Program Overview

Major in Sociology, Criminology and Criminal Justice Concentration

The Major in Sociology, Criminology and Criminal Justice Concentration is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the social aspects of crime, law, and deviance. This concentration focuses on the societal factors that contribute to crime, effective and innovative programmatic approaches to prevent or control crime, the unintended consequences of our system for marginalized communities, and the role of research in creating effective policy.

Program Description

Students who concentrate in Criminology and Criminal Justice learn to view issues of crime, victimization, and justice at multiple levels—from individuals to communities and institutions. The faculty teach courses that address issues like forms of punishment in the U.S. and global context, how gender shapes people’s experiences with crime, environmental and state crime, as well as evidence-based policing practices. The undergraduate program provides students with a strong theoretical foundation in sociology, research methods, data collection, and analysis. These are all essential skills for a wide variety of careers including those associated with law, justice, or advocacy.

Program Requirements

• Each course used to satisfy requirements of the concentration requires a minimum grade of C (2.000), i.e., all SOC courses, STAT 2**, and each course taken to satisfy the Social and Behavioral Sciences electives or the Criminology and Criminal Justice electives.
• The program consists of 120 credits, with the following distribution:
  • Freshman: 28 credits
    • CO 150: College Composition (GT-CO2)
    • SOC 253: Intro to Criminology and Criminal Justice
    • Select one course from the following: SOC 100, SOC 105
    • Biological and Physical Sciences: 3A
    • Social and Behavioral Sciences Elective
    • Electives: 7 credits
  • Sophomore: 31 credits
    • Advanced Writing: 2
    • Arts and Humanities: 3B
    • Biological and Physical Sciences: 3A
    • Historical Perspectives: 3D
    • Social and Behavioral Sciences Electives: 6 credits
    • Electives: 9 credits
  • Junior: 30 credits
    • Select one course from the following: SOC 210, STAT 2**
    • Select one course from the following: SOC 301, SOC 302
    • Select one course from the following: SOC 352, SOC 372
    • Criminology and Criminal Justice Electives: 6 credits
    • Social and Behavioral Sciences Electives: 12 credits
    • Electives: 3 credits
  • Senior: 30-32 credits
    • SOC 311: Sociological Research Methods
    • Select one course from the following: SOC 314, SOC 315
    • Select one group from the following: Group A, Group B, Group C
    • Criminology and Criminal Justice Electives: 9 credits
    • Electives: 12-13 credits

Social and Behavioral Sciences Electives

Students may choose from a list of approved courses, including:

• AGED 210: History of Agriculture in the United States
• AGRI 116/IE 116: Plants and Civilizations (GT-SS3)
• AGRI 270/IE 270: World Interdependence-Population and Food (GT-SS3)
• AM 250: Dress and Human Behavior (GT-SS3)
• AMST 100: Self/Community in American Culture, (GT-HI1)
• ANTH 100: Introductory Cultural Anthropology (GT-SS3)
• ANTH 140: Introduction to Archaeology (GT-HI1)
• ANTH 200: Cultures and the Global System (GT-SS3)
• ANTH 232/MU 232: Soundscapes-Music as Human Practice
• ANTH 310: Peoples and Cultures of Africa
• ANTH 312: Modern Indian Culture and Society
• ANTH 322: The Anthropology of Religion
• ANTH 330: Human Ecology
• ANTH 333: Anthropology of Sex and Reproduction
• ANTH 334: Narrative Traditions and Social Experience
• ANTH 335: Language and Culture
• ANTH 338: Gender and Anthropology
• ANTH 340: Medical Anthropology
• ANTH 359: Colorado Prehistory
• ANTH 360: Archaeological Investigation
• ANTH 400/GR 400: History of Theory-Anthropology and Geography
• ANTH 412: Indians of North America
• ANTH 413: Indigenous Peoples Today
• ANTH 414/ETST 414: Development in Indian Country
• ANTH 440: Theory in Cultural Anthropology
• ANTH 441: Method in Cultural Anthropology
• ANTH 450: Hunter-Gatherer Ecology
• ANTH 451: Andean Archaeology and Ethnohistory
• ANTH 478/HIST 478: Heritage Resource Management
• AREC 202: Agricultural and Resource Economics (GT-SS1)
• AREC 240/ECON 240: Economics of Environmental Sustainability (GT-SS1)
• BUS 205: Legal and Ethical Issues in Business
• BUS 260: Social-Ethical-Regulatory Issues in Business
• E 142: Reading Without Borders (GT-AH2)
• E 238: Contemporary Global Fiction (GT-AH2)
• E 245: World Drama (GT-AH2)
• ECON **
• EDUC 275: Schools, Society, and Self (GT-SS3)
• ETST **
• GR 100: Introduction to Geography (GT-SS2)
• GR 102: Geography of Europe and the Americas (GT-SS2)
• GR 320: Cultural Geography
• HDFS 101: Lifespan Development (GT-SS3)
• HDFS 310: Infant and Child Development in Context
• HDFS 311: Adolescent and Emerging Adult Development
• HDFS 312: Adult Development-Middle Age and Aging
• HDFS 332: Death, Dying, and Grief
• HDFS 334: Family and Parenthood Across the Lifespan
• HDFS 402: Couple and Family Studies
• HDFS 403: Families in the Legal Environment
• HIST **
• HONR 292C: Honors Seminar: Knowing Across Cultures (GT-SS3)
• HONR 492: Honors Senior Seminar
• HORT 171/SOCR 171: Environmental Issues in Agriculture (GT-SS3)
• IE 179: Globalization: Exploring Our Global Village (GT-SS3)
• INST 200: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Globalization
• JTC 100: Media in Society (GT-SS3)
• JTC 311: History of Media
• JTC 316: Multiculturalism and the Media
• JTC 411: Media Ethics and Issues
• JTC 412: International Mass Communication
• JTC 413: New Media Trends and Society
• JTC 414: Media Effects
• JTC 456/LB 456: Documentary Film as a Liberal Art
• LB 173: Encountering the Global (GT-AH2)
• LB 393: Seminar in Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences
• LEAP 200: Advocacy in the Visual and Performing Arts
• MU 132: Exploring World Music
• PHIL 103: Moral and Social Problems (GT-AH3)
• PHIL 170: World Philosophies (GT-AH3)
• POLS **
• PSY 100: General Psychology (GT-SS3)
• PSY 152: Science of Learning
• PSY 260: Child Psychology
• PSY 296: Group Study
• PSY 315: Social Psychology
• PSY 316: Environmental Psychology
• PSY 317: Social Psychology Laboratory
• PSY 320: Psychopathology
• PSY 325: Psychology of Personality
• PSY 327: Psychology of Women
• PSY 340: Organizational Psychology
• PSY 341: Organizational Psychology Laboratory
• PSY 401: History and Systems of Psychology
• PSY 437: Psychology of Gender
• PSY 452: Cognitive Psychology
• PSY 465: Adolescent Psychology
• SOC **
• SOWK 110: Contemporary Social Welfare
• SOWK 352/ETST 352: Indigenous Women, Children, and Tribes
• SPCM 130: Foundations of Human Communication (GT-SS3)
• WS **

Criminology and Criminal Justice Electives

Students must select two courses from Group A and two courses from Group B, plus one additional course from either Group A or Group B.

• Group A: Criminal Justice System
  • SOC 354: Policing and Society
  • SOC 358: Punishment and Society
  • SOC 455: Sociology of Law
  • SOC 482A: Travel Abroad: Comparative Criminal Justice
• Group B: Critical Criminology and Criminal Justice
  • SOC 322: Environmental Justice
  • SOC 351: Corporate and State Crime
  • SOC 356: Inequality in Criminal Sentencing
  • SOC 357: Women, Crime, and Victimization
  • SOC 359: Green Criminology
  • SOC 482B: Travel Abroad: Crime and Deviance

Major Completion Map

The Major Completion Map outlines the recommended course sequence for the program:

• Semester 1: CO 150, Social and Behavioral Sciences Elective, 1C, Biological and Physical Sciences, Elective
• Semester 2: SOC 253, Select one course from the following: SOC 100, SOC 105, 1B, Electives
• Semester 3: Arts and Humanities, Biological and Physical Sciences, Historical Perspectives, Social and Behavioral Sciences Electives
• Semester 4: Advanced Writing, Arts and Humanities, Electives
• Semester 5: Criminology and Criminal Justice Electives, Social and Behavioral Sciences Electives, Elective
• Semester 6: Select one course from the following: SOC 210, STAT 2**, Select one course from the following: SOC 301, SOC 302, Select one course from the following: SOC 352, SOC 372, Social and Behavioral Sciences Electives, Elective
• Semester 7: SOC 311, Select one course from the following: SOC 314, SOC 315, Criminology and Criminal Justice Electives, Electives
• Semester 8: Select one group from the following: Group A, Group B, Group C, Criminology and Criminal Justice Electives, Electives