Prerequisite/Corequisite Key
| P = Course must be taken previously | C = Course must be taken concurrently | E = Course can be taken previously or concurrently |
| (RQ) = Required | (RM) = Recommended |
CJ 101
Introduction to Criminal Justice
3 credit hours
This course reviews the historical and philosophical background of the U.S. criminal justice system and its three major components: police, courts and corrections. Units focus on topics such as measuring crime, juvenile justice, and contemporary issues. The course also critically evaluates local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and surveys theories of criminal behavior.
CJ 110
Crime in Film
3 credit hours
This course focuses on utilizing film and some television media to communicate ideas about crime, victimization, and the criminal justice system; examining how perpetrators and victims are depicted in movies; examining portrayals of crime and criminal law; and examining how realistically the criminal justice system and its principal agents (police, attorneys, judges, victims, and correctional officers) are portrayed in films. Access to select streaming platforms may be required.
CJ 201
Law Enforcement and Society
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101
This course will introduce students to the importance of understanding police culture and its relationship to the community and the legal system. Units will cover the social and historical origins of various police systems, address topics of key concerns; police culture; role and career; police in the legal system; social and legal restraints on police practices; police discretion in practice; police and the community; police organization and community control mechanisms. This course will also cover multicultural issues relating to terrorism and homeland security. Offered spring.
CJ 202
Introduction to Corrections
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101
This course offers an overview of the history and philosophical foundations of the American correctional system. Emphasis is placed on how the theories of retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation affect current issues such as overcrowding, social control in prison, legal rights of prisoners and alternatives to incarceration. Offered fall.
CJ 210
Criminal Law
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101
This course examines the historical evolution of criminal law in the U.S. Through in-depth analysis of key state and federal court decisions, the course provides analysis of the purposes, constitutionality and application of criminal law. It also compares U.S. criminal laws to laws in select foreign jurisdictions. Offered fall.
CJ 214
Law, Courts, and Justice
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101
This course offers an examination of the role of the judiciary, current issues in law and the legal profession in the United States. Among the topics covered are those which analyze connections between ethics, social change and the application of law. This course is strongly recommended for students considering a career in law. Offered spring.
CJ 216
Crime and the Media
3 credit hours
This course offers an examination of the intersection of news media and the criminal justice system. Topics covered include moral panics, framing, narratives and the evolution of media, including social media. The course also gives an overview of the representation of the criminal justice system in entertainment media, including music, documentary, television and film. Students are required to have access to a streaming platform such as Netflix.
CJ 228
Latinos and the Criminal Justice System
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101
This course examines the relationship between Latinos/as and the criminal justice system. Specifically, the course explores what distinguishes Latinos/as from other racial and ethnic groups in the criminal justice system, and what sociological/criminological theories can help us understand the causes of these differences and inequalities. The course considers key variables such as historical context, ethnic and race relations, and current criminal justice policy regarding Latinos/as in the United States. Offered as needed.
CJ 245
Race, Class, Gender and the Criminal Justice System
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101
This course examines the relationship between race, class, gender and the criminal justice system. Throughout the course, students will examine the multiple and intersecting ways these concepts shape the criminal justice process. Specifically, how do these socially constructed axioms influence a variety of institutional contexts such as law enforcement, courts and corrections? The course will examine key variables such as historical and community context, ethnic and race relations, and current criminal justice policy. Offered as needed.
CJ 280
Serial Killers
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101
This course introduces students to the scientific study of serial killers. Despite the fascination with serial killers in popular media, these sensationalized stories provide little insight into the realities of these horrific crimes. Focusing on empirical research and case studies, this course provides a scholarly perspective. Topics in typologies of serial murder, prevalence of serial murder, female serial murders, and victims of serial murder. Offered as needed.
CJ 283
Gangs and Society
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101
This course examines historical evolution and social roots of gangs and street gangs in the modern U.S. are explored, along with their growth, recruitment and organization. Criminological theories are used to assess gang structure, characteristics and activities. Additionally, the relationships of gangs to each other, to crime and violence, to the law, and to the community are also explored. Offered as needed.
CJ 294
Research Methods and Design
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101, MATH-135, junior standing
This course examines the fundamental principles and tools of social science research. Students will develop a basic literacy enabling them to design social science research studies, explore the merits and limits of various research strategies and tools of analysis, and comprehend the basics of qualitative and quantitative research methods. Students will also identify ethical considerations important to social science research, describe the main elements of a social science research study, and define important platforms used to disseminate research findings. Formerly Statistics and Research I.
CJ 302
Organized Crime
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101
This course provides an overview of organized crime in the U.S. beginning with definitions of the phenomenon and analysis of the history of organized crime, including ethnic patterns and cross-cultural comparisons. Students will also consider the competing explanations for organized crime in the U.S., policy issues, and techniques used to combat organized crime. Offered as needed.
CJ 303
Police Administration
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101
This course reviews the evolution of police organizational theory, management, planning and leadership skills of successful police administrators. This course also addresses issues concerned with human resource management, stress and police personnel, labor relations, state civil liability, planning and decision-making, and financial management. Offered as needed.
CJ 306
Special Topics
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101
This course will focus on studies from a variety of perspectives on issues of justice and society.
CJ 307
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101
This course provides an overview of the juvenile justice system in the United States. It critiques the problem of delinquency and the appropriate response to delinquency committed by juveniles. Students will explore the complexity of working with juveniles and families. Units cover topics such as juvenile mental health and substance abuse, juvenile gangs, detention, juvenile courts and police, and prevention and intervention policy. Offered as needed.
CJ 311
Probation and Parole
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101
This course provides an overview of the history and philosophical foundations of probation and parole in the United States. Criminological theories concerning probation and parole supervision are considered. Laws and court decisions relating to probation and parole are assessed and current issues and problems in probation and parole are explored. Offered fall.
CJ 312
Criminology
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101 and Junior standing
This course is an examination of the major theories of deviance, crime and criminal behavior from a variety of disciplines: biology, psychology, sociology, philosophy, economics, gender and women's studies. Units will also cover critical approaches to criminology and the social construction of crime. Students will apply knowledge and understanding of theories to real-world crime and criminals. Offered spring.
CJ 316
Victimology
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101 and 6 hours in Criminal Justice
This course explores victimology as an evolving discipline. It will examine the development of the discipline, the economic and other costs of crime to victims, the use of victimization surveys, services and programs for victims and the implications of the victim-offender system on the criminal justice process, as well as the societal response to, and description of, victims. Offered fall.
CJ 317
Violence Against Women and Girls
3 credit hours
This course examines various forms of gender-based violence, focusing especially on violence at which women and girls are victimized at significantly higher rates. Students examine the theories related to female victimization, the impact of stereotypes and myths on societal perceptions of female victimization, the criminal justice system response to female victims, and the impact of victimization on victims individually and on women and girls in general. Cross listed with SOC 317.
CJ 318
Globalization and Crime
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101
This course examines criminal justice systems and crime from a comparative perspective. Utilizing historical, legal, jurisprudential approaches, this course examines how economic global dependencies create opportunities for crime and how travel, communication, and other technologies facilitate its occurrence. The course examines topics such as gun trafficking, human trafficking, drug trafficking, cyber-crime, maritime piracy and counterfeiting. The course also explores international responses to global crime. Offered as needed.
CJ 320
Ethics in Criminal Justice
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101
This course examines ethical and moral decision- making within the criminal justice system. Students explore this important dilemma that individuals in the criminal justice field will face during their careers. This course provides students with an understanding of ethics and justice as well as provides them opportunities to discuss ethical decision-making and the implications of such decision-making. Offered fall.
CJ 321
21st Century Policing
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101
This course examines the history and development of police community relations in the United States and its importance for crime control. Topics covered in this course include community policing, problem-oriented policing, and the effects of aggressive patrol strategies on community relations. The recommendations of the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing are also examined. Offered spring.
CJ 328
African Americans and the Criminal Justice System
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101
This explores the interrelationship between race and involvement with the criminal justice system. This course explores the question, Why are African Americans grossly over-represented in the American criminal system? Absorbing lessons from a wide variety of disciplines, including history, sociology, political science, economics, psychology, and law, examines this vexing American problem. Students will also examine how the criminal justice system intersects with other systems of social control, like the welfare state and foster care.
CJ 336
Criminal Investigation
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101
This course examines the historical evolution of techniques used in criminal investigation. Topics covered include crime scene activities, chain of evidence, interviewing and interrogation, records and intelligence, undercover operations, computerized crime analysis, and the use of informants. Offered as needed.
CJ 337
Criminalistics
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101
This course is designed to acquaint the student with the capabilities and limitations of the criminalistics laboratory. While reviewing the application of natural sciences to the problems encountered in the examination of evidence, students assess the quality and effectiveness of scientific theories in their application. Offered as needed.
CJ 338
Drugs and the Criminal Justice System
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101
This course provides a comprehensive examination of the issue of drugs and the criminal justice system. While focusing on the history, causes, and treatment of drug abuse, it also assesses varied drug policies, drug trafficking, drug law enforcement, and the drug legalization movement. Offered as needed.
CJ 345
Jurisprudence and Gender
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101
The Rule of Law is meant to establish a system of rules founded on principles rather than personalities. In this course students examine a system that is gendered, built on the story of men's lives. Analysis will take students through at least three major strains of legal argument that begin with different assumptions and lead to different policy outcomes but all of which are guided by a notion of gender equality.
CJ 366
Internships
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101, Junior standing
The student will spend a specified number of hours working in a criminal justice agency, reporting regularly to an assigned academic supervisor and completing academic assignments appropriate to his/her type of work. All field placements must be approved in advance by the course instructor. Needs Program approval. Junior standing.
CJ 367
Individual Research
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101, Junior standing
Under the supervision and guidance of a faculty member, students complete original research. Specific plans will be discussed with the faculty member, but this often includes a literature review, research proposal and data collection. No classes; meetings with faculty member as required.
CJ 368
Senior Seminar
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101, CJ-294, MATH-135, Senior standing
This course represents the culmination of students' criminal justice education. Students are tasked with researching a major topic in criminal justice and providing a significant written assessment of the results of that research. Building on prior work in their criminal justice courses, students will complete a literature review, methods section, data collection, analysis and conclusions. At the end of the course, students will present their findings to classmates and other criminal justice faculty. Cross listed with SOC 366. NOTE: This course is ONLY open to criminal justice majors.
CJ 390
Independent Study
3 credit hours
P: CJ-101, Junior standing
With the approval and under the guidance of an assigned faculty member, students in this course engage in readings and research on a specific criminal justice topic.