Christopher D. Berk

Research Hall, Room 339
George Mason University
10401 York River Road
Fairfax, VA 22030

Phone: (703) 993-6365
Fax: (703) 993-8215
Email: cberk@gmu.edu
Chris Berk's website

Appointments

George Mason University
Assistant Professor in the Schar School of Policy & Government
2019-

University of Virginia
DeOlazarra Fellow in the Program in Political Philosophy, Policy & Law
2016-2019

Education

Ph.D., Department of Political Science, University of Chicago
2016

Dissertation
On Self Government: Democratic Politics and Law in Prisons, Asylums, and Boarding Schools

Committee
Andrew Abbott, Cathy Cohen, Robert Gooding-Williams, & Bernard Harcourt (chair)

Examination fields
American Politics, Political Theory

M.L.S., University of Chicago Law School
2016

M.A., Department of Political Science, University of Chicago
2010

B.A., summa cum laude, Department of Political Science, University of Washington
2007

Book Manuscript

Democracy in Captivity: Essays on the political situation of prisoners, patients, and others in custody. In preparation.

Book manuscript conference held at the University of Virginia on May 3, 2019.

Publications, Refereed

Berk, Christopher D. 2019. “Reply to Elizabeth Scott, Laurence Steinberg, David Tanenhaus, and James Backstrom." Law & Social Inquiry 44, no. 3: 787-790.

Berk, Christopher D. 2019. “Childhood, development, and the troubled foundations of Miller v. Alabama." Law & Social Inquiry 44, no. 3: 752-770.

• Symposium at LSI devoted to this article

Berk, Christopher D. 2018. “On Prison Democracy: The Politics of Participation in a Maximum Security Prison.” Critical Inquiry 44, no. 2: 275-302.

Under Review

“Must penal law be insulated from public influence?" Revise & resubmit at Law and Philosophy

“Democracy’s internal borders.”

Publications, Invited

Berk, Christopher D. 2010. “Investment Talk: Comments on the Use of the Language of Investment in Prison Reform Advocacy.” Carceral Notebooks 6 (2010): 115-129.

Works in Progress

“Mad Politics: Disability, Care, and Patient Collective Action.” “Governing Children: Resistance in a Boarding School for At-Risk Youth.”

Awards and Fellowships

2016. Visiting Scholar, The Newberry
Scholars-in-residence are given privileged use of the library and are "expected to publish or oth- erwise disseminate their research" and "participate in the Newberry’s intellectual community."

2015-16. Master of Legal Studies Fellowship, University of Chicago Law School Tuition remission and living stipend for a year of coursework in law.

2014-15. William Rainey Harper Provost Dissertation Fellowship, University of Chicago Tuition remission and living stipend, "one of the highest honors given to our graduate students."

2011. Grodzins Prize Lectureship, University of Chicago
Competition among advanced graduate students to design and teach a course.

2010. Joseph Cropsey Prize for the “outstanding master’s thesis in political philosophy written by a student in the Department of Political Science,” University of Chicago

2010. High Pass in the American Politics Field Exam, University of Chicago

2008-13. McCabe Fellowship, University of Chicago
Tuition remission and living stipend for five years of graduate study.

2007. Daniel Lev Award for the “outstanding political science senior thesis” in 2007, University of Washington

2007. Graduated summa cum laude in the Honors College with Distinction in Political Science, University of Washington

Grants

2013-14. Social Science Division Long-Term Project Grant, University of Chicago ($8,000)

2013. Social Science Division Summer Grant, University of Chicago ($3,000)

2011. Doolittle-Harrison Travel Grant, University of Chicago ($1,000)

Teaching

George Mason University
Democratic Theory and Practice and Constitutional Law (graduate)
Seminar in the Courts
Spring 2020

University of Virginia
Prisons - Fall 2018
Law and Democracy - Fall 2017
Law & Political Thought: Punishment - Fall 2016
B.A. Thesis Colloquium in Political Philosophy, Policy & Law
Spring 2017, 2018, 2019

Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women (Piedmont Virginia Community College)
Constitutional Foundations of American Government
Summer 2017

University of Chicago
B.A. Thesis Colloquium, Department of Political Science
2013-2014

Classics of Social and Political Thought III
Spring 2013

The Politics of Mass Incarceration in the U.S.
Spring 2012

Advising

Resident Head of Vincent House, University of Chicago College Housing
2013-2016

Pedagogical Training

Center for Teaching Excellence in-class observation & focus group (Virginia) - 2016

Seminar and Workshop on Course Design (Chicago) - 2015

Workshop on Teaching in the College (Chicago) - 2012

Talks

Leadership Alliance Mellon Initiative, University of Virginia, 2019. "Life in Graduate School and Law School."

Columbia Center for Contemporary Critical Thought, Columbia University. 2015. “Democratic Exclusions: Prisoners, patients, and children in democratic politics."

Chicago Area Behavior Workshop, Northwestern University. 2015. “Participatory Politics and Equality in the Digital Age."

Research Network on Youth and Participatory Politics, MacArthur Foundation. 2014. “Partic- ipatory Politics and Equality in the Digital Age."

Spring Lecture Series for Political Science Majors, University of Chicago. 2014. “Data Collection in Political Science Research."

Asylums and Prisons: Deinstitutionalization and Decarceration, University of Chicago. 2013. “Mad Politics."

Conferences

Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association. Washington, DC 2010; Seattle, WA 2011; Chicago, IL 2013; Washington, DC 2014; San Francisco, CA 2015; San Francisco, CA 2017; Boston, MA 2018.

Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association. San Francisco, CA 2011; Seattle, WA 2015; New Orleans, LA 2016; Toronto, Canada 2018; Washington, DC 2019.

Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Law, Cultural, and the Humanities. Stan- ford Law School, Palo Alto, CA 2017; Georgetown Law School, Washington, DC 2018.

Annual Meeting of the Western Political Science Association. San Antonio, TX 2011; Seattle, WA 2014; Vancouver, Canada 2017; San Francisco, CA 2018.

Annual Meeting of the Association for Political Theory. Ohio State University, 2016; Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges, 2018; University of California, Irvine, 2019.

Fourth Annual Conference on Radical Democracy. New School for Social Research, New York, NY 2014.

Social Science History Association. Chicago, IL 2013.

Annual Meeting of the Mid-West Political Science Association in Chicago, IL. 2009; 2010.

Research Seminars, Workshops

WRiPS, George Mason University. 2019. “Must penal law be insulated from public influence?"
PPL Colloquium, University of Virginia. 2018. “Custody and Community Control."
PPL Colloquium, University of Virginia. 2016. “Democracy’s Internal Borders."
Self & Subjectivity Workshop, University of Chicago. 2015. “Mad Politics."
Political Theory Workshop, University of Chicago. 2015. “Governing Children."
American Politics Workshop, University of Chicago. 2014. “Governing Children."
Political Theory Workshop, University of Chicago. 2014. “Mad Politics."
Political Theory Workshop, University of Chicago. 2013. “On Prison Democracy."

Professional Memberships

American Political Science Association (APSA)
Law & Society Association (LSA)
Association for Political Theory (APT)

Professional Service

Manuscript Reviewer
Law & Society Review, Political Theory, Theoretical Criminology, and Routledge

Political Theory Workshop
Student Coordinator
Fall 2011-2013
Chicago, IL

Faculty Hiring Committee
Student Representative
Fall 2011-Spring 2012 Graduate
Chicago, IL

Community Service

Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women
Instructor
2017
Troy, VA

Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, Nancy B. Jefferson School
Volunteer Tutor
2013-2015
Chicago, IL

Safer Foundation, 1811 Adult Transition Center
Volunteer Tutor
2008-2011
Chicago, IL

Literacy Americorps, King County Correctional Facility
Instructor
2007-2008
Seattle, WA

Updated October 16, 2019