Christopher Robbins
Education
Doctor of Philosophy, 2005
Penn State University
Specialization: Critical Cultural Studies and Sociology of Education
Biography
Christopher Robbins grew up in northeastern Pennsylvania. He is a first-generation college student.
Interests and Expertise
Christopher's primary interests include critical theory, cultural studies, and sociology of education with a focus on power and inequality. His earlier and most sustained work considered the ways that processes of criminalization and militarization not only altered the democratic purposes of schooling, but also participated in broader transformations in institutional arrangements relative to racism and racial order. In recent years, he has looked at changes in higher education funding, considering the ways that the push for educational attainment introduces new dynamics to both social class and racial politics. From time to time, Robbins writes in intellectual history. He is currently working on a co-authored book project wherein he is looking at the politics and ethics of mass death (biological, social, and civic) and its implications for democracy, with an eye toward the role of schooling and the place of public pedagogy in opposing the increasing normalization of mass death in the U.S. He is the founding collaborator for The Workshop for Community+Collaboration at Eastern Michigan University's College of Education.
Courses
SFCE 328(W): Schools for a Diverse and Democratic Society
SFCE 630: Schooling and the Politics of Fear
SFCE 580: Sociology of Education
EDST 801: Education, Democracy, and Social Thought
URED 817: Children and Families in Poverty
Publications and Presentations
Books and Edited Collections:
Robbins, C.G., Ferris, E., & Supski, S. (Eds.) (2023, December). Peter Beilharz: The life of the mind, friendship, and cultural traffic in postmodern
times. Thesis Eleven 179(1), 1-297.
Robbins, C.G. (2008). Expelling hope: The assault on youth and the militarization of
schooling. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. Awarded the “Critics Choice Award” of
2008 by the American Educational Studies Association.
Robbins, C.G. (Ed.) (2006). The Giroux Reader (Henry A. Giroux), introduced
and edited by Christopher G. Robbins, Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers.
Recent Articles and Essays:
Robbins, C.G. (2024, March). A review essay of Cannibal Capitalism: How Our System
is Devouring Democracy, Care, and the Planet – and What We Can Do about It.
Thesis Eleven.
Naish, K. and Robbins, C.G. (2024, February). "This class is a community rather than a
bunch of individuals:" Democratic pedagogy, integrated wellness and well-being
in an undergraduate education course. Report for the Bruce K. Nelson Faculty Development Center.
Robbins, C.G. and Ferris, E. (2023). Reflections on friendship and gratitude for Peter
Beilharz on the occasion of his “revolution #70.” Thesis Eleven 179(1), 5-17.
Robbins, C.G. (2023). Circling Beilharz? More like a wobbly orbiting. Thesis Eleven
179(1), 129-141.
Robbins, C.G. and Ferris, E. (August, 2023). Under - and outside of - the spectre of menace:
Crowds and power in an era of mass violence. (Chapter in book project, 40 pages)
Robbins, C.G. (2023, March 2). “You all ok?” The impossibility of being alright amid
mass violence. Thesis Eleven.
*Robbins, C.G. and Ferris, E. (2023). A crusade and the crowd of the dead:
Understanding the U.S. right’s attack on public schooling. The Review
of Education, Pedagogy and Cultural Studies 46(1), 25-63.
*Robbins, C.G. (2022). A class production: Higher education, the
neoliberal metrics fetish, and the production of inequality/insecurity.
Social Justice: A Journal of Crime, Conflict, and World Order. 48(2), 27-57.
Robbins, C.G. (2022, June 3). When “divisive rhetoric,” not regularized mass murder,
becomes offensive. Counterpunch.
*Robbins, C.G. (2022). Beilharz with Bauman, after Bauman (Review Essay). Thesis
Eleven.
Grants, Honors and Awards
Dean’s Award for Innovative Scholarship, EMU, September 2007
The Holman Center’s (EMU) Award for Most Outstanding Faculty in Classroom Instruction, April 2007
Recipient of the American Educational Association's "Critics' Choice Book Award." 2008
Eastern Michigan University Provost’s New Faculty Research Grant 2008
The Holman Center's (EMU) Outstanding Faculty in Classroom Instruction, March 2008
The Holman Center’s (EMU) Award for Most Outstanding Faculty in Support of Student Success, April 2010
The Ronald W. Collins Distinguished Faculty Award, Research I, April 2011
College of Education Award for Innovative Teaching, September 2016
Leadership Legacy Grant Awardee for The Workshop for Community+Collaboration, April 2023