Committees: SoDA Degree Admin

Program Head

Bruce Desmarais
Professor of Political Science, Social Data Analytics
Director, Center for Social Data Analytics [C-SoDA]
Head, Program in Social Data Analytics [SoDA]
Director of Graduate Studies
William and Monica DeGrandis-McCourtney Early Career Professor in Political Science

Director of Graduate Studies

Bruce Desmarais
Professor of Political Science, Social Data Analytics
Director, Center for Social Data Analytics [C-SoDA]
Head, Program in Social Data Analytics [SoDA]
Director of Graduate Studies
William and Monica DeGrandis-McCourtney Early Career Professor in Political Science

Graduate Staff Coordinator

Kristy Boob
Graduate Staff Coordinator (Political Science / Social Data Analytics)
(814) 863-1595

As a matter of formal organization, SoDA degree programs are administered by the Department of Political Science (not C-SoDA), and several resources and responsibilities are shared.

SoDA Graduate Program Committee

The SoDA Graduate Program Committee is a multi-department / multi-college body that advises the Director of Graduate Studies and Program Head on matters involving the Program’s structure, curriculum, and admissions. Individual members of the Program Committee act as liaisons between SoDA and their home departments.  

Timothy Brick
Assistant Professor of Human Development & Family Studies
Graduate Faculty, Social Data Analytics
C-SoDA Faculty Affiliate
James LeBreton
Professor, Psychology
Graduate Faculty, Social Data Analytics
Director, Measurement and Applied Psychology Laboratory (MAP Lab)
Sarah Rajtmajer
Assistant Professor, Information Sciences & Technology
Graduate Faculty and Program Committee (2019-), Social Data Analytics
C-SoDA Faculty Affiliate
Aleksandra (Sesa) Slavkovic
Professor of Statistics
Co-PI, BDSS-IGERT
Graduate Faculty and Program Committee, Social Data Analytics
C-SoDA Faculty Affiliate
Ashton M. Verdery
Assistant Professor of Sociology, Demography, and Social Data Analytics
Graduate Faculty and Program Committee (2017-), Social Data Analytics
C-SoDA Faculty Affiliate
Christopher Zorn
Liberal Arts Professor of Political Science
Affiliate Faculty, Penn State Law
Associate Director, BDSS-IGERT
Graduate Faculty and Program Committee, Social Data Analytics
C-SoDA Faculty Affiliate