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Endowed Chairs and Professorships

About the Lauritis Chair

Douglas A. Harper, Ph.D.

harper“Duquesne has a strong tradition of encouraging faculty to integrate teaching and research, and the appointment as an endowed chair recognizes that my interests in visual sociology are equally relevant to my teaching and research.

“I hope to further develop my courses on visual sociology and hopefully begin new work with colleagues in the Department of Journalism and Media Arts in the area of documentary film, working with students to teach sociology through film as we research the local community.”

The Lauritis Chair is funded through a grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation and is named for a Spiritan priest and professor who used radio broadcast to teach journalism. In 1949, Fr. Lauritis established WDUQ-FM. The chair holder is responsible for integrating technology and teaching in Duquesne’s classrooms.

Harper’s research interests include migrant labor, agricultural change, the sociology of the “small shop,” international migration and Italian culture. He has taught courses the sociology of work, global sociology, Italy through Italian films and classical social theory, among others. Harper is the founding editor of Visual Studies, the official journal of the International Visual Sociology Association, and has published numerous books, chapters, articles and photo essays.

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To learn more, contact Lynn Knecht at 412.396.6045.