Curriculum Vitae: July 2021

DEREK ROBERTS

Monroe County Community College

Humanities and Social Sciences Division
1555 S Raisinville Rd, Monroe, MI 48161
[email protected]

EDUCATION

2022 (Expected) MDiv, Interdisciplinary Studies, Moody Theological Seminary-

Michigan

2012 PhD, Sociology, Michigan State University

Dissertation Title: Authentic Bodies: Subcultural Reactions to the
Mainstreaming of Body Modification

2008 MA, Sociology, Michigan State University

2003 BA, German, Arkansas Tech University

EMPLOYMENT

2019- Present Professor

Humanities and Social Sciences Division
Monroe County Community College

2017-2019 Associate Professor

Humanities and Social Sciences Division
Monroe County Community College

2015-2017 Lecturer Grade I (Equivalent to Assistant Professor in USA)

Dag Hammarskjöld Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
The Copperbelt University

2013-2015 Assistant Professor

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Social Work & Criminal
Justice
Oakland University

2012-2013 Special Lecturer

Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Social Work
Oakland University
PEER REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

Roberts, Derek. 2018. “Following the Data: From Traditional to Virtual

Ethnography in a Study of Body Modification.” SAGE Research Methods Cases.

Roberts, Derek. 2017. “Residential Location and Neighbourhood Perceptions

Across Metro Detroit.” Regional Studies, Regional Science 4: 255-62.

Roberts, Derek and Simusa Silwamba. 2017. “Ethnicity, Politics and Zambian
Youth.” Contemporary Social Science 12(3-4): 189-201.

Roberts, Derek. 2017. “Subcultural Boundary Maintenance in a Virtual Community for

Body Modification Enthusiasts.” International Journal of Cultural Studies 20(4):
361-76.

Roberts, Derek. 2016. “Using Dramaturgy to Better Understand Contemporary Western

Tattoos.” Sociology Compass: 10(9): 795-804.

Roberts, Derek. 2015. “Modified People: Indicators of a Body Modification Subculture in

a Post-Subculture World.” Sociology 49(6): 1096-112.

Roberts, Derek. 2012. “Secret Ink: Tattoo’s Place in Contemporary American Culture.”
Journal of American Culture 35(2): 153-65.

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

Roberts, Derek. 2018. “‘Getting What They Deserve’: Digital Media Readers
Comment on the Cause of Detroit’s Bankruptcy.” Pp. 107-110 in Research Ethics
in the Digital Age: Ethics for the Social Sciences and Humanities in Times of
Mediatization and Digitization, edited by Farina Madita Dobrick, Jana Fischer,
and Lutz M. Hagen. Berlin, Germany: Springer VS.

BOOK REVIEWS

Maßmann, D. W. 2007. “The Politics of Protest: Social Movements in America, by David

S. Meyer.” Critical Mass 32 (1): 3-4.

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Roberts, Derek. 2016. “How Can Zambia Move Towards a Sustainable Urban Planning
Model?” Royal Town Planning Institute Blog.
Available at: http://www.rtpi.org.uk/briefing-room/rtpi-blog/how-can-zambia-
move-towards-a-sustainable-urban-planning-model/

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Roberts, Derek. 2016. “Appointment of RSA Ambassador for Zambia.” Regions 303: 30.

Roberts, Derek. 2016. “Report on the Regional Studies Association Annual Conference
2016.” Regions 302: 31-2.

WORKS IN PROGRESS

Tucker, Brian and Derek Roberts. “Using Habitus to Help Develop a Biblical
Hermeneutic”

GRANTS AND AWARDS

2020 Joseph M. Stowell Scholarship. Moody Theological Seminary-Michigan.

2019 Urban Scholars Program Scholarship. Moody Theological Seminary-Michigan.

2018 Urban Scholars Program Scholarship. Moody Theological Seminary-Michigan

2017 “Informal Settlements on Zambia’s Copperbelt: Measuring the Long-Term Socio-

Economic Impact at Household Level.” International Growth Centre, London
School of Economics and Political Science. Funded in full, but I declined.

2017 Adjunct Professional Development Fund, University of Northwestern-St Paul.

2016 “Kitwe to Hamburg: Comparative Urbanism from the Global South.” Research
and Innovation Fund, The Copperbelt University.

2016 Travel Grant, Regional Studies Association. Funded in full, but I declined.

2015 Conference Bursary, Regional Studies Association.

2015 Research Ethics in the Digital Age Travel Grant, The German Excellence
Initiative.

2014 Department Research Fund, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Oakland

University.

2014 Supporting Student Success Grant, College of Arts and Sciences, Oakland
University.

2011 Graduate Office Fellowship, The Graduate School, Michigan State University.

2009 Summer Support Fellowship, The Graduate School, Michigan State University.

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2008 Foreign Language & Area Studies Fellowship, US Department of Education /
MSU African Studies Center. Funded in full, but I declined.

INVITED COLLOQUIA

Roberts, Derek. 2017. Invited Discussant at Creating a Job-Rich Urban Region: Realizing
the Economic Potential of the Copperbelt, June 5, 2017, Kitwe, Zambia,

Roberts, Derek. 2016. “Governance as a Challenge to Suburbanisation in Zambia.”

Invited Presentation at Africa’s New Suburbanisms in a Global Context, October
17-19, Wits City Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South
Africa.

Roberts, Derek. 2016. Invited Panelist for the “Early Career Special Session” at the
Regional Studies Association Annual Conference, April 3-6, 2016, Graz, Austria.

CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS

Presentations
Roberts, Derek. 2019. “The Impact of Governance on the Urban Peripheries of Zambia’s
Copperbelt.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the North Central Sociological
Association, March 29-30, Cincinnati, OH.

Roberts, Derek. 2016. “Ethnicity and Politics Among Zambian Youth.” Presented at the
International Conference on Ethnic Mobilisation in African Politics, September
16, Kitwe, Zambia.

Roberts, Derek. 2016. “Linguistic Segregation in a Post-Colonial City.” Presented at the

Regional Studies Association Annual Conference, April 3-6, Graz, Austria.

Roberts, Derek. 2015. “The (Un)Desirable City: How Urban and Suburban Residents
Perceive Detroit.” Presented at the Annual Early Career Conference of the
Regional Studies Association, October 29-30, Sheffield, UK.

Roberts, Derek. 2015. “‘Getting What They Deserve’: Digital Media Readers Comment
on the Cause of Detroit’s Bankruptcy.” Presented at the Workshop on Research
Ethics in the Digital Age. Ethics for the Social Sciences and Humanities in Times
of Mediatization and Digitization, September 6-12, Dresden, Germany.

Roberts, Derek and Ari Goodman. 2014. “Assessing Perceptions of Detroit Across Race,
Class, and Space.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Michigan Sociological
Association, October 24-25, Muskegon, MI.

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Roberts, Derek. 2014. “The Relationship Between Body Modification Placement and the
Self.” Presented at the 44th Annual Popular Culture Association/American Culture
Association National Conference, April 16-19, Chicago, IL.

Roberts, Derek. 2013. “‘Suck it, Detroit!’: Online News Readers Explain Why the Motor
City is Not Worth Saving.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Michigan
Sociological Association, October 18-19, Saginaw, MI.

Roberts, Derek. 2013. “Modified People: Indicators of Subculture in a Post-Subculture

World.” Presented at the 108th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological
Association, August 10-13, New York.

Roberts, Derek. 2012. “Resisting the Renaissance: A Subculture’s Response to the

Mainstreaming of Tattoos.” Presented at the 23rd Annual Conference of the Mid-
Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association, November 1-3, Pittsburgh, PA.

Roberts, Derek. 2012. “Real Detroit: (Sub)Urban Identities in a Shrinking City.”

Presented at Spaces and Flows: Third International Conference on Urban and
ExtraUrban Studies, October 11-12, Detroit, MI.

Other Activities

Presider, Session on “Stories of Transition and Social Change,” Annual Meeting of the
North Central Sociological Association, March 29-30, 2019, Cincinnati, OH.

Participant, General Education in Guided Pathways through a Faculty Lens: Seventh

Annual Regional Faculty Conversations of the Michigan Center for Student
Success, May 23, 2018, Monroe, MI.

Facilitator, Session on “Ethnicity and the State,” Workshop on Ethnicity and Nation-
Building in Contemporary Zambia, June 23-24, 2016, Kitwe, Zambia.

CAMPUS TALKS

2019. “Black History Is World History: Lessons from Martin Luther King, Jr.,” Black
History Month Event Series, Monroe County Community College, Monroe, MI,
February.

2019. “MLK Beyond America,” Diversity Week: Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration,
Monroe County Community College, Monroe, MI, January.

2016. “Ethnicity and Youth Identity Construction in Zambia,” Dag Hammarskjöld

Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, The Copperbelt University, Kitwe,
Zambia, April.

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2015. “Kitwe to Hamburg: Comparative Urbanism from the Global South,” Dag
Hammarskjöld Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, The Copperbelt
University, Kitwe, Zambia, July.

2015. “The (Un)Desirable City: How Urban and Suburban Residents Perceive Detroit,”
Dag Hammarskjöld Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, The Copperbelt
University, Kitwe, Zambia, June.

2012. “Viewing Contemporary Tattoos Through the Lens of Social Psychology,”

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Oakland University,
Rochester, MI, November.

2012. “Considering Ethnography as a Feminist Research Method,” Women and Gender

Studies Program, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, November.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Monroe County Community College (2017-Present)

Introduction to Humanities
Juvenile Delinquency
Marriage & Family
Modern Social Problems
Principles of Sociology
Race and Ethnicity
Women in Society

The Copperbelt University (2015-2017)

Graduate Level
Ethnic Identity and Human Rights
Regionalism and Integration
Research Methods in Peace and Conflict Studies I
Research Methods in Peace and Conflict Studies II
Research Proposal Development
Undergraduate Level
Peace and Conflict Studies in Social Sciences

University of Northwestern-St Paul (2015-2019)

Introduction to Sociology

Oakland University (2012-2015)

Advanced Survey Research Methods
Introduction to Methods of Social Research
Introduction to Sociology
Racial and Ethnic Relations
Social Statistics with Computer Applications

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 Urban Sociology

Michigan State University (2011-2012)

Race and Ethnicity

Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena (Germany) (2007)

Vocabulary Extension
Vocabulary Extension II

SERVICE TO THE PROFESSION

2016-2018 Ambassador to Zambia, Regional Studies Association

Journal Article Reviewer

Deviant Behavior
Journal of Integrated Social Sciences
Journal of Modern African Studies
SAGE Open
Sociology Compass
World Art

Book Proposal and Manuscript Reviewer

Pearson
Rutgers University Press
SAGE Publications

UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE SERVICE

Monroe County Community College

2021- Chair, Curriculum Committee

2018-2021 Member, Curriculum Committee

2017- Member, Faculty Council

2017-2020 Member, Academic Review Committee

2017-2018 Member, Annual Schedule Task Force

The Copperbelt University

2015 Member, ad hoc Special General Management Committee

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 2015-2016 Member, Board of Examiners, School of Graduate Studies

2015-2017 Thesis Examiner, School of Graduate Studies

Oakland University

2014-2015 Member, College of Arts and Sciences Assembly

DEPARTMENT AND UNIT SERVICE

Monroe County Community College

2018-2019 Member, Criminal Justice Instructor Search Committee, HSS

2018 Member, Criminal Justice Instructor Search Committee, HSS

2017 Member, Political Science Instructor Search Committee, HSS

The Copperbelt University

2017 Member, PhD Committee, DHIPS

2016 Member, ad hoc Open Day Steering Committee, DHIPS

2016-2017 Member, Board of Studies, DHIPS

2016-2017 Member, Graduate Selection and Admissions Committee, DHIPS

2015-2016 Member, Appointments and Promotions Committee, DHIPS

2015-2016 Acting Coordinator, Postgraduate Programmes, DHIPS

2015-2017 Member, Board of Examiners, DHIPS

2015 Member, Planning Committee for Joint PhD in Governance, Peace

and Development with Uganda Martyrs University and the
University for Peace (Addis Ababa), DHIPS

Oakland University

2014-2015 Department Representative, BA in Sociology Assessment

2013-2015 Faculty Advisor, Sociology Club

2013 Coordinator, Methods of Social Research Assessment

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MEDIA INTERVIEWS

“American Ink.” Midday with Dan Rodricks. WYPR: Baltimore, MD. October 15, 2012.
(http://programs.wypr.org/podcast/american-ink-monday-october-15-1-2-pm)

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

American Sociological Association

Body and Embodiment, Community and Urban Sociology, Culture

International Sociological Association

Research Committee 21 – Regional and Urban Development

Michigan Sociological Association

North Central Sociological Association

Postcolonial Studies Association

Regional Studies Association

LANGUAGES

English (fluent)

German (fluent)

Bemba (conversational)

Ancient Hebrew (intermediate)

Koine Greek (intermediate)

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