Christopher P. Dum

Christopher Dum is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Kent State University, and an expert on residential motels, sexual offense policy, incarceration, and reentry. His research is driven by a desire to explore the lived experience of those who have been pushed to margins of society by various social forces, such as inequality and the criminal justice system. He received a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from the University at Albany in 2014, an M.S. in Justice & Public Policy from American University (2008) and a B.A. in Law & Society from American University (2005). His work has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the American Society of Criminology.

His book, "Exiled in America: Life on the Margins in a Residential Motel" (Columbia University Press) is based on a year of ethnographic fieldwork with residents of a low-budget motel used by social services to house a variety of vulnerable populations including: the homeless, the mental and physically disabled, and registered sex offenders. This book presents the experiences of motel residents as they attempt to carve out meaningful lives in a society that relegates them to the shadows of existence.

He is also the co-founder of the ID13 Prison Literacy Project, which works to amplify the voices of incarcerated individuals through writing workshops in prison. Learn more at: www.id13project.com