Charis E. Kubrin is Professor of Criminology, Law and Society and (by courtesy) Sociology at the University of California, Irvine. She is co-author or co-editor of 6 books and has published dozens of journal articles, many of which focus on the intersection of music, culture, and social identity, particularly as it applies to hip-hop and youth of color in disadvantaged communities. She is a frequent media contributor whose writing has been featured in the The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, and CNN. She is co-author of two amicus briefs on rap music that were filed with the U.S. Supreme Court (Elonis v. U.S.; Bell v. Itawamba County School Board), co-author of a legal guide for attorneys involved in rap on trial cases, and has served as an expert witness and consultant in numerous criminal cases involving rap music as evidence of alleged underlying criminal activity. Charis gave a TEDx talk, The Threatening Nature of…Rap Music?, on the use of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal trials. Along with Barbara Seymour Giordano, Charis received a Cicero Speechwriting Award for this talk in the category of “Controversial or Highly Politicized Topic.”

University of California, Irvine
Social Ecology II, Room 3309
Irvine, CA 92697-7080
ckubrin@uci.edu

http://socialecology.uci.edu/faculty/ckubrin
http://uci.academia.edu/CharisKubrin