“Rethinking Social Networks and Health: The First National Pilot Study of Older Never-Married Adults.” Social Networks and Health Workshop. Duke University, Durham, NC. May 2026.

“Rethinking Never-Married Adulthood: Lived Experiences, Social Networks, and Health in Later Life.” Keynote Address. The Inaugural Annual Conference of the Center for Aging Families (Theme: Singlehood and Health in the Second Half of Life). Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio. April 2026.

“Protect or Hurt? Social Networks and Well-Being Inequalities across Societies.” National University of Singapore, Singapore. August 2025.

“Protect or Hurt? Social Networks and Well-Being Inequalities across Societies.” New York University-Shanghai, Shanghai, China. May 2025.

“Protect or Hurt? Social Networks and Well-Being Inequalities across Societies.” York University, Toronto, Canada. May 2025.

“Protect or Hurt? Social Networks and Well-Being Inequalities across Societies.” Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. April 2025.

“Protect or Hurt? Social Networks and Well-Being Inequalities across Societies.” University of Toronto. Toronto, Canada. November 2024.

“Protect or Hurt? Social Networks and Well-Being Inequalities across Societies.” Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO. November 2024.

“National Study of Older Never-Married Adults: A Proposal.” University of Chicago, Chicago, IL. October 2024.

“Does Who You Know Help or Hurt? Social Capital, Social Cost, Tie Strength, and Inequalities in Three Societies.” Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong. April 2023.

“Does Who You Know Help or Hurt? Social Capital, Social Cost, Tie Strength, and Inequalities in Three Societies.” Princeton University, Princeton, NJ. April 2023.

“Does Who You Know Help or Hurt? Social Capital, Social Cost, Tie Strength, and Inequalities in Three Societies.” Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. October 2022.

“Does Who You Know Help or Hurt? Social Capital, Social Cost, and Tie Strength in Three Societies.” Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI. April 2022.

“Does Who You Know Help or Hurt? Social Capital, Social Cost, and Tie Strength in Three Societies.” University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC. January 2022.

“Social Capital or Social Cost? Accessed Status, Tie Strength, and Depression in the U.S., Urban China, and Taiwan.” University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY. November 2019.

“A Tale of Two Theories on Accessed Status: Social Capital and Social Cost.” Department of Psychology, VU. August 2019.

“Social Capital or Social Cost? Accessed Status, Tie Strength, and Depression in the U.S., Urban China, and Taiwan.” Shanghai University, Shanghai, China. June 2019.

“Social Capital or Social Cost? Accessed Status, Tie Strength, and Depression in the U.S., Urban China, and Taiwan.” Hehai University, Nanjing, China. May 2019.

“Does Accessed Status Protect or Hurt Health?” Nanjing University, Nanjing, China. May 2019.

“Marry Up, Socialize Up? Hypergamy, Gender, and Social Capital in Three Societies.” Nanjing University, Nanjing, China. May 2019.

“Social Capital or Social Cost? Accessed Status, Tie Strength, and Depression in the U.S., Urban China, and Taiwan.” University of California, Davis, CA. May 2019.

“Social Capital or Social Cost? Accessed Status, Tie Strength, and Depression in the U.S., Urban China, and Taiwan.” Emory University, Atlanta, GA. April 2019.

“Nan Lin and Social Support.” 2018 Asia Conference of the International Chinese Sociological Association. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong. December 2018.

“Does Who You Know in the Positional Hierarchy Protect or Hurt? Social Capital Theory versus Social Cost Theory.” Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. November 2018.

“Does Whom You Know in the Status Hierarchy Protect or Hurt? Institutional Embeddedness of Social Capital and Social Cost Theories in Three Societies.” National Taipei University, Taipei, Taiwan. October 2018.

“Social Capital or Social Cost? Accessed Status, Tie Strength, and Depression in the U.S., Urban China, and Taiwan.” Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. October 2018.

“Marry Up, Socialize Up? Educational Hypergamy, Gender, and Social Capital in Three Societies.” Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. October 2018.

“Social Capital or Social Cost? Accessed Status, Tie Strength, and Depression in the U.S., Urban China, and Taiwan.” Nanjing University, Nanjing, China. May 2018.

“Social Capital or Social Cost? Accessed Status, Tie Strength, and Depression in the U.S., Urban China, and Taiwan.” Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. May 2018.

“Social Capital or Social Cost? Accessed Status, Tie Strength, and Depression in the U.S. and Urban China.” University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL. November 2017.

“Accessed Status, Tie Strength, and Depression: A Comparison between the U.S. and Urban China.” Duke University, Durham, NC. October 2017.

“Network Members’ Occupational Status, Tie Strength, and Depression in Two Societies.” Shanghai Social Science Summer Symposium (S5), New York University-Shanghai, Shanghai, China. July 2017.

“Network Resources and Health Information Search.” The Center for Genetic Privacy and Identity in Community Settings, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN. July 2017.

“Does Your Body Know Who You Know in the Positional Hierarchy? Social Capital, Comparative Reference Group, and Health.” Social Capital and Health Symposium, the 50th Annual Meeting of Society for Epidemiologic Research, Seattle, WA. June 2017.

“Network Members’ Occupational Status, Tie Strength, and Depression in Two Societies.” Shandong University, Jinan, China. May 2017.

“Social Networks and Genetic Privacy.” The Workshop on Genetic Privacy and Identity in Community Settings, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN. April 2017.

“Network Members’ Occupational Status, Tie Strength, and Depression in Two Societies.” International Conference on Social Capital and Health, Hefei, China. October 2016.

“Educational Homogamy.” Workshop on the Handbook on Marriage and the Family in China, Suzhou, China. September 2016.

“Network Members’ Occupational Status, Tie Strength, and Depression in Two Societies.” Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. June 2016.

“Behind the Scenes: Just Say It.” Symposium on “Academia,” the STEAM Factory at the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. May 2016.

“Network Members’ Occupational Status, Tie Strength, and Depression in Two Societies.” Clinical Brown Bag Series, Department of Psychology, VU. February 2016.

“Does Knowing People in the Positional Hierarchy Protect or Hurt? Social Capital, Comparative Reference Group, and Depression in Two Societies.” Silk Road International Symposium for Distinguished Young Scholars, Xi’an, China. December 2015.

“Your Body Knows Who You Know: Social Capital and Health Inequality.” Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN. February 2009.

“Your Body Knows Who You Know: Social Capital and Health Inequality.” Program for Advanced Research in the Social Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC. February 2009.

“You Identify with Who You Know: Social Capital and Subjective Social Class in Urban China and the United States.” Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong. January 2009.

“Your Body Knows Who You Know: Social Capital and Health Inequality.” University of Memphis, Memphis, TN. January 2009.

“Your Body Knows Who You Know: Social Capital and Health Inequality.” University of North Texas, Denton, TX. December 2008.

“Your Body Knows Who You Know: Social Capital and Health Inequality.” City University of New York—Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY. December 2008.

“Your Body Knows Who You Know: Social Capital and Health Inequality.” University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL. December 2008.

“Your Body Knows Who You Know: Embedded Resources and Well-Being Inequality in the United States.” The International Social Capital Conference, Taipei, Taiwan. May 2008.

“Your Body Knows Who You Know: Social Capital and Health Inequality in Urban China.” Asian/Pacific Studies Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC. October 2007.

“The Position Generator and Depressive Symptoms: An Empirical Test of Hierarchical Structural Perspective.” Social Capital Workshop, Taipei, Taiwan. May 2005.

Social Network Workshop, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. July 2026.

Social Networks and Health Workshop, Duke University. May 2026.

Gateway Exposome Coordinating Center (NIA-funded): Social Environment and Cognitive Aging Workshop, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan. March 2026.

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Workshop: The Social Component of Diabetes Health Disparities: New Directions in Analyses and Interventions through Social Networks and Structures, National Institutes of Health. May 2022.

“Design and Feasibility: The First Nationally Representative Pilot Survey of Older Never-Married Adults.” (with Leping Wang, Zhe Zhang, Deborah Carr, Siyun Peng, Brea L. Perry, Qingxia Chen, and Tara McKay) The Annual Scientific Meeting of GSA, National Harbor, MD. November 2026. (Under Review)

“Multidimensional Social Networks and Health: Evidence from the First National Pilot Study of Older Never-Married Adults” (with Leping Wang, Zhe Zhang, Brea L. Perry, Siyun Peng, Deborah Carr, Qingxia Chen, and Tara McKay) European Conference on Social Networks. Norrköping, Sweden. August 2026.

“Pet Presence as Social Integration or Social Cost? Marital Status, Sex, and Health in Later Life.” (with Leping Wang and Zhe Zhang) The 201st Annual Meeting of ASA. New York, NY. August 2026.

“Toward a Sociology of Never-Married Adulthood in Later Life: Lived Experiences, Social Networks, and Health.” (with Leping Wang, Zhe Zhang, Deborah Carr, Siyun Peng, Brea L. Perry, Qingxia Chen, and Tara McKay) The 201st Annual Meeting of ASA. New York, NY. August 2026.

“Pets as Amplifiers, Buffers, or Compensators? Singlehood and Health in Later Life.” (with Leping Wang and Zhe Zhang) The Annual Meeting of PAA. St. Louis, MO. May 2026.

“Protect or Hurt? Social Networks and Well-Being Inequalities across Societies.” First Conference of the International Social Capital Association. Dubai, United Arab Emirates. March 2026. (Virtual)

“Does Being Single and Living Alone Hurt? Mental and Cognitive Health Inequalities Among Older Adults.” (with Zhe Zhang) The 200th Annual Meeting of ASA. Chicago, IL. August 2025.

“Integrated or Isolated? Social Networks and Health Among Older Never-Married Adults.” (with Zhe Zhang and Leping Wang) The 5th ISA Forum of Sociology, Rabat, Morocco. July 2025.

“Mitigate or Amplify? Social Integration and Health Disparities between Never- and Ever-Married Adults.” (with Leping Wang and Zhe Zhang) The XLII Sunbelt Conference of INSNA. Paris, France. June 2025.

“Protect or Hurt? Social Networks and Well-Being Inequalities.” (with Zhe Zhang, Philip J. Pettis, and Meagan Rainock) The Eighteenth International Conference on Social Stress Research. Portland, OR. June 2024.

“Table for One: Does Being Single and Living Alone Protect or Hurt?” (with Zhe Zhang) The Annual Meeting of PAA. Columbus, OH. April 2024.

“Table for One: Does Being Single and Living Alone Protect or Hurt?” (with Zhe Zhang) The 118th Annual Meeting of ASA. Philadelphia, PA. August 2023.

“Does Who You Know Help or Hurt? Social Capital, Social Cost, Tie Strength, and Inequalities in Three Societies.” The Annual Meeting of PAA. New Orleans, LA. April 2023.

“Table for One: Does Being Single and Living Alone Protect or Hurt?” (with Zhe Zhang) The Annual Meeting of SSS. Myrtle Beach, SC. March 2023.

“Online Social Support among the Isolated and Lonely: Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” The XLII Sunbelt Conference of INSNA. Cairns, Australia. July 2022.

“Protect or Hurt? Tie Strength and Mental Health across Three Societies.” Networks 2021: A Joint Sunbelt and NetSci Conference (virtual). July 2021.

“Does Who You Know Satisfy or Dissatisfy Your Life? Social Capital, Social Cost, and Relational Culture in Three Societies.” The 115th Annual Meeting of ASA (virtual), San Francisco, CA. August 2020.

“Does Who You Know Satisfy or Dissatisfy Your Life? Social Capital, Social Cost, and Relational Culture in Three Societies.” The XL Sunbelt Conference of INSNA (virtual). Paris, France. July 2020.

“Do Social Networks Affect Public Knowledge and Attitudes about Genetic Testing? The Roles of Social Integration, Tie Strength, Social Capital, and Social Cohesion.” The 114th Annual Meeting of ASA, New York, NY. August 2019.

“Social Capital and Social Cost.” Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China. June 2019.

“Protect or Hurt? Tie Strength and Mental Health across Three Societies.” The 82nd Annual Meeting of SSS, Atlanta, GA. April 2019.

“Accessed Status and Health Limitations in Three Societies: Institutional Embeddedness of Social Capital and Social Comparison.” The 113th Annual Meeting of ASA, Philadelphia, PA. August 2018.

“Marry Up, Socialize Up? Educational Hypergamy, Gender, and Social Capital in Three Societies.” The Annual Meeting of ICSA, Princeton, NJ. August 2018.

“Do Social Networks Affect Public Knowledge and Attitudes about Genetic Testing? The Roles of Social Integration, Tie Strength, and Social Cohesion.” The XXXVIII Sunbelt Conference of INSNA. Utrecht, the Netherlands. June 2018.

“Social Capital or Social Cost? Accessed Status, Tie Strength, and Depression in the U.S., Urban China, and Taiwan.” The Sixteenth International Conference on Social Stress Research. Athens, Greece. June 2018.

“Educational Homogamy, Network Members’ Status, and Gender: A Comparison across Three Societies.” The 112th Annual Meeting of ASA, Montreal, Canada. August 2017.

“Network Members’ Occupational Status, Tie Strength, and Depression in Two Societies.” The XXXVII Sunbelt Conference of INSNA, Beijing, China. May 2017.

“Educational Homogamy, Network Members’ Status, and Gender: A Comparison across Three Societies.” The 80th Annual Meeting of SSS, Greenville, SC. March 2017.

“Institutional Contingency of Network Embeddedness of Class Identification: Network Members’ Occupational Status and Subjective Social Class in Three Societies.” The 111th Annual Meeting of ASA, Seattle, WA. August 2016.

“Network Members’ Occupational Status, Tie Strength, and Depression in Two Societies.” The 3rd ISA Forum of Sociology, Vienna, Austria. July 2016.

“Institutional Contingency of Network Embeddedness of Class Identification: Network Members’ Occupational Status and Subjective Social Class in Three Societies.” The XXXVI Sunbelt Conference of INSNA, Newport Beach, CA. April 2016.

“Network Members’ Occupational Status, Tie Strength, and Depression in Two Societies.” The 110th Annual Meeting of ASA, Chicago, IL. August 2015.

“Does Knowing People in Authority Protect or Hurt? Authoritative Social Capital and Depression in Post-Socialist Urban China.” The XXXV Sunbelt Conference of INSNA, Brighton, United Kingdom. June 2015.

“Is Unsolicited Support Protective or Destructive in Collectivistic Culture? Receipt of Unsolicited Job Leads in Urban China.” The 109th Annual Meeting of ASA, San Francisco, CA. August 2014.

“Does Your Body Know Who You Know? Social Capital and Body Weight.” The 108th Annual Meeting of ASA, New York. August 2013.

“Institutional Embeddedness of Network Embeddedness in the Workplace: Social Integration at Work and Employee’s Health across Three Societies “The Xi’an INSNA Conference, Xi’an, China. July 2013.

“Does Your Well-Being Know Who You Know? Social Capital and Life Satisfaction across Three Societies.” The Xi’an INSNA Conference, Xi’an, China. July 2013.

“Help or Hurt? Unsolicited Job Leads and Receivers’ Psychological Distress.” The 107th Annual Meeting of ASA, Denver, CL. August 2012.

“Does Your Well-Being Know Who You Know? Social Capital and Life Satisfaction across Three Societies.” The 107th Annual Meeting of ASA, Denver, CL. August 2012.

“Help or Hurt? Unsolicited Job Leads and Receivers’ Psychological Distress.” The 13th International Conference on Social Stress Research. Dublin, Ireland. June 2012.

“Is Whom You Know in the Structural Hierarchy a Resource or Stressor? The Floor and Ceiling of Social Capital and Health in Urban China and the United States.” The 106th Annual Meeting of ASA, Las Vegas, ND. August 2011.

“Does Political Social Capital Matter to Well-Being? A Comparative Study on Life Satisfaction across Three Societies.” The Annual Meeting of NACSA, Las Vegas, ND. August 2011.

“The Older, the More Social: The Interaction Effect of Social Capital with Age on Health.” The 105th Annual Meeting of ASA, Atlanta, Georgia. August 2010.

“An Invisible Hand: Social Capital and Health Information Search.” The XXX Sunbelt Conference of INSNA, Riva del Garda, Italy. July 2010.

“An Invisible Hand: Social Capital and Health Information Search.” The 73rd Annual Meeting of SSS, Atlanta, Georgia. April 2010.

“You Identify with Who You Know: Social Capital and Subjective Social Class.” The 104th Annual Meeting of ASA, San Francisco, CA. August 2009.

“A Tale of Two Social Capitals: Network Resources and Civic Participation.” The 103rd Annual Meeting of ASA, Boston, MA. August 2008.

“Social Capital or Parenthood: A Dilemma for Whom?” The 103rd Annual Meeting of ASA, Boston, MA. August 2008.

“Social Capital or Parenthood: A Dilemma for Whom?” The 71st Annual Meeting of SSS, Richmond, Virginia. April 2008.

“A Tale of Two Social Capitals: Network Resources and Civic Participation.” The 71st Annual Meeting of SSS, Richmond, Virginia. April 2008.

“Your Body Knows Who You Know: Social Capital and Well-Being Inequality in the United States.” The Mid-Winter Meeting of the ASA Methods Section: Network and New Methods for Global Health. Duke University, Durham, NC. February 2008.

“Your Body Knows Who You Know: Social Capital and Health Inequality in the United States.” The XXVIII Sunbelt Conference of INSNA, St. Pete Beach, FL. January 2008.

“Is Trust Social Capital?” The Social Capital Group Meeting, Duke University, Durham, NC. November 2007.

“Your Body Knows Who You Know: Social Capital and Health Inequality in the United States.” The 102nd Annual Meeting of ASA, New York. August 2007.

“Your Body Knows Who You Know: Social Capital and Health Inequality.” The 70th Annual Meeting of SSS, Atlanta, Georgia. April 2007.

“Social Capital and Subjective Social Status: Evidence from China and the US.” The XXVI Sunbelt Conference of INSNA, Vancouver, Canada. April 2006.

“Social Capital and Subjective Social Status: Evidence from China and the US.” The 69th Annual Meeting of SSS, New Orleans, LA. March 2006.

“When Institutions Meet Networks: Educational Homogamy in Urban China.” The 100th Annual Meeting of ASA, Philadelphia, PA. August 2005.

“The Position Generator and Depressive Symptoms: An Empirical Test of Hierarchical Structural Perspective.” Social Capital Workshop, Taipei, Taiwan. May 2005.

“When Institutions Meet Networks: Educational Homogamy in Urban China.” The 68th Annual Meeting of SSS, Charlotte, NC. April 2005.

“When Institutions Meet Networks: Educational Homogamy in Urban China.” The XXV Sunbelt Conference of INSNA, Redondo Beach, CA. February 2005.

“Educational Inequality at the Macro Level in China: A Preliminary Review.” The 99th Annual Meeting of ASA, San Francisco, CA. August 2004.