About

Barry Glassner

Professor of Sociology

Contact Information
E-mail: glassne@usc.edu
Phone: (213) 740-8846
Office: KAP 362

 

Education
Ph.D. Sociology, Washington University, 1/1977
 

Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests
What are Americans afraid of? What do Americans believe about foods they choose to eat or avoid? Ask Barry Glassner, a sociologist with his finger on the pulse of American culture. His provacative research has found many of Americans' concerns to be largely unfounded. He has studied scary stories in the media; scares about adolescents, crime, minority groups, and related social issues; false fears in marketing and politics; and fear and the power of exploiting it for product sales and political careers. His recent work examines the sources of Americans' assumptions about what and where to eat, and the chefs, nutritionists, restaurant critics, journalists, and food marketers who perpetuate those views. USC's Executive Vice Provost, his articles have appeared in American Sociological Review, Social Problems, American Journal of Psychiatry, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, among other journals.
 

Research Specialties
(Ph.D., Washington University – St. Louis, 1978) Professor of Sociology: Cultural sociology; qualitative methods; media studies.
 

Publications

Book
Glassner, B. (2007). The Gospel of Food. The Gospel of Food/Ecco/HarperCollins.
 

Honors and Awards
Myron and Marian Casden Directorship of the Casden, 1999-2005  
USC Associates Award For Creativity In Research And Scholarship, 2002  
 
 
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