Gary Alan Fine
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Professor Areas of Interest:
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Ph.D., Harvard University, 1976. Areas of interest include social psychology, sociology of culture, sociology of science, qualitative sociology, social theory, and collective behavior. Before coming to Northwestern, Fine was on the faculty of the University of Georgia and the University of Minnesota, and was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences, and the Russell Sage Foundation. His current research has three distinct streams. First, he is interested in the development of reputations of individuals with "difficult reputations" by means of reputational entrepreneurs (Warren Harding, Benedict Arnold, John Brown, Henry Ford). This research was recently published in Difficult Reputations: Collective Memories of the Evil, Inept and Controversial (University of Chicago Press, 2001). His current research on reputations deals with reputations and memories of the American left and right during the 1935-1955 period, including McCarthy era and the way that Adolf Hitler is remembered in the United States. As an ethnographer, he is currently examining the multiple social worlds of chess as a leisure and competitive activity, examining the role of technological change and changes in global-political politics (e.g., the breakup of the Soviet Union) on chess as a community. His recent publications include Kitchens: The Culture of Restaurant Work (University of California Press, 1996); Morel Tales: The Culture of Mushrooming (Harvard University Press, 1998), Gifted Tongues: High School Debate and Adolescent Culture (Princeton University Press, 2001), Everday Genius: Self-Taught Art and the Culture of Authenticity (University of Chicago Press, 2004), and Authors of the Storm: Meteorology and the Culture of Prediction (University of Chicago Press, 2007). His final stream of research involves the interpretation of rumor and contemporary legend, particularly political and economic rumors. His most recent book in this area is Whispers on the Color Line: Rumor and Race in America (University of California Press, 2001). His current research involves a study of rumors about immigration and the world economy.
Collaboration with Graduate Students:
I am delighted to work with students on my research on historical reputations. My research focuses on negative or difficult reputations, and at the moment my attention deals with the reputations involved in contentious politics and also on images of sedition in the United States. This research is such that students can work jointly on these projects, and the research has been quite successful in terms of publication placement (AJS, Social Problems, Poetics, Sociological Quarterly, Sociological Forum, and Social Forces)..
Contact 
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1810 Chicago Av Room 212
Evanston, Illinois 60208-1330
Phone: (847) 491-3495
Fax: (847) 491-9907
Office Hours: Thursday 3:00-4:00pm or by appointment.
Courses Top
| Courses Taught | |
| Soc 101-6 Sec. 20 Freshman Seminar: Scandals and Reputations |
Syllabus |
| Soc 476-0 Sec. 24 Special Topics: Microsociology |
Syllabus |
