Neil Gross

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 at 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 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.^[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 was described by philosopher Barry Allen as using Rorty's life to "build a theory of the sociology of ideas."^[1][10] In his review, 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 U.S. universities, colleges, and community colleges, called the Politics of the American Professoriate.^{[12][13]: 25–26 [14]} According to Inside Higher Ed, several experts said the survey data collected by Gross and Simmons "may become the definitive source for understanding professors' political views."^[14] Gross published an extensive analysis of the survey results in his 2013 book Why Are Professors Liberal and Why Do Conservatives Care?^[15] He and Simmons further analyzed this field of research in their 2014 compilation, Professors and Their Politics.^{[13]: 25–26} Sociologist Joseph Hermanowicz regarded the compilation 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 added that there is relatively little evidence indicating 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 criticized what he sees as conservative political bias intentionally distorting the results of demographic research on campus politics.^[13]: 20

In a 2017 New York Times editorial entitled "Professors Behaving Badly", Gross wrote that the occasional "political outbursts" by professors on social media may not be a consequence of their far-left politics. Instead, he suggested that professors are becoming alienated by their bleak employment prospects and precarious economic status in the growing adjunct tier of the academic work force.^[25]

Works

Articles

• "Comments on Searle", Anthropological Theory, vol. 6, n^o 1, March 2006, p. 55 (doi:10.1177/1463499606061734)

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