Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice

The mission of the Bachelor of Arts program in Criminal Justice is to foster a comprehensive understanding of the nature of crime and the effectiveness and fairness of society's efforts to prevent and control it. Students engage in a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of crime, offenders, and victims, as well as the agencies, goals, laws, policies, and processes of the criminal justice system. Emphasis is upon promoting critical thinking about the kinds of questions and problems that shape developments in research, practice, policy and reform, and the skills utilized by scholars and professionals in the field. Majoring in criminal justice helps to prepare students for careers as practitioners, researchers, and academics in a variety of public and private sector professions in both adult and juvenile systems of justice, at the federal, state, and local levels of government. It also provides the core liberal arts foundations for students interested in alternative career paths or advanced education in law school and graduate programs in criminal justice, criminology, and related social-science fields. Internship Many students opt to take our specialized internship program, earning 3 credits for CJ 4077 Criminal Justice Practicum (which can be used toward the electives in the major) and 3, 6, or 9 credits in the CJ 4087 Criminal Justice Practicum Lab, which count towards the 123 credits required for graduation but may not be used to fulfill any requirements of the Criminal Justice major. This program runs in the Fall, Spring, and Summer (over the two summer sessions). Honors program The Department has its own Honors Program in which majors who are also University Honors students may tailor their honors experience to include a criminal justice specialization. In addition to the honors-level elective courses offered, an invaluable part of the program is the opportunity for students to develop an honors thesis based upon an undergraduate research project individually mentored by a criminal justice professor.