Joshua Yates

Joshua Yates, Ph.D. — Director at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, University of Virginia. As Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, Professor Yates is a sociologist specializing in the study of culture and cultural change in the modern world. Dr. Yates directs the “Thriving Cities Project”, an interdisciplinary initiative that researches the cultural dimensions of contemporary urban contexts and develops strategic resources for community renewal. The project’s framework and forthcoming toolkit for community assessment helps city leaders, professionals, and residents ask better questions about how their city works across multiple domains, including: education, public health, the built environment, government, civic engagement, arts and leisure and public works.

In addition to his work with the “Thriving Cities Project,” Dr. Yates co-authored Thrift and Thriving in America: Capitalism and Moral Order from the Puritans to the Present with James Davidson Hunter.