CRIM - Criminology

This course provides an interdisciplinary examination of cybercrime and digital deviance from criminological, sociological, and computer science perspectives. Students will explore the nature and extent of cybercrimes including hacking, identity theft, romance scams, and forms of digital deviance such as cyberbullying, trolling, and online harassment. The course examines theoretical frameworks for understanding cybercrime, cybervictimization, policing strategies, and the unique characteristics of the digital environment.

This course provides an interdisciplinary examination of cybercrime and digital deviance from criminological, sociological, and computer science perspectives. Students will explore the nature and extent of cybercrimes including hacking, identity theft, romance scams, and forms of digital deviance such as cyberbullying, trolling, and online harassment. The course examines theoretical frameworks for understanding cybercrime, cybervictimization, policing strategies, and the unique characteristics of the digital environment.

The focus of this course is on the theoretical foundations of criminological policy, research designs specific to policy analysis and program evaluations, and methodological techniques commonly used to evaluate policies and programs related to crime, victimization, and public safety. Students will explore key policies aimed at reducing crime and improving victim well-being, and become familiar with concepts, methods, and approaches in evaluating and replicating evidence-based criminological policy. Scholarly evidence will be examined through the lens of the scientific process and students will evaluate both the quality of the research as well as the efficacy of various approaches to fighting crime and victimization.

An in-depth study of the major theoretical issues in criminology. This course deals extensively with issues of crime causation, the way theory shapes and informs the study of crime and related social issues, and the relationship between theory, research and practice.

This course examines the ways that social inequality influences crime and victimization. Students will examine theory and research to consider how economic inequality is produced, maintained, and challenged, and how race/ethnicity and gender intersect with social class to produce criminogenic and/or traumatic life circumstances for individuals and groups. Students will also examine the role that laws and criminological policy have had in addressing crime and victimization across different peoples and communities.

This course provides masters-level students with an overview of research processes and different research designs and techniques. The basic structure of the course moves from the foundations of the research to data collection, measurement of the concepts, finding an appropriate sample, and drawing inferences about causality. Issues or reliability, validity and ethical concerns in research designs and operations will be discussed. The aim of the course is for you to understand and critique research in sociology and criminal justice, become familiar with both quantitative and qualitative methods, apply social science research methods to practical problems in criminal justice, and practice scholarly writings.

This course is a graduate-level introduction to social statistics and the application of computer data analysis to various criminological phenomena. Students will learn the basics of statistical analysis, use statistical programs to manage and analyze data, and learn the appropriate use of various statistical procedures through discussion and application. A particular emphasis will be placed on using existing data sources to investigate sociological and criminological issues in society and across different agencies.

The overarching goal of this course is to bridge the gap between academic and professional writing and improve evidence-based practices in criminology and criminal justice. Students will learn to summarize research findings and translate them in ways that succinctly disseminate information to policymakers, stakeholders, researchers, and the general public. Students will identify a research question and proposal, organize a literature review for a scholarly paper, write a research brief or executive summary for professional and/or non-academic audiences, and explore external funding opportunities related to their research proposal.

This course provides a systematic introduction to the study of queer communities in criminology and criminal justice, while still drawing from diverse academic disciplines, such as sociology, history, and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies. We will first explore the contexts of LGBTQ individuals’ criminalized conduct across time and space, as well as our guiding theoretical lens. We will critically interrogate existing literatures on queer peoples’ victimization as well as their offending. Finally, we will explore emerging public health and education concerns.

This course introduces leadership in public, private, and non-profit organizations relative to the legal and ethical environment in which they operate. Students will explore who they are as leaders, develop a personal leadership philosophy, a personal code of ethics and examine their role as leaders within the legal and ethical environments that influence the organizations they lead.

This course is a capstone course that provides the forum to critically apply the substance and method of the completed curriculum to a criminological problem or issue of interest and public concern. Students will be required to choose a criminological or victimological policy and evaluate its effectiveness with research using the scientific process and produce a policy paper that attempts to address a policy issue in contemporary society.

This course guides graduate students through the process of planning, researching, and writing a master’s thesis. Students will learn how to formulate research questions, conduct literature reviews, develop methodologies, and structure academic arguments. Emphasis is placed on project management, scholarly writing, and ethical research practices. By the end of the course, students will have a clear thesis proposal and a roadmap for completing their thesis successfully.

This course provides students with a broad overview of enduring topics and emerging issues in criminology and criminal justice. It also explores the history and role of criminology as an academic discipline and criminal justice as an institutional system in American society.

This course covers the policy process as it relates to crime legislation, criminological theory and implications for public policy.

This course is an examination of criminological theory for the advanced student. The focus is on critical analysis of both contemporary and historical criminological theories. In order to aid in the development of a critical understanding of theory, beyond understanding the content of central theories, the class focuses on discussion of theory development and testing. In addition, the class focuses on an understanding of the relationship of one theory to another as well as the state of empirical evidence surrounding each theory.

This course examines the linkages between social characteristics and crime. The course concentrates on what we know about the impact of gender, age, race and social class on crime and criminal justice.

This course teaches multivariate statistical techniques to train criminal justice researchers and policy makers to explore the causes and consequences of crime and criminal justices policies. Although the exact statistical techniques covered may vary, they will typically include multiple regression, multiple discriminate analysis, logistic regression, factor analysis, cluster analysis and path analysis.

The central goal of this graduate seminar is to enable students to create and critique qualitative research designs focused on contemporary issues in criminology and criminal justice. A number of qualitative approaches will be covered including field observational research, focused interviews, case studies and content analysis. The seminar explores techniques, strengths and limitations of these varied qualitative methodologies.

This course explores advanced statistical techniques commonly used in research on crime and justice. The major focus of the course will be hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), a diverse set of techniques that extend standard multivariate analysis to accommodate nested data. Other advanced techniques will also be covered: event history/survival models, time series, etc.

This course provides students with advanced understanding of issues in criminology/criminal justice research including: history, philosophy, sociology, epistemology, politics and ethics of social science research; methodological questions of reliability, validity, conceptualization, operationalization, scale construction, data collection methodologies, sampling.

This course examines the links between social structures and institutions, and justice at the individual, neighborhood, city, state and country levels. Students explore the ways in which structures and institutions are both agents of social control and facilitators or initiators of crime. Emphasis will be placed on theories, methodologies and empirical assessments.

This course provides a foundation of the most important theories and research relating to residential communities and crime. The casual linkages between features of neighborhoods and social disorder will be explored in the context of criminological theories. Students will emerge with sufficient knowledge to develop a class or design a significant research project.

This course explores crimes of the state from a sociological and criminological perspective by examining historical and current cases of governmental crime. This will cover the history, theory and method of the field; controls of and constraints on state crime; and cases of state crime.

Students will develop original research projects on the criminal justice system, police, courts and /or corrections. Projects will be designed to culminate in a publishable paper.

This course is designed to introduce graduate students to life-course perspectives for understanding crime and deviant behavior. Students discuss the various methodologies, both quantitative and qualitative, most commonly found in studies of the life course today.

Topics vary by semester

Supervised independent study arranged with instructor and approved by graduate program director.

This course provides students with a broad overview of enduring topics and emerging issues in criminology and criminal justice. It also explores the history and role of criminology as an academic discipline and criminal justice as an institutional system in American society.

To familiarize students with the policy process as it relates to crime legislation, criminological theory and implications for public policy.

This course is an examination of criminological theory for the advanced student. The focus is on critical analysis of both contemporary and historical criminological theories. In order to aid in the development of a critical understanding of theory, beyond understanding the content of central theories, the class focuses on discussion of theory development and testing. In addition, the class focuses on an understanding of the relationship of one theory to another as well as the state of empirical evidence surrounding each theory.

This course examines the linkages between social characteristics and crime. The course concentrates on what is known about the impact of gender, age, race and social class on crime and criminal justice.

This course teaches multivariate statistical techniques to train criminal justice researchers and policy makers to explore the causes and consequences of crime and criminal justices policies. Although the exact statistical techniques covered may vary, they will typically include multiple regression, multiple discriminate analysis, logistic regression, factor analysis, cluster analysis and path analysis.

The central goal of this graduate seminar is to enable students to create and critique qualitative research designs focused on contemporary issues in criminology and criminal justice. A number of qualitative approaches will be covered including field observational research, focused interviews, case studies and content analysis. The seminar explores techniques, strengths and limitations of these varied qualitative methodologies.

This course focuses on the methodological, practical, and theoretical considerations involved in designing interview-based or ethnographic research studies. Practical in its approach, students will leave this course with the necessary skills, competencies, and instruments/protocols necessary to complete data collection for an interview-based or ethnographic project.

This course explores advanced statistical techniques commonly used in research on crime and justice. The major focus of the course is hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), a diverse set of techniques that extend standard multivariate analysis to accommodate nested data. Other advanced techniques are also covered: event history/survival models, time series, etc.

This course provides students with advanced understanding of issues in criminology/criminal justice research including: history, philosophy, sociology, epistemology, politics and ethics of social science research; methodological questions of reliability, validity, conceptualization, operationalization, scale construction, data collection methodologies, sampling.

This course examines issues surrounding jail and prison environments in the U.S. Topics include the philosophy of incarceration, inmate rights, inmate (mal)adaptation, misconduct, inmate and correctional officer safety and well-being, classification, rehabilitative programming, and evidence-based solutions and scholarly opportunities aimed at improving the experience of both inmates and staff.

This course examines the links between social structures and institutions, and justice at the individual, neighborhood, city, state and country levels. Students explore the ways in which structures and institutions are both agents of social control and facilitators or initiators of crime. Emphasis will be placed on theories, methodologies and empirical assessments.

This course provides a foundation of the most important theories and research relating to residential communities and crime. The casual linkages between features of neighborhoods and social disorder will be explored in the context of criminological theories. Students will emerge with sufficient knowledge to develop a class or design a significant research project.

This course provides a systematic introduction to the study of queer communities in criminology and criminal justice, while still drawing from diverse academic disciplines, such as sociology, history, and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies. We will first explore the contexts of LGBTQ individuals’ criminalized conduct across time and space, as well as our guiding theoretical lens. We will critically interrogate existing literatures on queer peoples’ victimization as well as their offending. Finally, we will explore emerging public health and education concerns.

This course explores crimes of the state from a sociological and criminological perspective by examining historical and current cases of governmental crime. This course covers the history, theory and method of the field; controls of and constraints on state crime; and cases of state crime.

Students develop original research projects focusing on the criminal justice system, police, courts and/or corrections. Projects are designed to culminate in a publishable paper.

This course is designed to introduce graduate students to life-course perspectives for understanding crime and deviant behavior. Students discuss the various methodologies, both quantitative and qualitative, most commonly found in studies of the life course today.

This course provides a systematic introduction to the study of gender and crime. We first explore theories, trends, patterns, and pathways, which include gendered contexts of risk, victimization, and offending. We also explore the role of the state, such as in regulating reproduction or in furthering criminalization and surveillance through institutions such as schools, the crimino-legal system, and carceral settings. Other topics, including the experiences of women in criminal justice occupations, are also discussed.

This course enhances the process of professionalization of students by supporting ongoing dissertation progress as well as preparing the student for publishing, grant writing, and the job market.

Topics vary by semester.

Supervised study arranged with an instructor and approved by the graduate program director.

Dissertation hours.

This course is a pass/fail course for master's students in their final semester. It may be taken to fulfill the registration requirement necessary for graduation. All master's students are required to be registered for at least one graduate credit hour in the semester of their graduation.

This course is a pass/fail course doctoral students may take to maintain active status after successfully passing the candidacy examination. All doctoral students are required to be registered for at least one graduate credit hour every semester until their graduation.