I am not a “native” sociologist. As an undergraduate at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, I studied mathematics and English literature. I gravitated towards these disparate fields both for similar reasons: I enjoy starting with a novel premise and then logically extending a set of relationships to arrive at an unanticipated conclusion. The “texts” explored in mathematical analysis consist of formulas, transformative rules, and proofs, while literature involves settings, character development, and plot lines. To make an argument convincing in either field, one must provide a compelling narrative.
Following my graduation, I took up culinary managerial positions in the restaurant industry. Working in fine dining in the Twin Cities, I was soon exposed to trends in sourcing local, organic food to create innovative, dynamic menus. One of my responsibilities involved visiting local farmers’ markets to procure food that would be served to customers later that evening, prioritizing values in these transactions to balance cost with place of origin, organic vs. conventional, and relationship to vendor.
During this time, I also opened and operated my own coffee shop for four years in St. Paul (“Motor Oil Industrial Coffees”), making connections to the local independent art and music scenes. My partner, my younger brother, introduced me to the Mississippi Market—a St. Paul cooperative founded in the mid ’70s—then conducting business in a cramped storefront on St. Clair Avenue. Through the coffee shop, I also met several faculty members at the nearby Macalester College. Michal McCall, the chair of Macalester’s sociology department, introduced me to the pleasures of sociological inquiry; several years later, she helped me prepare my graduate school applications.
I was admitted to Princeton University having never taken a sociology course as an undergraduate. I became thoroughly immersed in the field, earning my PhD in 2012 under the guidance of Miguel Centeno, Paul DiMaggio, and Robert Wuthnow. But I have never forgotten how it felt to be introduced to this new way of looking at the world. Subsequently, I feel I am an ambassador to the discipline, helping to share its findings with fresh audiences, inside and outside the academy.
My dissertation focused on the role that cooperative grocery stores played in the development of organic food from a concept to a commodity. Activists in Minnesota played key roles establishing this region as an important intellectual and commercial center for the maturation of both cooperative grocery stores and sustainable foods. Though initially motivated by ideological concerns, these movements pursued projects of social change through participation in the highly competitive and profit-oriented retail grocery markets of the US. They promoted their ideals while helping to create regulatory definitions of the agricultural production processes we now know as “organic.” Throughout their histories, they have truly challenged power while pushing a product. I have come to believe the legacies of these movements can be observed in current economic markets, and—a half century later—the issues they sought to address have yet to be resolved. My first book, Grocery Activism: The Radical History of Food Cooperatives in Minnesota, was published by the University of Minnesota Press in 2020.
Following my graduation, I took up culinary managerial positions in the restaurant industry. Working in fine dining in the Twin Cities, I was soon exposed to trends in sourcing local, organic food to create innovative, dynamic menus. One of my responsibilities involved visiting local farmers’ markets to procure food that would be served to customers later that evening, prioritizing values in these transactions to balance cost with place of origin, organic vs. conventional, and relationship to vendor.
During this time, I also opened and operated my own coffee shop for four years in St. Paul (“Motor Oil Industrial Coffees”), making connections to the local independent art and music scenes. My partner, my younger brother, introduced me to the Mississippi Market—a St. Paul cooperative founded in the mid ’70s—then conducting business in a cramped storefront on St. Clair Avenue. Through the coffee shop, I also met several faculty members at the nearby Macalester College. Michal McCall, the chair of Macalester’s sociology department, introduced me to the pleasures of sociological inquiry; several years later, she helped me prepare my graduate school applications.
I was admitted to Princeton University having never taken a sociology course as an undergraduate. I became thoroughly immersed in the field, earning my PhD in 2012 under the guidance of Miguel Centeno, Paul DiMaggio, and Robert Wuthnow. But I have never forgotten how it felt to be introduced to this new way of looking at the world. Subsequently, I feel I am an ambassador to the discipline, helping to share its findings with fresh audiences, inside and outside the academy.
My dissertation focused on the role that cooperative grocery stores played in the development of organic food from a concept to a commodity. Activists in Minnesota played key roles establishing this region as an important intellectual and commercial center for the maturation of both cooperative grocery stores and sustainable foods. Though initially motivated by ideological concerns, these movements pursued projects of social change through participation in the highly competitive and profit-oriented retail grocery markets of the US. They promoted their ideals while helping to create regulatory definitions of the agricultural production processes we now know as “organic.” Throughout their histories, they have truly challenged power while pushing a product. I have come to believe the legacies of these movements can be observed in current economic markets, and—a half century later—the issues they sought to address have yet to be resolved. My first book, Grocery Activism: The Radical History of Food Cooperatives in Minnesota, was published by the University of Minnesota Press in 2020.
I joined the Sociology Department of Winona State University in the fall of 2011. In addition to “Introduction to Sociology” and “Social Problems,” I teach courses on the sociology of education, race & ethnicity, and social class. Before arriving at WSU, I taught at the University of St. Thomas and Hamline University in St. Paul and at Grinnell College in central Iowa. Beyond cooking (and eating), I enjoy reading, writing, a little arithmetic, and finding an excuse to take my motorcycle out for a spin. I’ve been known to throw a well-placed bowling ball, and I play the occasional game of billiards.
For those in need of a short bio written in the third-person, here's one option:
Craig Upright, Professor of Sociology at Winona State University, is a scholar of social movements, organizations, politics, and culture. He has taught at the University of St. Thomas, Northland College, Hamline University, and Grinnell College. Before earning his PhD from Princeton University, he spent more than a decade working in the restaurant industry, including four years as the owner of a small coffee shop in St. Paul that hosted underground punk bands in its basement every weekend. His research focuses on sustainability movements and their interactions with economic markets. His first book, Grocery Activism: The Radical History of Food Cooperatives in Minnesota, was published by the University of Minnesota Press in 2020.
Craig Upright, Professor of Sociology at Winona State University, is a scholar of social movements, organizations, politics, and culture. He has taught at the University of St. Thomas, Northland College, Hamline University, and Grinnell College. Before earning his PhD from Princeton University, he spent more than a decade working in the restaurant industry, including four years as the owner of a small coffee shop in St. Paul that hosted underground punk bands in its basement every weekend. His research focuses on sustainability movements and their interactions with economic markets. His first book, Grocery Activism: The Radical History of Food Cooperatives in Minnesota, was published by the University of Minnesota Press in 2020.