Douglas A. Harper (born 1948) is an American sociologist and photographer. He is the holder of the Rev. Joseph A. Lauritis, C.S.Sp. Endowed Chair in Teaching with Technology at Duquesne University, a chair funded by a grant from the Mellon Foundation.

Biography

Harper was born in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

, United States. He earned a B.A. from Macalester College in 1970 and a PhD in sociology from

Brandeis University Brandeis University is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational institution sponsored by the Jews, Jewish community, Brandeis was established on t ...

. While doing research for his PhD dissertation about

railroad tramp A hobo is a migrant worker in the United States. Hoboes, tramps and bums are generally regarded as related, but distinct: a hobo travels and is willing to work; a tramp travels, but avoids work if possible; and a bum neither travels nor works. E ...

s, he rode

freight train Rail freight transport is the use of rail transport, railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of Railroad car#Freight cars, freight cars (US) or goods wagon ...

s for in the western United States.

Career

After graduation, Harper wrote a book, Good Company, about railroad tramps. Harper made extensive use of photo elicitation interviews in his 1987 book, ''Working Knowledge'', a sociological treatment of the rural bricoleur in America. His 2001 publication, ''Changing Works'', applied the same method to the historical reconstruction of cultural memory. Harper later co-authored books on post-colonial culture in Hong Kong, Italian food culture, and the semiotics of Italian fascism, in which he researched images as method of cross-cultural communication. In 2014, he studied the sociology of public space in the Italian piazza and in the de-industrialized regions of the American Rust Belt. Harper has taught sociology at SUNY Potsdam, the University of South Florida, and Duquesne University, and as a guest professor at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other bein ...

and

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...

. He edited the academic journal ''Visual Studies'' during its first thirteen years and wrote five works of visual ethnography published by the

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including '' The Chicago Manual of Style'' ...

. His ''Visual Sociology'' (Routledge 2012) is a comprehensive treatment of the topic. Harper was co-founder of the International Visual Sociology Association with

Leonard M. Henny Leonard (Melchior) Henny (The Hague, 4 August 1935 Amsterdam, 17 September 2011) was a Dutch filmmaker, teacher, and writer, known for his socially engaged documentaries, and his pioneering work in the field of visual sociology. Biography Henn ...

and others; in 2013 he was elected its president. He has had many photographic exhibitions in the US and abroad.

Books

*2014: ''I Simboli del fascismo nella Roma del XXI secolo, cronache di un' oblio''. Douglas Harper, Francesco Mattioli. Aciraele-Roma: Bonnano. ("The symbols of fascism: Reports of an oblivion"). In Press. *2012: ''Visual Sociology''. Douglas Harper. London:

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, ...

. *2009: ''The Italian Way: Food and Social Life''. Douglas Harper and Patrizia Faccioli. Chicago:

. *2009: ''Hong Kong: Migrant Lives, Landscapes, and Journeys''. Caroline Knowles and Douglas Harper. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. *2006: ''Good Company: A Tramp Life''. Boulder: Paradigm. Douglas Harper. (Revised and expanded third edition). *2003: ''The Cultural Study of Work''. Douglas Harper and Helen Lawson, editors. Boulder: Rowman Littlefield. 2004 Outstanding Title, designation by the American Library Association. *2001: ''Changing Works: Visions of a Lost Agriculture''. Douglas Harper. University of Chicago Press. Scholarly Achievement Award, North Central Sociological Association and Collier Award, Society for Visual Anthropology. *1998: ''Mondi Da Vedere: Verso una sociologia piu visuale''. Patrizia Faccioli and Douglas Harper, editors. Milan: FrancoAngeli. *1994: ''Cape Breton, 1952: The Photographic Vision of Timothy Asch'' (editor).

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...

: Ethnographics Press; International Visual Sociology Association. *1993: ''Eyes Across the Water, vol. II: Essays on Visual Sociology and Anthropology''. Robert Boonzajer Flaes and Douglas Harper, editors. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis Press. *1987: ''Working Knowledge: Skill and Community in a Small Shop''. Douglas Harper. University of Chicago Press. Paperback edition, University of California Press, 1992."Working Knowledge: Skill and Community in a Small Shop by Douglas Harper"
Peter F. Murphy ''The Oral History Review'' Vol. 16, No. 2 (Autumn, 1988), pp. 157–159,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

*1982: Good Company. Douglas Harper. University of Chicago Press. Second edition translations: Good Company: Un sociologo tra I vagabondi. Milan: FrancoAngeli, 1999 in Italian; Les Vagabonds du Nord-Ouest Américain. Paris: L'Harmattan, 1998 in French.

Films

*2013: ''The First Step to Recovery''. (a 60-minute documentary film, in process.) Douglas Harper and Margaret Patterson, co-directors. *1983: ''Ernie's Sawmill''. Douglas Harper and Stephen Papson, co-directors. A 16 mm, 20-minute ethnographic film.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Douglas 1948 births Living people People from Saint Paul, Minnesota Macalester College alumni Brandeis University alumni Duquesne University faculty American sociologists American photographers