معرفی
Matthew Brashears is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology at the University of South Carolina within the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences. With academic training from Emory University (BA in Psychology and Sociology, 2000) and the University of Arizona (MA, 2003; PhD, 2008), he brings extensive expertise in social networks, social psychology, and cognitive sociology.
- Education:
- BA in Psychology and Sociology, Emory University (2000)
- MA in Sociology, University of Arizona (2003)
- PhD in Sociology, University of Arizona (2008)
Research Interests focus on the intersection of social networks, cognition, and organizational dynamics. His work integrates evolutionary theory, network analysis, and neuroscience to explore:
- How humans encode/decode social networks in memory
- Error correction mechanisms in information diffusion
- Time competition effects on organizational survival
- Covert network structures in terrorism research
- Ecological modeling of individual-collective dynamics
- Experimental and computational approaches to network analysis
Publication Trends show interdisciplinary focus across Nature Scientific Reports, American Journal of Sociology, and Social Networks. Key topics include cognitive heuristics in network recall, organizational leakage effects, and diffusion accuracy in social contagions.
- Grants:
- National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)
- Army Research Institute
- Army Research Office
- Office of Naval Research
- Collaborations:
- George Mason University
- Applied Research Associates, Inc.
Professional Engagement includes editorial leadership as past Co-Editor of Social Psychology Quarterly and officer roles in multiple ASA sections (Social Psychology, Mathematical Sociology, Evolution/Biology Society). He has consulted for RAND Corporation, U.S. Special Operations Command, and Amazon.com.
