06 May 2025

Meet Dr. Marshall A. Taylor from New Mexico State University, a computational sociologist studying how cultural knowledge changes across populations using language and survey data. An avid metalhead from Nashville, he's spending his sabbatical at SweCSS to advance book projects and build lasting collaborations at IAS and IDA.

What drew you to apply for the SweCSS Visiting Fellows Program, and how does it align with your research interests?
I am a computational sociologist, and the Institute for Analytical Sociology at Linköping University has clearly become a major hub for this type of work. I can think of no place to better spend my summer and fall sabbatical.

What do you hope to gain from your time as a senior fellow at SweCSS?
I hope to make steady progress on a new edition of my book (co-authored with another SweCSS Senior Fellow, Dustin S. Stoltz) and various other projects that are currently underway. I also hope to develop collaborations with IAS and IDA community members across my three visits!

What do you hope to contribute as a senior fellow at SweCSS?
I hope I can build some lasting collaborations, for one. I also hope to give meaningful feedback to others' work during the various workshops, colloquia, seminars, etc.

What advice would you give to someone considering applying to the program?
In my experience, the SweCSS planning committee does a great job working with your schedule. For example: I am on sabbatical in Fall 2025, but it would have been difficult for me to do one long stay. Instead, we arranged to do three separate month-long trips over the summer and fall seasons. This flexibility is fantastic—perhaps especially for academics with families and other non-work ties back home. You can definitely make the SweCSS fellowship work for you!

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