Kevin Lewis

Graduate Student in Sociology

Biographical Note

Kevin received his bachelor's degree from the University of California, San Diego, double majoring in sociology and philosophy with a minor in mathematics. Under the guidance of Professors John Skrentny and Jeff Haydu, he completed an interview-based honors thesis exploring the meaning of cosmetic surgery in modern society. Also as an undergrad, Kevin collaborated with Professor David Phillips on independent research involving U.S. mortality rates; worked for two years as a House Advisor for John Muir College; and graduated Summa Cum Laude in June 2005.

Kevin is currently a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate at Harvard, where he is involved in two major research projects. First, he is interviewing residents of Austin, TX and Boston, MA in a comparative study of "culture in action" in the context of contemporary tattooing. Second, for the past four years he has overseen the development of a new cultural, multiplex, and longitudinal social network dataset using data from Facebook.com. This dataset has given rise to a number of collaborative projects exploring the intersection of social networks, tastes (with Jason Kaufman and Marco Gonzalez), ethnicity (with Andreas Wimmer), and privacy (with Jason Kaufman and Nicholas Christakis). While broad, Kevin's interests revolve around American culture- the landscape of beliefs, values, and dispositions that characterize modern Americans and the interplay of autonomy and social influence through which they influence behavior.

Kevin is also a Resident Tutor in Currier House, and a Concentration Advisor for students living in the Quad.

08/26/2009

Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests

culture, social networks, social psychology

Previous Degrees

BA in Sociology and Philosophy, UC San Diego (2005)
MA in Sociology, Harvard University (2008)

photo by Kurt Gray

Contact

617-496-3852 (Phone)
617-496-5794 (FAX)

641 William James Hall
33 Kirkland Street
Cambridge, MA 02138