Christopher E. Robertson is a PhD candidate in sociology at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. His research examines the social and health consequences of legal control.
Robertson’s dissertation, “Covenanted-Policing: Policing, Spatial Racism, and Health (In)Equity in Minneapolis, MN,” investigates how the early 20th-century use of racially discriminatory housing deeds influences contemporary policing practices, community safety, and neighborhood health outcomes. Robertson’s work has been published in the American Journal of Sociology, American Journal of Epidemiology, Health & Justice, and Socius.
Robertson is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholar and an American Sociological Association Minority Fellow. During his doctoral studies, Robertson worked at the Minnesota Justice Research Center (MNJRC), where he co-authored a policy report entitled “Accountability in Policing: The Unexplored Power of the POST Board,” which contributed to successful efforts to increase licensing standards for law enforcement in Minnesota. Additionally, as a RAND Summer Associate, Robertson participated in a mixed-method study that examined the role of gun laws, policies, and law enforcement in shaping disparate exposure to criminal justice system contact and gun-related injuries.
Robertson earned his MA in Sociology from the University of Texas at Arlington and his BBA in Management at the University of Texas at Austin.