Criminology and Justice Studies
Major: Criminology and Justice Studies
Degree Awarded: Bachelor of Science (BS)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Total Credit Hours: 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
Program Description
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 creative 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, 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 web page to view the location and itinerary of the 2019 study 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 web page 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
Justice Informatics Concentration
Degree Requirements
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 |
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 | 3.0 | |
History Elective | 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 Biology, Chemistry, and Physics | 8.0 | |
Program in Criminology and Justice Study 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 375 | Criminal Procedure | 3.0 |
CJS 376 | Sentencing | 3.0 |
PHIL 330 | Criminal Justice Ethics | 3.0 |
Global Perspectives | ||
Any course across the University whose description is global and/or comparative | 3.0 | |
CJS 320 | Comparative Justice Systems | 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 267 | Introduction to Security Studies | 3.0 |
CJS 273 | Surveillance, Technology, and the Law | 3.0 |
CJS 302 | Advanced Criminological Theorizing | 3.0 |
CJS 276 | Introduction to Computer Crime | 3.0 |
CJS 365 | Computer Investigations and the Law | 3.0 |
CJS 366 | Technology and the Justice System | 3.0 |
CJS 400 | Capstone in Criminology and Justice Policy | 3.0 |
INFO 101 | Introduction to Computing and Security Technology | 3.0 |
INFO 103 | Introduction to Data Science | 3.0 |
INFO 105 | Introduction to Informatics | 3.0 |
INFO 108 | Foundations of Software | 3.0 |
INFO 110 | Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction | 3.0 |
INFO 200 | Systems Analysis I | 3.0 |
INFO 210 | Database Management Systems | 3.0 |
INFO 440 | Social Media Data Analysis | 3.0 |
Free Electives | 24.0 | |
Total Credits | 182.0-184.0 |
Sample Plan of Study - Justice Informatics Concentration
Term 1 | Credits | Term 2 | Credits | Term 3 | Credits | Term 4 | Credits | Term 5 | Credits | Term 6 | Credits | Term 7 | Credits | Term 8 | Credits | Term 9 | Credits | Term 10 | Credits | Term 11 | Credits | Term 12 | Credits |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CJS 101 | 3.0 | CJS 260 | 4.0 | ANTH 101 | 3.0 | CJS 210 | 3.0 | CJS 300 | 3.0 | CJS 273 | 3.0 | CJS 267 | 3.0 | CJS 220 | 3.0 | CJS 302 | 3.0 | CJS 366 | 3.0 | INFO 240 | 3.0 | CJS 365 | 3.0 |
CJS 100 | 3.0 | COM 150 | 3.0 | CIVC 101 | 1.0 | CJS 250 | 3.0 | INFO 105 | 3.0 | CJS 301 | 4.0 | INFO 200 | 3.0 | CJS 290 | 3.0 | CJS 320 | 3.0 | English 200+ | 3.0 | CJS 331 | 4.0 | CJS 400 | 3.0 |
ENGL 101 or 111 | 3.0 | ENGL 102 or 112 | 3.0 | CJS 200 | 3.0 | CJS 276 | 3.0 | Science Sequence | 4.0 | INFO 108 | 3.0 | PSY 101 | 3.0 | CJS 330 | 4.0 | CJS 376 | 3.0 | History Elective | 4.0 | UNIV H201 | 1.0 | INFO 440 | 3.0 |
UNIV H101 | 1.0 | PHIL 101 | 3.0 | CJS 261 | 3.0 | INFO 101 | 3.0 | Free Elective | 2.0 | INFO 110 | 3.0 | Fine Arts Elective | 3.0 | CJS 375 | 3.0 | INFO 210 | 3.0 | Free Electives | 3.0 | Free Elective | 7.0 | Free Electives | 6.0 |
Math Sequence | 3.0-4.0 | Math Sequence | 3.0-4.0 | ENGL 103 or 113 | 3.0 | PHIL 330 | 3.0 | Global Perspectives Course | 3.0 | Science Sequence | 4.0 | SOC 101 | 3.0 | Free Elective | 3.0 | Free Elective | 3.0 | ||||||
PSCI 100 | 4.0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
13-14 | 16-17 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 15 | 15 | ||||||||||||
Total Credits 182-184 |
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.