Updated: February 2016

DEREK ROBERTS
Dag Hammarskjld Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
The Copperbelt University
PO Box 21692
Kitwe, Zambia
derek.roberts@cbu.ac.zm

EDUCATION
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
2015-Present Lecturer
Dag Hammarskjld 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

RESEARCH AND TEACHING INTERESTS

Culture
Group Conflict
Sociology of the Body

Race and Ethnicity

Social Class
Urban Sociology

General Statistics
Qualitative Methods
Sustainable Development

PEER REVIEWED ARTICLES

Roberts, Derek. In Press. Subcultural Boundary Maintenance in a Virtual Community
for Body Modification Enthusiasts. International Journal of Cultural Studies.

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: Tattoos Place in Contemporary American Culture.
Journal of American Culture 35(2): 153- 65.

BOOK REVIEWS
Mamann, D. W. 2007. The Politics of Protest: Social Movements in America, by David
S. Meyer. Critical Mass 32 (1): 3-4.

MANUSCRIPTS UNDER REVIEW

Roberts, Derek. Using Dramaturgy to Better Understand Contemporary Western
Tattoos. Revised and Resubmitted to Sociology Compass.
Roberts, Derek. Residential Location and Neighbourhood Perceptions Across Metro
Detroit. Submitted to Regional Studies Regional Science.
Roberts, Derek and Eric Beasley. Avoid Detroit: Media Discourse and Our (Perceived)
Violent Nature. Agreement Reached with Transaction Publishers.

WORKS IN PROGRESS
Roberts, Derek. Traditional Ethnography Meets Virtual Ethnography: Body
Modification and the Production of Culture. (Write-up; Submission to Socius in
March 2016)
Roberts, Derek. Racializing Language in a Zambian City. Invited submission to
Contexts. (Write-up; Submission in March 2016)
Roberts, Derek. A.A.s, Libtards and Unions: Internet News Readers Assign Blame for
Detroits Bankruptcy. (Write-up)
Roberts, Derek. Beyond Hypotheticals and Race: New Directions for Neighbourhood
Perceptions Research. (Write-up)
Roberts, Derek. City in Distress: An Ethnographic Study of Detroit. (Data analysis)
Roberts, Derek and Bernadette Mulenga. Load Shedding in Urban Zambia.
(Data collection)
Roberts, Derek. Planetary Urbanisation on Zambias Copperbelt. (Conceptualisation)
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Roberts, Derek. Kitwe to Hamburg: Comparative Urbanism from the Global South.
(Conceptualisation; Funding pending)

GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS

2015

Conference Bursary (100)

Regional Studies Association

2015

Research Ethics in the Digital Age Travel Grant (975)

The German Excellence Initiative

2014

Department Research Fund ($5000)

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Oakland University

2014

Supporting Student Success Grant ($1000)

College of Arts and Sciences, Oakland University

2011

Graduate Office Fellowship ($4000)

The Graduate School, Michigan State University

2009

Summer Support Fellowship ($3500)

The Graduate School, Michigan State University

2008

Foreign Language & Area Studies Fellowship ($25035)

US Department of Education / MSU African Studies Center

CAMPUS TALKS
2015. Kitwe to Hamburg: Comparative Urbanism from the Global South, Dag
Hammarskjld 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 Hammarskjld 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.

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CONFERENCE AND WORKSHOP PRESENTATIONS

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 Detroits 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 2014 Annual Meeting of the Michigan
Sociological Association, October 24-25, Muskegon, MI.
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 2013 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 Subcultures Response to the
Mainstreaming of Tattoos. Presented at the 23rd Annual Conference of the MidAtlantic 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.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
The Copperbelt University (2015-Present)
Graduate Courses
Research Methods in Peace and Conflict Studies I
Research Methods in Peace and Conflict Studies II
Research Proposal Development
Undergraduate Courses
Peace and Conflict Studies in Social Sciences

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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
Urban Sociology
Michigan State University (2011-2012)
Race and Ethnicity
Friedrich-Schiller-Universitt Jena (Germany) (2007)
Vocabulary Extension
Vocabulary Extension II

SERVICE TO THE PROFESSION

2016-

Ambassador to Zambia, Regional Studies Association

Peer Reviewer
Journal of Integrated Social Sciences
Pearson
SAGE Publications

UNIVERSITY SERVICE
The Copperbelt University
2015-

Ad Hoc Member, General Management Committee

COLLEGE AND SCHOOL SERVICE

The Copperbelt University
2015-

Member, Board of Examiners, School of Graduate Studies

2015-

Thesis Examiner, School of Graduate Studies

Oakland University
2014-2015

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Member, College of Arts and Sciences Assembly

DEPARTMENT AND UNIT SERVICE

The Copperbelt University
2016-

Member, Graduate Selection and Admissions Committee, DHIPS

2015-

Member, Appointments and Promotions Committee, DHIPS

2015-

Acting Coordinator, Postgraduate Programmes, DHIPS

2015-

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

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)

ADDITIONAL TRAINING
2010-2012

Studies in Theology, Universitt Hamburg (Germany)

2009

Studies in Theology, Tyndale Seminary (Canada)

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Sociological Association
Body and Embodiment, Community and Urban Sociology, Culture
International Sociological Association
Research Committee 21 Regional and Urban Development

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Michigan Sociological Association

Postcolonial Studies Association
Regional Studies Association

LANGUAGES
English (fluent)
German (fluent)
Bemba (conversational)

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