Name Christopher Schneider | ||
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Christopher J. Schneider (born April 16, 1979) is an American sociologist and associate professor of sociology at Brandon University. Schneider's research and commentary have been featured in a variety of news reports. including the New York Times and the Vancouver Sun.
Contents
- Educational background
- Appointments and positions
- Areas of research
- Books
- Journal articles and book chapters
- Selected journal articles
- Selected book chapters
- Selected awards
- Selected addresses
- Personal life
- References

Educational background
Schneider received his B.A. summa cum laude in 2002 from Northeastern Illinois University, with a major in sociology and a minor in criminal justice. Schneider was selected as the NEIU 2002 spring commencement speaker He received an M.A. in Sociology with a concentration in Criminology in 2004 from Northern Illinois University Schneider continued his graduate studies in Justice Studies at Arizona State University. In 2008, he graduated from ASU with a Doctoral Degree in Justice Studies.
Appointments and positions
While studying toward his M.A. he was an instructor at NIU. From 2004-2008 Schneider was a part-time instructor and a teaching assistant at ASU. After receiving his PhD in Justice Studies in 2008, Schneider began his career as an assistant professor of sociology at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan campus where he taught for six years. In 2014, Schneider relocated to Wilfrid Laurier University where he was granted tenure and promoted to the position of Associate Professor of Law & Society. He relocated to Brandon University in 2015 where he is presently an associate professor of sociology
In November 2016, Schneider held the Public Visiting Scholar position in the Department of Criminology at WLU, a position offered to a scholar with "innovative research with public appeal". He has also been invited to hold the Endowed Chair of Criminology and Criminal Justice position at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. The Endowed Chair at STU is "offered to a scholar with a well-established record of research."
Schneider is a member of various editorial boards, e.g., including the Editorial Board of The Annual Review of Interdisciplinary Justice Research (IJR), Canada's only interdisciplinary journal of justice studies. Schneider is a member of the Brandon, MB John Howard Society Board of Directors
Areas of research
Schneider's research is qualitative and focuses on how developments in media and technology contribute to changes in social interaction and social control. His book Policing and Social Media: Social Control in an Era of New Media illustrates the process by which new information technology—namely, social media—and related changes in communication formats have affected the public face of policing and police work in Canada. Policing and Social Media has been well received by an array of critics that include academics, police practitioners, journalists, and activists. Policing and Social Media reached No. 1 on Amazon’s list of Hot New Releases in Canadian politics.
According to a review in the academic journal Symbolic Interaction "This is an original and important contribution … this book’s theoretical contributions surely will influence future work across disciplines. Policing and Social Media is essential reading for scholars of media and crime … It surely would also appeal to anyone with broad interests in social control, social change, social institutions, and the sociocultural effects of new media." In another review published in the Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles written by former police inspector Geoff Coliandris, a retired 29 year veteran of the South Wales Police and current lecturer at the University of South Wales in the International Centre for Policing and Security "This book is timely and of major importance given the increasingly central role social media now occupies in global policing, governance and accountability discourses...As such, the book should be of urgent interest to a wide student, academic and professional readership, including those with a background in policing, science and technology studies, communication studies, cultural studies, criminology and sociology. A review in Canadian news magazine Maclean's called Policing and Social Media "surprisingly populist". Community activist and freelance writer Tom Sandborn (in a review he wrote published in the Vancouver Sun), called the book "important" continuing "Schneider has done a fine job with this study, and anyone in Canada who cares about policing, privacy, civil liberties and personal freedom should read it"
Schneider's work has focused on the impact of social media on crime related matters including vigilante justice and crowd sourced-policing efforts online. Much of this research has examined the role of social media in relation to the 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot Some of this research is cited in Policing Canada in the 21st Century: New Policing for New Challenges a 2014 Council of Canadian Academies report that addresses the external and internal challenges facing Canada’s police. Other related research has explored the impact of social media on policing and police work in Canada as well as police body worn cameras and the issue of police-leaked viral videos
Schneider's research has also focused on popular culture and social control. Some of this work has examined the relationships between media and popular culture including the framing and censorship of rap music, technology and control of student cheating, the use of mobile phone ringtones as individual ways to manage identity and audience engagement with music videos on YouTube Other work in the area of popular culture has explored celebrity news coverage and TMZ
Other areas of research include public criminology, public sociology and "e-public sociology" a hybrid of traditional and organic public sociology. Schneider's co-edited book (which contains a foreword by Michael Burawoy) The Public Sociology Debate: Ethics and Engagement more broadly explores the practice of public sociology and moral judgements for sociologists concerned with social justice issues
Books
Journal articles and book chapters
Schneider has published and/or presented more than 50 academic papers (i.e.., journal articles and book chapters). The following list of publications is a sample of his more recent work:
Selected journal articles
Selected book chapters
Selected awards
Selected addresses
Personal life
Schneider is a fan of the Chicago Cubs baseball team having thrown a ceremonial first pitch at a Cubs Major League Baseball spring training game in 2005. Schneider is a cousin of American gay activist and author Dan Savage He is a fan of all kinds of music especially heavy metal music and has interacted with members of Metallica, Anthrax, Hatebreed and Pearl Jam. He has an English Bulldog named Deuce.