real World Research Experience in Sociology - This “practicum” serves as a sort of capstone experience for sociology majors, providing an opportunity for hands on research experience. Syllabus: 2024F, 2025S.
CU-Denver
- PBHL 3999, Diffusion: How Things Spread - This elective explores how diseases and behaviors spread through a population. My first time offering it happened to coincide with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic; in 2023 I offered it virtually. Syllabus: 2023S, 2020S.
- UNHL 3615, How to Science - This honors seminar in the multidisciplinary science of science focused separately on (1) what science is, (2) how science is done, and (3) science communication. Syllabus: 2023F, 2021F.
- PBHL 4040, Social Determinants of Health - This senior-level course serves as the theoretical core of our undergraduate Public Health major, focusing on multiple bases of population health inequalities. Syllabus: 2022S, 2020S, 2017S, 2016S.
- PBHL 4099, Capstone Experience in Public Health - This is a problem-based, student led capstone for our Public Health majors. Syllabus 2022S, 2019S, 2017F, 2016S, 2014F.
American University
- SOCY 100, US Society - Our intro course was split into two options; this was the version focused on the US. Syllabus: 2014S
- SOCY 110, Views from the Global South - Our intro course was split into two options; this was the version that’s more globally focused. Syllabus: 2013F
- SOCY 320, Intro to Social Research - This was the primary research methods course for sociology majors. Syllabus: 2013F, 2013S, 2012F
- HNRS 302, Intro to Social Networks This honors seminar was an introduction to the key concepts of social networks research. Syllabus: 2012F
Arizona State University
- SOC 101H, Honors Intro Sociology - These honors sections of intro to sociology were organized seminar style from primary monographs. Syllabi: 2011F, 2010F
- SOC/FAS 294, Intro to Social Networks - This was a larger, lecture-based version of an introduction to the key ideas in social network scholarship. Syllabus: 2011F, 2010S, 2009F
Graduate
South Carolina
- SOCY 732, Inferential Network Analysis - A “second” course in SNA, focused on modeling frameworks for networks’ causes and effects. Syllabus: 2025S
- SOCY 598/721, Data Vizualization - This graduate seminar addressed theoretical, computational, and emipirical dimensions of visualizing social science data – ranging from exploratory data analysis and theoretical conceptualizations, to presenting empirical/modeling results, w/ some R tutorials. Syllabus: 2025F
CU-Denver
- HBSC 7011, Theoretical Perspectives in Health & Behavioral Sciences - This course focuses on a range of theoretical aspects from across the social sciences that are foundational to population health. Syllabus: 2023F, 2021F, 2019F, 2017F
- HBSC 7041, Research Design - I sought to focus on the principles of research design, while also introducing the practicalities, rather than the other way around. Syllabus: 2023S, 2019S
- HBSC 7071, Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health - This seminar aims to introduce a broad range of theoretical and empirical perspectives represented in the field of population health. Syllabus: 2014F
- HBSC 7111, Applications of Health & Behavioral Sciences - This serves as a capstone course, which is mostly student-led, culminating in a draft of their dissertation proposals. Syllabus: 2017S
- HBSC 7400, Social Network Analysis - A “soup-to-nuts” overview of current approaches of the field, including lecture, discussion, and computational tutorials (in R). Syllabus: 2016S
American University
- SOCY 696, Social Network Analysis - This was the first time I had the chance to teach SNA as a graduate course. Syllabus: 2014S
Arizona State University
- SOC/FAS 598, Social Network Methods in Health Research - This may be my favorite course I’ve had the chance to teach. A number of our students needed a course that combined methods & a “topical” elective in one. So I pulled this together to take a project-focused survey of research design approaches taken in the field. It later ended up serving as the backbone of the approach I took in my SAGE book. Syllabus: 2012S.
- Soc 585, Sociological Theory - A bit last minute, I ended up covering our graduate theory seminar. So, we ended up drawing heavily on a set of readers with excerpts from primary sources. Syllabus: 2011S
Workshops
Social Network Analysis
- Statistical Horizons, - This was a 3-day workshop providing overview of descriptive approaches (ego composition, balance, density, distance, centralities, cohesion/clustering, & equivalence) to analyzing social network data conceptually, and in R.
- ICPSR - Hosted by the University of Michigan, this summer “stats camp” draws a range of graduate students, post docs, faculty, and others from across the social sciences who are interested advancing their methods chops. Syllabus: 2020 (online), 2019, 2017 (Boulder), 2016 (Ann Arbor)
- EPIC - Hosted by Columbia University, this summer workshop series draws a range of public health scholars and professionals from across the globe who are interested in learning new methods. Syllabus: 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013
- UT-MB - I conducted a 2-day version (no labs) of these workshops for the department of Preventative Medicine & Community Health at University of Texas, Medical Branch.
I tend to get bored teaching classes on repeat, so often vary what I cover. As such, even while the above includes a pretty wide range, I’ve also pondered possible courses in: sociology of religion, global HIV/AIDS, scientific writing and/or computing, and likely a few others I’m not thinking of as courses at the moment. If you are a student interested in any of these topics, or an instructor who may want to explore collaborative teaching, let me know.
Related Publications
- Andrea Vest Ettekal & jimi adams. 2026. “Applications of Social Network Analysis in Developmental Science.” Chapter 23 in Handbook of Research Methods in Developmental Science, 2nd Edition. edited by Teti DM, Cleveland HH, & Rullison KL. Wiley. (preprint)
- jimi adams† & Michał Bojanowski†. († authors contributed equally.) 2023. “Do NBA Teams Avoid Trading Players within their Division?” Network Science 11(4): 657-669.
- jimi adams. 2019. Gathering Social Network Data. SAGE-QASS #180.
- jimi adams & David R. Schaefer (equal co-authors). 2018. “Visualizing Stochastic Actor-Based Model Microsteps.” Socius 4:1-3. (code)
- jimi adams. 2015. “Using Lord of the Flies to Teach Social Networks.” Journal of Social Structure 16(7):1-21. (data)
- jimi adams. 2015. “Glee’s McKinley High: Following Middle America’s Sexual Taboos.” Network Science 3(2): 293-295. (data)