Chris Robinson. Photo by Michael Fuller.
After four years teaching as an adjunct professor for Covenant College’s Sociology department, Dr. Chris Robinson is now one of the college’s full-time faculty members.
Robinson graduated from Anderson University in 1989 with a B.A in Religion and Business. In 1989, he received his Masters in Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, and his Ph.D in Sociology from the University of South Carolina in 2007.
Robinson has taught both at Covenant College and Chattanooga State Community College as an adjunct Sociology professor. This past year, Covenant hired him as the full-time Assistant Professor of Sociology.
“I am enjoying teaching Sociology,” said Robinson. “I especially like the fact that it is not static. Sociologists learn from scholars of the past, but we also challenge those scholars with new theory and understanding.”
Robinson was born in Beaver, Pennsylvania. When he was 11, his family moved to Yarinachocha, Peru, for a couple of years with the Wycliffe Bible Translators. His family moved back to Pennsylvania when Robinson was in middle school and stayed until he graduated high school. Robinson has also lived in Anderson, Indiana; Montreat, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; Dallas, Texas (twice); Augusta, Georgia; Columbia, South Carolina; and most recently Signal Mountain, Tennessee.
He and his wife Lauren have two daughters. Their eldest, Lillian, is a senior at Berry College and their youngest, Marilee, is a freshman at Covenant.
Before teaching at Covenant, Robinson served as the Youth and Family Minister at Signal Mountain Presbyterian Church and taught as an adjunct Sociology professor for Covenant College and Chattanooga State Community College. He is also the director of a local nonprofit organization called Project52.
“When I am not at Covenant, I enjoy directing the ministry and mission of Project52 and serving those who are in need,” said Robinson. “Project52’s mission is to serve those individuals and/or families who are socio-economically challenged due to financial crisis, natural disaster, physical disability, and emotional distress including widows, the elderly, and those living below the poverty line.”
Project52 completes fifty-two projects in a calender year—one for each week. Their labor force consists of volunteers from local individuals (including Covenant students), churches, businesses, and organizations. They work with county officials and code officers to help meet specific needs for that area.
Robinson’s servant heart is not only evident in his passion for Project52 but also in his concern for those around him.
“It is exciting being a part of a collegial faculty and staff,” says Robinson. “I especially enjoy the opportunity to glorify God through teaching and spending time with students.”
Students in his class know him for his fun-loving personality, his love for the Lord, the famous CRob learning experiences, and his ability to incorporate the love story of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez into all of his lectures. Robinson is teaching Principles of Sociology, Social Problems, Social Diversity and Inequality, and a special topics course on Adolescence in Social Perspective this fall semester.