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Demetrius Semien received a BA in Sociology with a Religion Minor from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. In 2000, he received a Master’s of Divinity degree from Yale University Divinity School while working as a Graduate Teaching Assistant with the Department of Sociology. As a Ph.D. student at the University of North Carolina he served on the research team for the National Study of Youth and Religion. He wrote his MA thesis on the interaction between religion and community volunteer activities of adolescents. In 2006 Demetrius was a recipient of an Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching from UNC. He also won the Sociology Department Award for Undergraduate Teaching in 2007. His dissertation examined the motivations, benefits and costs of efforts taken by community employees and faith-based volunteers to help prisoners re-enter society. Demetrius graduated from UNC in May 2009.
Dr. Semien joined Berea College as an Assistant Professor of Sociology in 2008. His special interest is reflected in his dissertation topic: Motivations, Costs and Benefits of Re-Entry Work: Interviews with Workers and Volunteers Who Assist Incarcerated Men Transition to Society. He also co-founded Re-Entry Partners (REP) in North Carolina and Kentucky, a community faith-based organization that assists people released from prison to transition back into society. Dr. Semien is in process to become an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ.
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