Micki McGee, Ph.D. is a sociologist, curator, and cultural critic whose work concerns itself with American culture — from the cults of self-improvement to the clusters of creative communities to the emergence of the autism parenting and neurodiversity communities.
Her critically-acclaimed monograph, Self-Help, Inc: Makeover Culture in American Life (Oxford University Press, 2005), examines America's burgeoning culture of self-improvement. Self-Help, Inc. has been widely reviewed and discussed in national and international publications including Le Monde Diplomatique, The New Statesman, Newsweek, Salon.com, the American Journal of Sociology, American Quarterly, and Social Forces. Along with Barbara Ehrenreich, James M. Coyne, Barbara Held, and Richard P. Sloan, Micki is a founder of the Negateers , an informal group that has been battling the bias toward positive thinking since 2008. In 2006 Dr. McGee began research on the impact of Yaddo, the renowned artists' and writers' retreat, on twentieth-century American culture. This project resulted in an Yaddo: Making American Culture (Columbia UP, 2008) and a New York Public Library exhibition that that drew more than half a million visitors during its run. She is completing her research on autism and neurodiversity and is at work on a work of critical non-fiction that has grown from her deep dive into autism parenting and parent advocacy work. A Sociologist in Autismland, and will draw on her twin experiences as a parent and sociologist encountering the dizzying worlds of autism parenting, diagnosis, education, and adult transitioning. The recipient of numerous grants and fellowships, including awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities; the National Science Foundation; the New York Foundation for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts and residencies at the McDowell Colony and Blue Mountain Center, her essays and articles have been published by The Nation, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Contexts, Afterimage, Art & Text, High Performance and Social Text, as well as by the Centre Georges Pompidou and the New Museum of Contemporary Art. Dr. McGee is a also frequent media commentator on self-help culture, most recently in Time magazine. Dr. McGee is an Associate Professor of Sociology and American Studies at Fordham University, where she directs the Program in American Studies and serves as the President of the Fordham University Faculty Senate. |
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Selected Publications
1. Books
2005. Self-Help, Inc.: Makeover Culture in American Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2012. The Trap of Self-Development. Seoul: AKOM Publishing. (Korean translation of Self-Help, Inc: Makeover Culture in American Life)
2008. Yaddo: Making American Culture. New York: Columbia University Press.
2. Articles
2013. “Cruel Optimism for the Neurologically Queer,” Social Text Periscope, January 15.
2012. “Neurodiversity." Contexts 11(3):12-13. Winner of the 2014 American Sociological Association Claude Award.
2012. “From Makeover Media to Remaking Culture: Four Directions for the Critical Study of Self-Help Culture.” Sociology Compass 6(9):685-693.
2009. “Keyword: Body,” Social Text 100 27(3): 58-62.
2008. “Creative Power: Yaddo and the Making of American Culture.” Pp. 1-15 in Yaddo: Making American Culture. New York: Columbia University Press.
2008. “Blue Team, Grey Team: The Varieties of Contingent Faculty Experience.” Pp. 97-112 in The University Against Itself: The NYU Strike and the Future of the Academic Workplace, edited by Monica Krause, Mary Nolan, Michael Palm, and Andrew Ross. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
2007. "The Secret's Success." The Nation 284(2)(June 4): 4-6.
2005. “Belabored: The Cult of Life as a Work of Art.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, Chronicle Review 52(4)(September 16): B-17.
2002. “Hooked on Higher Education and Other Tales from Adjunct Faculty Organizing.” Social Text 20(1)(Spring 2002): 61-80.
2005. Self-Help, Inc.: Makeover Culture in American Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2012. The Trap of Self-Development. Seoul: AKOM Publishing. (Korean translation of Self-Help, Inc: Makeover Culture in American Life)
2008. Yaddo: Making American Culture. New York: Columbia University Press.
2. Articles
2013. “Cruel Optimism for the Neurologically Queer,” Social Text Periscope, January 15.
2012. “Neurodiversity." Contexts 11(3):12-13. Winner of the 2014 American Sociological Association Claude Award.
2012. “From Makeover Media to Remaking Culture: Four Directions for the Critical Study of Self-Help Culture.” Sociology Compass 6(9):685-693.
2009. “Keyword: Body,” Social Text 100 27(3): 58-62.
2008. “Creative Power: Yaddo and the Making of American Culture.” Pp. 1-15 in Yaddo: Making American Culture. New York: Columbia University Press.
2008. “Blue Team, Grey Team: The Varieties of Contingent Faculty Experience.” Pp. 97-112 in The University Against Itself: The NYU Strike and the Future of the Academic Workplace, edited by Monica Krause, Mary Nolan, Michael Palm, and Andrew Ross. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
2007. "The Secret's Success." The Nation 284(2)(June 4): 4-6.
2005. “Belabored: The Cult of Life as a Work of Art.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, Chronicle Review 52(4)(September 16): B-17.
2002. “Hooked on Higher Education and Other Tales from Adjunct Faculty Organizing.” Social Text 20(1)(Spring 2002): 61-80.