This class introduces students to contemporary criminal justice institutions and issues in the United States with a particular focus on empowering students to be engaged citizens, locally, nationally, and globally. The factual knowledge and critical thinking skills honed in this course will serve future criminal justice majors as well as students going on to other majors and jobs in all disciplines and fields. We cover the core institutions of criminal justice as well as introducing fields of study such as sociology, criminology, political science, and public policy.

The growing idea that the U.S. criminal justice system is one of police abuse, mass incarceration, racialized policies, and profiteering has been followed by calls to abolish ICE, defund the police, and close local jails. These policies, once thought radical, have become more mainstream in the last decade. This class builds on students’ understanding of the criminal justice system and past reforms to contextualize research, ideas, and policies surrounding abolition. Students will be asked to think imaginatively to consider what acts should be defined as crimes, alternatives to policing, and the purpose of incarceration.