Courses Taught
Corrections (CJ 391)
This course is designed to enhance students’ understanding of what society/the government does with individuals who have broken the law. We will explore the goals and functions that society expects our correctional system to accomplish, which are oftentimes contradictory in nature (e.g., to both punish and rehabilitate). The course begins with the development of punishment and corrections, mainly focusing on adults. Next, we will discover what it is like to live and work in correctional facilities. Finally, we end the course with special topics and the future of corrections in the U.S. An emphasis will be placed on evidence-based correctional practices.
Women, Crime, and Criminal Justice (CJ 581A)
Women, Crime, and Criminal Justice provides an immersive understanding of women’s involvement with the criminal justice system. The course will be focused on three major areas:
1) Women’s victimization and pathways into criminality;
2) The incarceration of women and correctional programming;
3) Women as professionals working in the field of criminal justice.
A concentration of the course will be on intersectionality, a lens to understand or explain how multiple forms of marginalization (i.e., gender, race, social class, sexuality) shape women’s involvement in the criminal justice system.
*This course contains diversity-related content and service-learning.
Research Methods (CJ 407)
This course is designed to enhance students’ understanding of the research process: how to create and collect data to answer complex social problems. Students will be able to assess the benefits and limitations of various research methods with attention to validity, generalizability, and reliability. An emphasis will be placed on how research should inform crime-related policies and practices. Most importantly, students will develop their own research skills through activities and assignments in the course.
After successfully completing this course, students can reasonably expect to achieve the following objectives, assuming active study and participation:
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Describe how systematic research methods can improve information-gathering in everyday life
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Define core concepts related to research methods
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Identify the strengths and weaknesses of different research methods in relation to validity and generalizability
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Practice skills vital to the research process (e.g., finding and summarizing scholarly articles, developing research questions, creating survey questions, and identifying the best method(s) to answer research questions)
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Plan a research project that examines an important social issue
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Discuss the importance of research in relation to policies and practices in criminal justice
*This course contains a service-learning component. This course also fulfills the degree requirement for applied learning.