Benjamin Cornwell

Professor of Sociology at Cornell University. Father and husband. Occasional player of guitar, mandolin, drums - and a huge fan of films and books.

[Benjamin Cornwell @IthacaCornwell]

I am happy to announce that my new book, Friends and Fortunes: Social Capital Inequality in America, is being released by Cambridge University Press today! It is co-authored with @cristobalyoung @barum_park and @nanfeng_soc.

https://t.co/yncPLm4TwD

[Benjamin Cornwell @IthacaCornwell]

Most importantly, we look at how access to social capital is patterned by income. The findings might surprise you. Then again, they might not… This was a difficult book to write, but it is an extraordinarily important topic and was well worth the effort. Happy reading!

[Benjamin Cornwell @IthacaCornwell]

I am happy to announce that my new book, Friends and Fortunes: Social Capital Inequality in America, is being released by Cambridge University Press today! It is co-authored with @cristobalyoung @barum_park and @nanfeng_soc.

https://t.co/yncPLm4TwD

[Benjamin Cornwell @IthacaCornwell]

Drawing from dozens of datasets, we show that multiple forms of social capital (almost regardless of how it is measured) are highly unequally distributed in our society (sometimes more so than income!).

[Benjamin Cornwell @IthacaCornwell]

I wish I could challenge Mr. Vance to a debate, or at least interview him about his experiences with Appalachian culture. I take offense to the term "hillbilly." It is invective that denigrates the identities of the good people who live in that region.

[Benjamin Cornwell @IthacaCornwell]

My dad was a social worker at Middletown Regional Hospital (now Atrium Medical Center). Unlike J.D. Vance, I was born in Appalachia (Huntington, WV). I take offense at him trying to own the word “hillbilly.” An Appalachian, he ain’t. If you want to speak of the water, swim in it.

[Benjamin Cornwell @IthacaCornwell]

@CTOTHELOS77 I’m out.

[Benjamin Cornwell @IthacaCornwell]

@ronsterd89 Alma

[Benjamin Cornwell @IthacaCornwell]

This is my cousin, April Swann. She passed away before she was two years old. She would have been 42 today. She was amazing, and bright. What I wouldn't give to be able to have a conversation with her. We would have have had amazing conversations.

Happy birthday, sweetheart.

[Benjamin Cornwell @IthacaCornwell]

This is an insightful discussion on NPR by Linda Waite about the link between social connections and health: https://t.co/UKyt6JFRHL

[Benjamin Cornwell @IthacaCornwell]

Benicio del Toro should get an Academy Award for "Reptile." For the acting, for the screenplay (and his co-writers) - for both. It is one of the best mystery films that I have seen. Also, Alicia Silverstone for best supporting actress. Everyone involved deserves credit.

[Benjamin Cornwell @IthacaCornwell]

I study aging, health, and social research methods. Sometimes there is a moment when you see that somebody is perhaps being abused by an institution for which they work. There is a time to finally let them get some help. https://t.co/jzHpYm7W9X

[Benjamin Cornwell @IthacaCornwell]

Regarding Maui. If you have them, please use warning sirens. It makes people stand up, listen, look around. Thing happen suddenly. I’ve done a bit of research on this. Disasters are confusing and ambiguous — so, please give people something to start with. Alert them!

[Benjamin Cornwell @IthacaCornwell]

To clarify, the card in the window is posed as a Jeopardy! question.

[Benjamin Cornwell @IthacaCornwell]

Dr. King's sociological wisdom is timeless. Here, our daughter is learning from him about one fateful civil rights project in Mississippi that occurred over half of a century ago, during Freedom Summer in 1964 which, incidentally, involved another sociology student.

[Benjamin Cornwell @IthacaCornwell]

At any rate, this is a great topic for future research. Here is a link to a story about the paper we just wrote on this, called "‘I Love You to Death’: Social Networks and the Widowhood Effect on Mortality”: https://t.co/pXttXVGkR3

[Benjamin Cornwell @IthacaCornwell]

I don’t like to be maudlin, but let’s talk shop. There's something called the "widowhood effect" - the heartrending fact that people tend to die soon after their spouse. Sometimes it is depression, sometimes it is about stress hormones flooding the body ("broken heart syndrome").

[Benjamin Cornwell @IthacaCornwell]

But my personal favorite explanation? People in this situation – one who moved in different social circles from one’s spouse - lost not just their spouse, but also an entire social network to which they otherwise were not well connected.