Nasatir Hall new

Michael J. Roberts

Michael J. Roberts

Professor
Office: NH-213
Email: [email protected] 

Curriculum Vita

My research and teaching areas include Critical theory, the American labor movement, race-class intersectionality, mass media and popular culture, the cultural history of rock-and-roll, science and technology studies, and the history and culture of surfing.  I did my graduate work in sociology and cultural studies at the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York, where I received my PhD in 2005.  My book, Tell Tchaikovsky the News: Rock’n’Roll, the Labor Question, and the Musicians’ Union (Duke University Press, 2014) was nominated for the Mary Douglas Prize for “best book” by the Sociology of Culture Section of the American Sociological Association.  You can find my book here: https://www.dukeupress.edu/Tell-Tchaikovsky-the-News/

My latest work includes an edited book titled Class: the Anthology (forthcoming, Wiley-Blackwell), and an article titled “Turning the Race/Class Dialectic on Its Head,” to be published in the journal Race & Class (October, 2015).  Other articles of mine have appeared in the journals Rethinking Marxism, Popular Music, Mobilization: The International Quarterly of Social Movement Research, Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas, Music in Arts and Action, and The Sociological Quarterly.  Since joining the Sociology faculty in the fall of 2004, I have won two teaching awards, and I have created several new courses, including graduate seminars on a variety of topics, and an undergraduate course titled, the “Culture and History of Surfing.”  In my spare time I enjoy surfing with my colleagues, friends and students as well as playing the bass in a rock-and-roll cover band.

Nietzsche & Critical Social Theory – Affirmation, Animosity, Ambiguity

The Nietzsche & Critical Social Theory conference took place at SDSU on January 28-29 2017. Its goal was to bring together several areas of critical theory and practice, in order to consider their relation to the thought of Friedrich Nietzsche and the traditions of critical social theory most influenced by Nietzsche, including, but not limited to, the Frankfurt School and post-structuralism. The conference was organized by Dr. Roberts and Dr. Christine A Payne.