Meet Your Major

As a criminology major, you’ll study the causes, patterns and control of crime and criminal behavior in individuals, groups, organizations, cultures and societies.

You’ll explore lawmaking, lawbreaking and their social consequences, and learn how to reduce crime and improve criminal-justice policies.

What You’ll Learn

In the criminology and criminal justice program, you will:

  • Deepen your understanding of the complex relationship between society and its members.
  • Focus on the degree to which people’s lives are influenced by sociocultural, political-economic and historical forces.
  • Cultivate critical thinking and informed analysis about the legal system, crime and systems of punishment and social control.
  • Examine how inequalities of race, class, gender, age and sexuality are intertwined with systems of control and punishment.
  • Learn the theoretical perspectives and research methods criminologists use to systematically study the multifaceted aspects of crime.

Hands-on Learning

100% of criminology and criminal justice majors participate in at least one internship, co-op, fieldwork or practicum. In our required semester-long internship program, you’ll learn to apply criminological reasoning through supervised fieldwork experiences at agencies like the U.S. Probation Office, Essex County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Children and Families. Bonus? Not only will you get to test-drive your career options and learn from professionals in the field, you’ll gain a better understanding of your postgraduate education options and build a network for potential full-time employment after graduation.

Career Options

Upon successful completion of the criminology program, you’ll be well-equipped to pursue a career in criminology or a related professional field such as law, criminal justice, conflict resolution or social work. Positions may include:

  • Correctional officer
  • Criminal profiler
  • Crime-victim specialist
  • Federal special agent
  • Forensic-science technician
  • Forensic psychologist
  • Fire investigator
  • Probation officer
  • Security specialist

What You’ll Take

All criminology and criminal justice majors take a combination of required and elective courses to satisfy the 40-credit and minimum-of-10-course requirement. To graduate with a degree in criminology, you must maintain a GPA of at least 2.0 in your selected criminology courses.

Courses in the School of Education and Social Policy are scheduled to account for instructional time that is commensurate with credits earned.

Required Courses (complete all)

CRM 1000

Introduction to Criminology (required before entering criminology-degree program)

CRM 1100

The Criminal Justice System

CRM 3000

Society and Law

CRM 4000

Research Methods in Criminology

CRM 4500

Statistics in Criminology

CRM 4800
CRM 4850

Criminology Internship  -OR-
Criminology Internship 

Elective Courses (choose five)

CRM 1200

Inequality and Justice in Life and Literature

CRM 1500

Rural Crime

CRM 2000

Youth, Deviance and Crime

CRM 2100

Criminal Courts and Sentencing

CRM 2200

Corporate and White-Collar Crime

CRM 2300

Hate Crimes

CRM 2400

Environmental Criminology

CRM 2450

Homicide

CRM 2500

The Death Penalty

CRM 2600

Policy and Prevention in the Public Sphere

CRM 2700

Ethics and Criminal (In)Justice

CRM 2800

Search and Seizure

CRM 2900

Police Culture

CRM 3050

Female Deviance, Crime and Social Control

CRM 3380

Race, Class and Crime

CRM 3430

Criminal Justice and Mental Health

CRM 3500

Domestic Violence

CRM 3600

Drugs and Society

CRM 3700

Forensic Criminal Investigation

CRM 3900

Incarceration

CRM 4030

Criminal Justice Administration and Management

CRM 4100

Victimology

CRM 4600

Practicum in Correctional Education

CRM 4900

Directed Study

CRM 4910

Directed Study

Cognate Electives (choose up to two)

Choose a maximum two criminology and criminal justice electives from the following list of cognate courses. Cognates are courses related to the field of criminology and criminal justice, but offered outside of the department of criminology and criminal justice.

HDE 2130

Diversity, Social Justice and Ethics

PHL 3010

Human Rights: Theory and Practice

PHL 3020

Philosophy of Law

PHL 3030

Global Justice

POL 3112

Congress and the Legislative Process

POL 3150

Criminal Law

POL 3151

American Constitutional Law

POL 3152

Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

POL 3541

Cyber Security: The Intersection of Technology and Policy

PSY 3340

Developmental Psychopathology

PSY 3410

Abnormal Psychopathology

SOC 2050

Social Work 

SOJ 1000

Introduction to Social Justice (Theory and Practice)

WGS 3710

Gender and the Law

WGS 3720

Gender, Immigration and the Law