ABOUT CHARLES BELL, Ph.D.
​
Dr. Charles Bell is an associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice Sciences. His research explores students', parents', and teachers' perceptions of out-of-school suspension; restraint; seclusion; school safety measures; and law enforcement officers. His work has been published in several scholarly and public engagement outlets such as Urban Education, Children and Youth Services Review, Journal of Crime and Justice, The Conversation, Sociology Compass, Kappan, etc. The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) selected his book Suspended: Punishment, Violence, and the Failure of School Safety (Johns Hopkins Press, 2021) as a finalist for the 2021 C. Wright Mills Book Award. Dr. Bell also received the 2021-2022 CAST Outstanding Teacher Award (Pre-Tenure), the 2019 Midwest Sociological Society Research Grant, and the ISU African American Studies Summer Research Initiative award.
Dr. Bell has been interviewed and cited by several news outlets such as Lakeshore PBS, The 21st (NPR), WGLT, Atlanta Black Star, Detroit News, WCBU Peoria, WMBD Central Illinois, WDET Detroit (NPR), Aljazeera America, and Detroit PBS. He also serves as a subject matter expert on school discipline, violence, and public health projects with the Center for Disease Control and the National Center for School Safety.
Currently, he is working on his next book and several articles that explore the impact of school seclusion and restraint on families of children with disabilities.
Professor Bell teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on Corrections and Race & Ethnicity in Criminal Justice.
Professor Bell is a certified Inside-Out instructor and he is creating a Schools, Crime, and Social Policy course that will be taught in a correctional facility. As a first-generation college graduate, he mentors several students and makes it a priority to share his experiences navigating poverty in Detroit to earn his Ph.D.
