Herbert J. Gans is Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology at Columbia University. His publications include The Urban Villagers; Popular Culture and High Culture; Deciding What's News; and Middle American Individualism: The Future of Liberal Democracy. He has also authored the monographs American Films and TV Programs on British Screens: The Functions of American Popular Culture Abroad, and The Uses of Television and Their Educational Implications. Professor Gans is past-President of the American Sociological Association and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.