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Department of Sociology & Criminology

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Department of Sociology & Criminology

Students in Sociology and Criminology can expect to develop the insights of the sociological perspective as they become familiar with continuing research and theoretical analysis of the social world. They learn how to better understand the structures and patterns upon which everyday life rest, to understand the interplay between individual choices and social constraint, to interpret events from multiple perspectives, and to examine social arrangements critically. They learn how to make a difference in their lives and in the lives of others.


Work with Leading Faculty

We are a small, active faculty who publish award-winning monographs, articles in the top journals of our field.  We are committed to the public good and our scholarship is used to inform national and local policy debate.


Get Personal Attention

Our classes are small. Faculty-student partnerships are keys to our successful program. 


What's Happening 

Barry Feld photoPhillips, Hayward and Colomy at symposium

2013 Undergraduate Research Symposium

The 2013 Undergraduate Research Symposium was held on Wednesday, May 8th.  Sociology/Criminology students who presented their research were Jennifer Hayward, Monica Heilman, and Julia Richardson. (Richardson and Heilman shown with Jennifer Reich; Hayward shown with Scott Phillips and Paul Colomy.)

 


 

 

All News & Events

Pasko participates in centennial celebration of the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

 

Jared Del Rosso researches torture

Del Rosso photo

Since 2007, Jared Del Rosso has studied the U.S. debates about detainee abuse, torture, and interrogation policy. To understand this debate, Professor Del Rosso analyzed over 40 transcripts of congressional hearings on these issues. Through this analysis, Professor Del Rosso documented a fundamental change in the ways that U.S. politicians spoke about torture. From 2003 to 2005, denial characterized Congress's response to allegations of torture. Members of Congress downplayed incidents of abuse and even studiously avoided using the word "torture" to describe those incidents. By 2008, however, Democrats and several prominent Republicans in Congress had begun acknowledging that U.S. interrogators had tortured detainees; they also began criticizing the policy-makers who had authorized the practice. Professor Del Rosso's research shows that changes in three factors—the balance of power between Republicans and Democrats, evidence of torture, and prevailing views of the relationship between national security and law—set the conditions for U.S. politicians to acknowledge torture. Read more...