Neil_Gross

Neil Gross

Neil Gross

American sociologist and academic

Neil Louis Gross (born June 1, 1971)[1] is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Sociology and chair of the department of sociology at Colby College.[2] He is also a visiting scholar of New York University’s Institute for Public Knowledge.[3] He has written several books on sociological and political topics, and also blogs for The Chronicle of Higher Education.[4] Gross edited the American Sociological Association's journal Sociological Theory from 2009 to 2015.[5] He previously taught at the University of Southern California, Harvard University, Princeton University, and at the University of British Columbia.[5][6]

Early life and education

Gross grew up near Berkeley, California, raised by his stay-at-home mother and his father, a legal editor. Both of his parents were avid readers.[7]

Gross earned a B.A. in Legal Studies from the University of California, Berkeley in 1992, and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2002.[5] Before going to graduate school, Gross was a patrolman in the Berkeley Police Department in Berkeley, California.[8]

Career

From 2004 to 2008, Gross was an assistant professor of sociology at Harvard University, after which he joined the faculty of the University of British Columbia.[9] He was the editor-in-chief of Sociological Theory for six years (2009-2015).[2] In 2015, he left the University of British Columbia to become Charles A. Dana professor and chair of sociology at Colby College.[2]

Biography of Richard Rorty

Gross garnered considerable attention for his 2008 book Richard Rorty: The Making of an American Philosopher, which focused on philosopher Richard Rorty, and has been described by philosopher Barry Allen as using Rorty's life to "build a theory of the sociology of ideas."[1][10] Reviewing the book, sociologist Neil Mclaughlin commended Gross for his "careful archival research, innovative theoretical synthesis and substantive contributions."[1][11]

On liberalism in academia

Another focus of Gross' work has been the political leanings of university professors. With Solon Simmons, he began in 2006 a survey of 1417 faculty members at 927 United States universities, colleges, and community colleges, called the Politics of the American Professoriate.[12][13]: 25–26 [14] Inside Higher Ed reported that several experts said that the survey data "may become the definitive source for understanding professors' political views."[14] Gross published an extensive analysis of this work in the 2013 book Why Are Professors Liberal and Why Do Conservatives Care?[15] He and Simmons further analyzed the field of research in their 2014 compilation Professors and Their Politics.[13]: 25–26  Sociologist Joseph Hermanowicz described Professors and Their Politics as an important work, on a par with "Paul Lazarsfeld and Wagner Theilen's classic study of 1958 and Seymour Martin Lipset and Everett Carll Ladd's 1976 work."[16] Gross has found, along with numerous other researchers, that there are more liberals than conservatives in university faculty,[13]: 25–26  but he has also said that there is relatively little evidence that students are indoctrinated into liberal opinions during college.[5] In a field of study where experts disagree,[17][18][19][20] and some have taken opposing views specifically on Gross' methods and interpretations,[21][22][23][24] he has also criticized what he sees as conservative political bias intentionally distorting the results of demographic research on campus politics.[13]: 20 

Books

  • "Pragmatism, Phenomenology, and Twentieth-Century American Sociology" [Chapter Six, page 183] - in Sociology in America: A History, Craig Calhoun, ed. 2008. ISBN 9780226090955
  • Richard Rorty: The Making of an American Philosopher- 2008. ISBN 9780226309903
  • Social Knowledge in the Making - co-edited with Charles Camic and Michèle Lamont. 2011.
  • Why Are Professors Liberal and Why Do Conservatives Care? - 2013. ISBN 9780674059092
  • Professors and Their Politics - co-edited with Solon Simmons. 2014. ISBN 9781421413341
  • Walk the Walk, How Three Police Chiefs Defied the Odds and Changed Cop Culture. 2023. ISBN 9781250777522

References

  1. [1]
    "Neil Gross." Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2013. Literature Resource Center, Accessed 13 June 2018.
  2. [2]
    "Neil L. Gross". Colby College. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
  3. [3]
    Gross, Neil (March 5, 2013). "The Actual Politics of Professors". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  4. [4]
    "Neil Gross – The Conversation - Blogs - The Chronicle of Higher Education". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  5. [5]
    Mooney, Chris (April 15, 2013). "Neil Gross - Why Are Professors (and Scientists) So Liberal?". Point of Inquiry. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  6. [6]
    "Neil L. Gross · College Directory".
  7. [7]
    Hauchecorne, Mathieu; Ollion, Etienne (January 2009). "What is the new sociology of Ideas ? A Discussion with Charles Camic and Neil Gross". Transeo Review. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  8. [8]
    Boyle, Gerry (2015-10-16). "Patrolling the New Sociology". Colby Magazine. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
  9. [9]
    "Neil Gross Plans To Leave Harvard". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
  10. [10]
    Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, http://ndpr.nd.edu/ (October 11, 2008), Barry Allen, review of Richard Rorty.
  11. [11]
    Canadian Journal of Sociology, September 22, 2009, Neil McLaughlin, review of Richard Rorty: The Making of an American Philosopher, pp. 1156-1160.
  12. [12]
    Gross, Neil; Simmons, Solon (September 24, 2007). "The Social and Political Views of American Professors". (working paper). CiteSeerX 10.1.1.147.6141.
  13. [13]
    Gross, Neil; Simmons, Solon (29 May 2014). "The Social and Political Views of American College and University Professors". In Gross, N.; Simmons, S. (eds.). Professors and Their Politics. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-1-4214-1334-1. LCCN 2013035780.
  14. [14]
    Jaschik, Scott (October 8, 2007). "The Liberal (and Moderating) Professoriate". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  15. [15]
    Gross, Neil (2013). Why Are Professors Liberal and Why Do Conservatives Care?. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674059092. LCCN 2012031469.
  16. [16]
    Hermanowicz, Joseph C. (November 2015). "Professors and Their Politics. Edited by Neil Gross and Solon Simmons". American Journal of Sociology. 121 (3): 983–985. doi:10.1086/682889.
  17. [17]
    Rothman, Stanley; Lichter, S. Robert; Nevitte, Neil (2005). "Politics and Professional Advancement Among College Faculty" (PDF). The Forum. 3 (1). CiteSeerX 10.1.1.207.1412. doi:10.2202/1540-8884.1067. S2CID 145340516.
  18. [18]
    Duarte, José L.; Crawford, Jarret T.; Stern, Charlotta; Haidt, Jonathan; Jussim, Lee; Tetlock, Philip E. (2015) [July 18, 2014]. "Political diversity will improve social psychological science". Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 38 (e130): e130. doi:10.1017/S0140525X14000430. PMID 25036715.
  19. [19]
    Jon A. Shields; Joshua M. Dunn Sr. (March 2016). Passing on the Right: Conservative Professors in the Progressive University. Oxford Scholarship Online. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199863051.001.0001. ISBN 9780199863051. OCLC 965380745.
  20. [20]
    Ames, Barry; Barker, David C.; Bonneau, Chris W.; Carman, Chris J. (12 September 2007). "Hide the Republicans, the Christians, and the Women: A Response to "Politics and Professional Advancement Among College Faculty."". SSRN 1012734. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  21. [21]
    Tetlock, Philip E.; Mitchell, Gregory (February 2015). "Why so Few Conservatives and Should we Care?". Symposium: Liberals and Conservatives in Academia. Society. 52 (1): 28–34. doi:10.1007/s12115-014-9850-6. S2CID 144878612.
  22. [22]
    Woessner, Matthew; Kelly-Woessner, April (February 2015). "Reflections on academic liberalism and conservative criticism". Symposium: Liberals and Conservatives in Academia. Society. 52 (1): 35–41. doi:10.1007/s12115-014-9864-0. S2CID 145584445.
  23. [23]
    Yancey, George (February 2015). "Both/and instead of either/or". Symposium: Liberals and Conservatives in Academia. Society. 52 (1): 23–27. doi:10.1007/s12115-014-9854-2. S2CID 144153781.
  24. [24]
    Marsden, George M. (February 2015). "Religious discrimination in academia". Symposium: Liberals and Conservatives in Academia. Society. 52 (1): 19–22. doi:10.1007/s12115-014-9853-3. S2CID 144749284.
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