Criminology and Justice Studies
Major: Criminology and Justice Studies
Degree Awarded: Bachelor of Science (BS)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Minimum Required Credits: 182.0
Co-op Options: One Co-op (Four years); No Co-op (Four years)
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 45.0401
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 11-9199
Justice Informatics Concentration
With its thematic concentration in Justice Informatics (JI), Drexel University has transformed the traditional criminal justice degree program to produce graduates who possess knowledge and skills that are highly valued by criminal justice agencies in the 21st century. Namely, the program draws from criminology and criminal justice and computing and informatics to produce globally aware and technology proficient graduates who bring an analytical and information-led approach to solving the problems crime creates for society.
Each exposure to the criminal justice system represents a data collection point, which becomes part of a massive and disparate array of data held by the government. Students will learn how to collect, manage, visualize, and analyze large sources of information so that they can bring their expertise into the crime and justice occupational arena and/or graduate school. In addition to learning to work with "big" data in the public justice arena, students will learn how to identify, collect, manage, and use data from the expansive—and rapidly growing—private system of justice and security to create innovative solutions for identifying, solving, and preventing crime.
Graduates of Drexel's Justice Informatics concentration will be ideally suited to meet the demands of the growing job market for crime analysts among criminal justice, defense, and intelligence agencies and in the private-sector security community. Crime analysts have become an essential part of the modern criminal justice agency. They have become vital to, for example, the large police department looking to deploy resources in a manner that matches crime trends, the intelligence agency working to prevent terrorist events, and the financial services firm hoping to identify the fraudulent use of a credit card. JI graduates can also play an integral role on teams that build future information technology solutions for intelligence and defense, and criminal justice agencies from the public and private sectors.
Given the global nature of crime and justice issues, JI requires one course on international justice systems; and it encourages all students to participate in at least one faculty-led study abroad program during which students will explore various justice-related themes (examples of recent trips: The Legacy of Nazi Policing and Cold War Justice in Munich and Prague; and Crime and Justice in Scandinavia. Please visit the Study Abroad Program webpage to view the location and itinerary of the study abroad tour). The emphasis on comparative justice and study abroad reside at the leading edge of Drexel’s core value of global citizenship.
The Justice Informatics thematic concentration reserves 27.0 credits of free electives so that students can earn a minor outside the Program in Criminology and Justice Studies. Students interested in intelligence/security-related careers should consider minoring in a language. Visit Drexel's Modern Languages Program webpage for a list of language minors.
Additional Information
For more information about the Justice Informatics concentration, please contact:
Robert D'Ovidio, PhD
Associate Professor of Criminology and Justice Studies
College of Arts and Sciences
rd64@drexel.edu
Degree Requirements (Justice Informatics Concentration)
| General Degree Requirements | ||
| ANTH 101 | Introduction to Cultural Diversity | 3.0 |
| CIVC 101 | Introduction to Civic Engagement | 1.0 |
| COM 150 | Mass Media and Society | 3.0 |
| COOP 101 | Career Management and Professional Development * | 1.0 |
| ENGL 101 | Composition and Rhetoric I: Inquiry and Exploratory Research | 3.0 |
| or ENGL 111 | English Composition I | |
| ENGL 102 | Composition and Rhetoric II: Advanced Research and Evidence-Based Writing | 3.0 |
| or ENGL 112 | English Composition II | |
| ENGL 103 | Composition and Rhetoric III: Themes and Genres | 3.0 |
| or ENGL 113 | English Composition III | |
| PHIL 101 | Introduction to Western Philosophy | 3.0 |
| PSCI 100 | Introduction to Political Science | 4.0 |
| PSY 101 | General Psychology I | 3.0 |
| SOC 101 | Introduction to Sociology | 3.0 |
| UNIV H101 | The Drexel Experience | 1.0 |
| UNIV H201 | Looking Forward: Academics and Careers | 1.0 |
| English Elective (any ENGL course over 200 level) | 3.0 | |
| Fine Arts Elective (any 100-400 level course in ARTH, DANC, FMST, MUSC, PHTO, THTR) | 3.0 | |
| History Elective (any HIST course 100-400 level) | 4.0 | |
| Math Sequences | ||
| Take any two MATH courses | 6.0-8.0 | |
| Science Sequences | ||
| Take any two Science courses with a lab from any combination of BIO, CHEM, and PHYS | 8.0 | |
| Program in Criminology and Justice Studies Core Requirements | ||
| CJS 100 | Freshman Seminar in Crime and Justice | 3.0 |
| CJS 101 | Introduction to Criminal Justice | 3.0 |
| CJS 200 | Criminology | 3.0 |
| CJS 210 | Race, Crime, and Justice | 3.0 |
| CJS 220 | Crime and the City | 3.0 |
| CJS 260 | Justice in Our Community | 4.0 |
| CJS 261 | Prison, Society and You | 3.0 |
| CJS 290 | Crime and Public Policy | 3.0 |
| CJS 320 | Comparative Justice Systems | 3.0 |
| CJS 376 | Sentencing | 3.0 |
| Methods and Analytics Sequence | ||
| CJS 250 | Research Methods & Analytics I | 3.0 |
| CJS 300 | Research Methods and Analytics II | 3.0 |
| CJS 301 | Methods and Analytics III | 4.0 |
| CJS 330 | Crime Mapping I Using Geographic Information Systems | 4.0 |
| CJS 331 | Crime Mapping II Using Geographic Information Systems | 4.0 |
| Justice Informatics Thematic Concentration | ||
| CJS 240 | Seminar in Justice Informatics | 3.0 |
| CJS 267 | Introduction to Security Studies | 3.0 |
| CJS 270 | Crime Analysis Using Open Data | 3.0 |
| CJS 273 | Surveillance, Technology, and the Law | 3.0 |
| CJS 276 | Introduction to Computer Crime | 3.0 |
| CJS 310 | Crime Prediction Using Open Data | 3.0 |
| CJS 365 | Computer Investigations and the Law | 3.0 |
| CJS 405 | Data-Driven Investigations and Crime | 3.0 |
| In addition to the above, students will take two of the following three courses: | 6.0 | |
| Introduction to Computing and Security Technology | ||
| Information Technology Security I | ||
| Computer Forensics I: Fundamentals | ||
| Free Electives | 45.0 | |
| Total Credits | 180.0-182.0 | |
- *
Students not participating in co-op will take one additional credit of free elective instead of COOP 101.
Co-op cycles may vary. Students are assigned a co-op cycle (fall/winter, spring/summer, summer-only) based on their co-op program (4-year, 5-year) and major.
COOP 101 registration is determined by the co-op cycle assigned and may be scheduled in a different term. Select students may be eligible to take COOP 001 in place of COOP 101.
Writing-Intensive Course Requirements
In order to graduate, all students must pass three writing-intensive courses after their freshman year. Two writing-intensive courses must be in a student's major. The third can be in any discipline. Students are advised to take one writing-intensive class each year, beginning with the sophomore year, and to avoid “clustering” these courses near the end of their matriculation. Transfer students need to meet with an academic advisor to review the number of writing-intensive courses required to graduate.
A "WI" next to a course in this catalog may indicate that this course can fulfill a writing-intensive requirement. For the most up-to-date list of writing-intensive courses being offered, students should check the Writing Intensive Course List at the University Writing Program. Students scheduling their courses can also conduct a search for courses with the attribute "WI" to bring up a list of all writing-intensive courses available that term.
Justice Informatics Concentration
Professional Experiences
Students will complete one co-op (i.e., professional placement), typically during the spring and summer quarters of their Junior year. This way, when they return for the start of their senior year, they can immediately begin their (impending) post-graduation job search with their co-op experience still recent on their resume. Some placements are paid (usually in the private sector) and others are unpaid (primarily in the public sector). The placements earn students academic credit while providing professional socialization and learning with crime and justice professionals. The networking aspects of these placements are invaluable for future career development. In addition to the learning experiences, past students have received excellent letters of recommendation for future employment agencies and for graduate and law school admissions.
In recent years, students have been placed in local agencies such as the District Attorney’s Office, the Institutional Law Project, the Juvenile Law Center, the Defendants Association of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia and Bucks County Prison Systems and the Pennsylvania Prison Society, Pennsylvania and New Jersey State Police. Several students have co-op'd and later worked full time at the Eastern State Penitentiary Historical Site and Museum. On the state level, co-op students have worked with the Board of Probation & Parole and other agencies. At the federal level, The US Customs Service had an agreement to accept cooperative education placements after having been screened by faculty. The faculty in Criminology and Justice Studies has been working over the past few years to expand its list of research co-ops (primarily for students working toward graduate school) and international co-ops.
