Christopher Benner
· Professor of SociologyUniversity of California, Santa Cruz · Global and Community Health
Active 1985–2019
About
Dr. Chris Benner is a professor, chair, and director associated with the University of California, Santa Cruz. His scholarship focuses on the relationship between technological change, economic restructuring, and innovative social justice strategies. He holds the Dorothy E. Everett Endowed Chair for Global Information and Social Entrepreneurship, a position he has held since 2015, and is the executive director of the Everett Program, which is an honors program dedicated to global information and social entrepreneurship. Benner is also involved with the Institute for Social Transformation, founded in 2018, which aims to build on the campus’s progressive values, foster new ideas, support bold research projects, and increase the real-world impact of scholarly work in areas such as policy, advocacy, social justice, environmental issues, and education. His work emphasizes the importance of modern tools of expression and communication in education, including blogging, mapping, digital storytelling, and graphic design, to enable students to do innovative work outside traditional bounds. Additionally, Benner researches the intersection of technological change, regional development, and economic opportunity for disadvantaged communities, and he actively shares his work through publications, videos, podcasts, and public speaking engagements. His background in activism and fighting inequality has greatly influenced his academic pursuits and contributions to social justice and economic opportunity.
Research topics
- Business
- Political science
- Sociology
- Economics
- Geography
Frequent coauthors
- 26 shared
Manuel Pastor
Pompeu Fabra University
- 9 shared
Martha Matsuoka
- 5 shared
Annette Kim
University of California, Berkeley
- 5 shared
Matthew Zook
- 5 shared
Manuel Pastor
- 3 shared
Martha Matsuoka
- 3 shared
Rachel Rosner
- 1 shared
Mireia Belil
Education
- 1996
Ph.D., Environmental Studies
University of California, Santa Cruz
- 1993
M.A., Environmental Studies
University of California, Santa Cruz
- 1991
B.A., Environmental Studies
University of California, Santa Cruz
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