Charles Chear, MSW

Charles Chear, MSW is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of North Texas. His research and practice focus on the stress and support people experience when they move, and on how sociotechnical systems—such as policies and technologies—shape this process. He is particularly interested in the experiences of individuals and families living in poverty, which has led to work with housing authorities, technical assistance organizations, and recipients of the Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) program.

Before joining UNT, Professor Chear served as a Statistician with the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he contributed to the data and evaluation team for the Community Services Block Grant, the nation’s oldest and largest federal anti-poverty grant. He previously spent nearly eight years as an Assistant Teaching Professor at the Rutgers University School of Social Work. Earlier in his career, he worked for more than a decade in social work-related roles in Philadelphia, Boston, Tucson, the Tohono O’odham Nation, and Cambodia, following an earlier career as an IT professional specializing in Linux systems administration.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, and a first-generation college student, Professor Chear is the son of Cambodian refugees. He is a native English speaker and a heritage speaker of Teochew Chinese and Khmer (Cambodian).

Geographic and socioeconomic mobilities, digital trace and administrative data, sociotechnical systems, comparative social work

Mean Girls was based on my high school, which its writer and co-star, Tina Fey, also attended.