2014-15 Catalogs
BA in Criminology
The Department of Criminology offers a four-year program leading to a bachelor of arts (BA) degree in criminology. The program provides students with a liberal arts education whose focus is the complex relations among crime, law, and society, and which emphasizes the social sciences. The curriculum is a rigorous series of courses which provides students with a comprehensive knowledge of crime and crime control in contemporary, historical, and comparative perspective. The core of the curriculum is an integrated set of required courses. These courses are designed as a cumulative set of experiences and should be taken in sequence if possible. Elective courses enable students to place their criminological interests in a broader perspective.
Many students in the program are interested in social and human service occupations related to criminal, juvenile, and social justice. The program also prepares students for a wide variety of other career options and provides an excellent basis for graduate study in criminology, other social sciences, and law.
Program Requirements
The minimum number of credits (exclusive of the University's Core curriculum) required for the major: 36.
Required Courses (24 credits)
CRM 100 Introduction to Criminology
CRM 216 White-Collar Crime
CRM 220 Research Methods in Criminology
CRM 301 Criminological Theory
CRM 317 Gender and Crime
CRM 330 Crime and Social Control
CRM 334 Law and State
CRM 401 Comparative Criminology
Elective Courses (12 credits)
Students are also required to choose four elective courses (12 hours) from the following courses:
CRM 217 Crime in Maine
CRM 222 Field Studies in Informal Social Order
CRM 225 Crimes against the Environment
CRM 230 Introduction to the Criminal Justice System
CRM 310 Classical Theories of Social Order
CRM 320 Film and Social Order
CRM 325 Domestic Violence
CRM 327 Animal Abuse
CRM 337 Youth Crime
CRM 340 Criminal Law
CRM 345 Criminology in Sweden
CRM 350 Topics in Criminology
CRM 360 The Death Penalty
CRM 370 Reflexive Criminology
CRM 375 Media, Crime, and Criminalization
CRM 380 Restorative Justice
CRM 390 Independent Projects
CRM 395 Internship
CRM 402 Senior Seminar
Course Sequence
Recommended Course Sequence
Curriculum Summary and Guide
The criminology curriculum is a series of structured and integrated courses that should be taken in sequence if possible.
| Year | Required Courses | Elective Courses |
| 1 | Introduction to Criminology | |
| 2 | White-Collar Crime | |
| Research Methods in Criminology | ||
| 3 | Crime and Social Control | Electives |
| Gender and Crime | ||
| Criminological Theory | ||
| 4 | Law and State | Electives |
| Comparative Criminology |