Criminology (BS)

Criminology is a subdiscipline of sociology which seeks to understand from a sociological perspective why people commit deviant and criminal acts. Students in this major learn the social, cultural, political, and economic forces that shape and intersect with crime and criminal behavior within society. The criminology major prepares students for a diverse set of careers in law, policing, corrections, probation, and criminal and forensic investigations, as well as for graduate work in criminology and related fields. A maximum of two courses may be transferred into the major.

Degree Requirements

Total program: 60 semester hours

Prerequisite Requirements

8 semester hours

Course List

Code	Title	Semester Hours
SOC 250	Introduction to Sociology	4
SOC 305	Quantitative Analysis	4
Total Semester Hours		8

Core Requirements

20 semester hours

Course List

Code	Title	Semester Hours
Core
SOC 390	Research Methods	4
SOC 401	Criminological Theory	4
SOC 497	Internship	4
Senior Capstone
Two Capstone Courses 1		8
Total Semester Hours		20

¹

e.g., SOC 499A Senior Thesis A and SOC 499B Senior Thesis B or two SOC 499C Senior Capstone C courses. When crosslisted with a Research Intensive course, that course may only be taken one time for credit (either as 499C or as catalog course number).

Breadth Requirements

8 semester hours

Course List

Code	Title	Semester Hours
SOC 322	Introduction to Criminology	4
SOC 326	Criminal Justice System	4
Total Semester Hours		8

Electives

8 semester hours

Course List

Code	Title	Semester Hours
Select two of the following:		8
ANTH 262	Forensic Investigations
SOC 320	Sociology of Deviance
SOC 329	Correctional Systems
SOC 342	Urban Crime Patterns
SOC 345	White-Collar Crime
SOC 350	Law and Society
SOC 375	Drugs and Society
SOC 380	Political Economy of Crime
Or other advisor approved criminology course.
Total Semester Hours		8

Racial Justice and Tolerance (RJT) Breadth Requirements

16 semester hours

Course List

Code	Title	Semester Hours
SOC 315	Race and Ethnicity	4
SOC 330	Social Class and Inequality	4
8 semester hours from the following:		8
SOC 270	Social Problems
SOC 317	Health, Wealth, and Poverty
SOC 325	Racism & Anti-Racism Through Film
SOC 335	Black Experience in the U.S.
SOC 336	Latino Experience
SOC 337	Asian-American Experience
SOC 338	Native American Experience
SOC 341	Urban Sociology
HSTY 315	Intro to Latinx Histories
PSY 409	Multicultural Psychology
Other Advisor Approved RJT course(s)
Total Semester Hours		16