Robert Chaskin is Associate Professor and Deputy Dean for Strategic Initiatives at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. His research has explored the conceptual foundations and principal strategies of contemporary community intervention; issues of participation, planning, and neighborhood governance; comprehensive community initiatives and other efforts to promote community capacity in urban neighborhoods; the role of philanthropy in promoting community change; and approaches to knowledge utilization and the challenges of learning from complex community initiatives. Among other projects, he is currently principal investigator of a research project focused on the creation of mixed-income developments on the footprint of former public housing complexes in Chicago, and is part of the evaluation team (with MDRC) for the New Community Program, a comprehensive community initiative being implemented in 14 communities in Chicago. Recent publications include Youth Gangs and Community Intervention (editor, Columbia University Press); “Building Community in Mixed-Income Developments: Assumptions, Approaches, and Early Experiences” with Mark Joseph in Urban Affairs Review; “Toward a Theory of Change in Community-Based Practice with Youth: A Case-Study Exploration,” in Children and Youth Services Review; “Reframing Community Practice for the 21st Century: Multiple Traditions, Multiple Challenges,” with William Sites and Virginia Parks in the Journal of Urban Affairs; “The Theoretical Basis for Addressing Poverty through Mixed-Income Development,” with Mark Joseph and Henry Webber in Urban Affairs Review; and Research for Action: Cross-National Approaches to Connecting Knowledge, Policy and Practice for Children, edited with Jona Rosenfeld (Oxford University Press).

Dr. Chaskin holds a master’s in Anthropology and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Chicago.