Jonathan Wynn works at the intersection of urban and cultural sociology, and his first book was published as The Tour Guide: Walking and Talking New York (2011), based upon his dissertation research, with the University of Chicago Press (Fieldwork Encounters and Discoveries Series). His work has been published in City & Community, Qualitative Sociology, Sociological Forum, and Contexts Magazine, and he has a forthcoming article in Ethnography. He is also the co-editor of the ASA Culture Section Newsletter.

Wynn is currently completing a comparative, multi–method analysis of three music festivals (the Country Music Association Festival in Nashville, the "Dunkin’ Donuts" Newport Folk Festival, and the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas), to examine how city stakeholders have adopted "festivalization" as an urban cultural policy, and the affects of city branding on both locals and visitors, event organizers and participants. This book prospectus is currently under review at a university press.

In a third project that examines the intersections between urban landscapes and cultural spaces, Wynn is also building a community study that highlights how place-based social media (e.g., Facebook, Google Maps, etc.) were used in a college town to mobilize social and material capital in the face of a lethal arson spree, and compares it to a similar event in a proximate, poorer community by using content analysis of over 640 community members’ online activity and traditional media, paired with interviews with key community members.

In his spare time Jon helps friends with their political campaigns, greenhouses, backing steel guitar, and cafe ownership.

Photo credit to Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg.