The Age of Networks: Social, Cultural, and Technological Connections A message from Age of Networks organizer Noshir Contractor, leader of the Science of Networks in Communities research group at NCSA and a professor in the Department of Speech Communication. The Age of Networks Speaker Series draws to a close with Jon Kleinberg's lecture on May 1. Between Spring 2006 and Spring 2007, the Age of Networks Speaker Series hosted 32 distinguished U.S. and international network scholars from a wide variety of disciplines including communication, computer science, engineering, information science, law, life sciences, organizational science, physical sciences, and the social sciences.