A new degree program in Brock University’s Department of Sociology is launching in fall 2020.

Students interested in criminology will have the ability to look beyond crime and punishment and explore larger issues of surveillance, criminalization, interpersonal and structural violence, and more. The Honours BA in Critical Criminology will expose students to criminology in the broader context of theories of justice and equity — an important distinction both in the field and in the Faculty of Social Sciences.

“This degree deepens the Faculty’s academic focus on the intersections of social justice, criminal justice, law and its reform, and social inequalities,” said Kate Bezanson, Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies in the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Bezanson, who is also an Associate Professor of Sociology, says the new program draws on the strengths of the department’s existing popular concentration in criminology and its robust offerings in political economy, policy and analyses of social inequality.

As a result, students can expect to graduate equipped with advanced training in theory and methods, as well as applied and practical experience, in order to become leaders in areas such as law, policy, research and data analysis, and public accountability arenas in the Niagara region and beyond.

Ingrid Makus, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, is eager to welcome the first students into the program.

“This new program advances both the Faculty’s and the University’s strategic priorities of providing students with programming that responds to societal needs, offers multiple opportunities for experiential learning and emphasizes community-embedded research,” said Makus.

Although the program will not be available until next fall, it may be possible for some current first-year students to enter it.

The Department of Sociology’s Academic Administrator, Lindsay Shaw, says current students who entered Brock this September can declare into their second year of the Critical Criminology program in winter 2020 if they achieve a minimum of 70 per cent in SOCI 1F90 and have no more than 5.0 credits completed.

Students interested in the new BA in Critical Criminology can email Shaw for more details.