Dr. Novich with regulation enforcement officers who got here to talk with one in every of her lessons. MADELEINE NOVICH/COURTESY
By Jocelyn Visnov, Editor-in-Chief
The sociology division will quickly broaden to supply a brand new bachelor’s diploma in criminology, starting subsequent fall. The brand new 33-credit main supplied inside the Faculty of Liberal Arts will broaden on the criminology focus presently supplied as one in every of a number of tracks inside the sociology main.
The creation of the brand new main was spearheaded by Assistant Professor Madeleine Novich, Ph.D, who serves because the director of criminology and prison justice packages.
“I got here to Manhattan School in 2008.” Novich stated. “And my workforce and I developed a lot of prison justice lessons, particularly Fashionable American Gangs, Mass Incarceration and Collateral Penalties and Ethics of the Legal Justice system to call a number of.”
The present sociology division will develop into newly dubbed because the “Sociology and Criminology” division upon receiving board approval for the brand new main. The thought for a second main inside the division stemmed an elevated curiosity in lessons surrounding the prison justice system by MC college students.
“Anytime I began instructing new lessons they might fill as much as capability,” Novich stated. “And so we as a division acknowledged that this was a subject that the scholars actually needed, and so they needed to main in it. Sociology is a incredible main, however actually the scholars indicated that there must be a criminology main as nicely. And this additionally makes us extra aggressive, like most colleges which have criminology majors.”
The division presently presents three tracks of examine inside the sociology main in addition to a 15-credit minor. The concentrations supplied inside the main embody geography, social providers and criminology. When the brand new main turns into official the division will not supply the focus in criminology.
“We’re going to be phasing out the focus, so you may both main in sociology or criminology,” Novich stated. “I feel lots of people will find yourself double majoring as a result of the tracks between criminology and sociology are very related. However by doing a strict Criminology main, it permits for college kids to be required to take criminological idea, which they wouldn’t must take earlier than, and do prison justice associated analysis. And so that is what differentiates in a few methods, there’s far more theoretical coaching in criminology than is required with sociology.”
Lessons supplied as a part of the criminology main may also be cross-listed with different lessons surrounding social and prison justice that are presently taught by MC. The sociology division hopes to finally broaden their workers with the intention to educate further programs which are particular to the examine and analysis of criminology and the prison justice system.
An article written by David Koeppel on the colleges web site acknowledged that “The curriculum might be embedded within the Lasallian rules of excellence in instructing, respect for human dignity, reflection on religion, an emphasis on moral conduct, and a dedication to social justice.”
Richard Divirgilio is a senior double majoring in sociology and psychology. Having taken a plethora of sociology lessons throughout his time at MC, he expressed his admiration for the division.
“My favourite a part of the sociology division is how each professor I’ve ever had has challenged and finally expanded the way in which that I take into consideration the world,” Divirgilio wrote. “They attempt to make the category materials fascinating and grounded in present occasions.”
The sociology and criminology majors will put together undergraduate college students for a lot of potential profession paths in fields similar to regulation enforcement, social work and civil service. Sociology and criminology college students might also resolve they wish to pursue a graduate program in any of those fields.
Jake Delfel, a senior sociology main who hopes to finally attend regulation college following his commencement from MC, defined his hopes for the division’s enlargement.
“I feel the addition of the criminology main will trigger much more visitors inside the sociology division as an entire,” he wrote. “Particularly for many who might wish to enter some type of regulation or regulation enforcement (amongst different issues) will most likely declare it as a serious. So, I’ve little question it is going to be profitable.”
