About

The Department of Criminology, Law and Society focuses on the causes, manifestations, and consequences of criminal behavior; methods of controlling criminal behavior; and the relationships and interactions between law, social structure and cultural practices. Courses include overviews of American legal systems, forms of criminal behavior, legal theory, social science and the law, criminological theory, victimology, and regulatory issues, in addition to substantive areas of law such as family, criminal, environmental, immigration, procedural, and constitutional law.

The Department of Criminology, Law and Society (CLS) has established itself as one of the nation's top programs in criminology, criminal justice, and legal studies. Established as a formal department with its own Ph.D. program in 1992 within the School of Social Ecology, CLS faculty have trained numerous undergraduate and graduate students over almost three decades. Graduates work in both the public and private sectors, and at colleges and universities around the country. The CLS curriculum offers a broad array of topics for both undergraduate and graduate study which are central to crime and its control, social policy, and the law. In keeping with one of the main tenets of Social Ecology, faculty and students approach these subjects from a multidisciplinary perspective.

We are particularly proud of our graduate and undergraduate programs. We offer a highly selective Ph.D. program designed to train the next generation of scholars in criminology, law & society. We also offer an innovative on-line Masters program designed to further the education of working professionals in law and criminal justice.