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Academic Catalog 2021-2022

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  • Criminal Justice and Political Science, BS

Criminal Justice and Political Science, BS

2021-2022 Edition

  • Undergraduate
    • Admission
    • Information for Entering Students
    • College Expenses
    • Academic Policies and Procedures
    • University Academics
    • College of Arts, Media and Design
    • D'Amore-​McKim School of Business
    • Khoury College of Computer Sciences
    • College of Engineering
    • Bouvé College of Health Sciences
    • College of Science
    • College of Social Sciences and Humanities
      • Interdisciplinary
      • Asian Studies
      • School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
        • English and Criminal Justice, BA
        • History and Criminal Justice, BA
        • International Affairs and Criminal Justice, BA
        • Criminal Justice, BS
        • Computer Science and Criminal Justice, BS
        • Criminal Justice and Journalism, BS
        • Criminal Justice and Philosophy, BS
        • Criminal Justice and Political Science, BS
        • Criminal Justice and Psychology, BS
        • Criminal Justice and Sociology, BS
        • Cybersecurity and Criminal Justice, BS
        • Human Services and Criminal Justice, BS
        • Criminal Justice, Minor
      • Cultures, Societies, and Global Studies
      • Economics
      • English
      • History
      • Human Services
      • International Affairs
      • Jewish Studies
      • Philosophy and Religion
      • Political Science
      • Sociology and Anthropology
      • Accelerated Bachelor/​Graduate Degree Programs
    • Faculty
    • Appendix
  • College of Professional Studies Undergraduate
  • Graduate
  • Course Descriptions
  • Catalog Archives
  • Overview
  • Program Requirements

This combined major educates students in criminal justice and political science and in the interface between the two disciplines. The scope and sequence of political science courses provide students with a foundation in topics such as American government, comparative politics, international relations, and security and resilience. Criminal justice courses provide a foundation for understanding individual and systemic aspects of criminology and criminal justice. Students completing this program should be able to understand the relationships between the fields as they relate to understanding and addressing criminal behavior.

Complete all courses listed below unless otherwise indicated. Also complete any corequisite labs, recitations, clinicals, or tools courses where specified and complete any additional courses needed beyond specific college and major requirements to satisfy graduation credit requirements.

University-Wide Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the University-Wide Requirements.

NUpath Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the NUpath Requirements.

Criminal Justice Requirements

Course List
Code Title Hours
Introduction to Crime, Law, and the Justice System
What do we know about crime and justice? In these three courses, students have an opportunity to develop a foundational understanding of three related phenomena: why crime exists, how our criminal justice system responds to crime, and the constitutional and legal oversight of this process.
CRIM 1100Introduction to Criminal Justice4
CRIM 1110Criminal Due Process4
CRIM 1120Criminology4
Current Crime and Justice Issues
These courses introduce students to topical issues related to crime and justice.
Complete one of the following:4
CRIM 1300
The Death Penalty
CRIM 1400
Human Trafficking
CRIM 1500
Corruption, Integrity, and Accountability
CRIM 1700
Crime, Media, and Politics
Understanding and Experiencing Criminal Justice Institutions and Systems
How does justice work and for whom? These courses introduce students to the systems and institutions tasked with providing justice. Each includes experiential learning components in cooperation with local criminal justice institutions.
Complete one of the following:4
CRIM 2310
Courts: The Third Branch of Government
CRIM 2320
Youth Crime and Justice
CRIM 2330
Punishment in the Age of Mass Incarceration
CRIM 2340
Corporate Security: Securing the Private Sector
CRIM 2350
Policing a Democratic Society
Crime Problems
The following courses provide students a deeper look at a range of crime problems.
Complete one of the following:4
CRIM 3010
Criminal Violence
CRIM 3030
Global Criminology
CRIM 3040
Psychology of Crime
CRIM 3050
Organized Crime
CRIM 3060
Political Crime and Terrorism
CRIM 3070
Corporate and White-Collar Crime
CRIM 3540
Addiction and Recovery
Systemic Issues
A consideration of systemic issues facing the criminal justice system.
Complete one of the following:4
CRIM 3110
Gender, Crime, and Justice
CRIM 3120
Race, Crime, and Justice
Digital Skills
Successful students develop digital skills and master digital tools useful for careers related to crime and justice. Students choose one of two courses (each has a required lab). The computer science course introduces students to spreadsheets and databases. The data science course introduces students to programming with data.
Complete one of the following (and the appropriate lab):4 or 5
CS 1100
and CS 1101
Computer Science and Its Applications
and Lab for CS 1100
DS 2000
and DS 2001
Programming with Data
and Data Science Programming Practicum ((Social Science Practicum section))

Political Science Requirements

Course List
Code Title Hours
Political Science Requirements
POLS 1150American Government4
POLS 1155Comparative Politics4
POLS 1160International Relations4
Political Theory
Complete one of the following:4
POLS 2325
Ancient Philosophy and Political Thought
POLS 2328
Modern Political Thought
POLS 2330
American Political Thought
POLS 2332
Contemporary Political Thought

Research Methods and Electives

Complete Option A, Option B, or Option C, below. Note: These options enable the student to take research methods courses (including statistics/quantitative techniques) as either CRIM courses or as POLS courses.

Option A

Course List
Code Title Hours
Research Methods
CRIM 3600Criminal Justice Research Methods4
CRIM 3700Analyzing and Using Data on Crime and Justice4
Criminal Justice Electives
Complete two additional courses in the following range:8
CRIM 3001 to CRIM 5999
Political Science Electives
Complete five courses in the following range:20
POLS 2000 to POLS 5999

Option B 

Course List
Code Title Hours
Research Methods
POLS 2399Research Methods in Political Science4
POLS 2400Quantitative Techniques4
Criminal Justice Electives
Complete three additional courses in the following range:12
CRIM 3001 to CRIM 5999
Political Science Electives
Complete four courses in the following range:20
POLS 2000 to POLS 5999

Option C

Course List
Code Title Hours
Research Methods
Complete one of the following sequences:8
CRIM 3600
and POLS 2400
Criminal Justice Research Methods
and Quantitative Techniques
CRIM 3700
and POLS 2399
Analyzing and Using Data on Crime and Justice
and Research Methods in Political Science
Criminal Justice Electives
Complete two additional courses in the following range:8
CRIM 3001 to CRIM 5999
Political Science Electives
Complete four courses in the following range:20
POLS 2000 to POLS 5999

Political Science Concentrations (Optional)

If you are working toward one of the following concentrations, declare it with your advisor so that it may be added to your record. Requirements for the concentrations are listed below.

  • American Political Institutions
  • Campaigns and Elections
  • Comparative Politics
  • Identity, Culture, and Politics
  • International Relations and Diplomacy
  • Law and Legal Studies
  • Public Policy
  • Security Studies

Integrative Requirement

Course List
Code Title Hours
Senior Capstone Requirement
CRIM 4949Senior Capstone Seminar4
or POLS 4701 Political Science Senior Capstone
Due Process
CRIM 1110Criminal Due Process4
Integrative Elective Courses
Complete two of the following:8
CRIM 1700
Crime, Media, and Politics
CRIM 2310
Courts: The Third Branch of Government
CRIM 4120
Courts and Sentencing
POLS 3302
Judicial Process and Behavior
POLS 3324
Law and Society
POLS 4500
U.S. Constitutional Law
POLS 4505
U.S. Civil Liberties

Combined Major Credit Requirement

Complete 84 semester hours in the major.

Experiential Liberal Arts

All undergraduate students in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities are required to complete the Experiential Liberal Arts Requirement.

Program Requirement

128 total semester hours required


Political Science Concentrations (Optional)

 

Concentration in American Political Institutions

Course List
Code Title Hours
Complete four of the following:16
POLS 2350
State and Local Politics
POLS 3300
The U.S. Congress
POLS 3302
Judicial Process and Behavior
POLS 3307
Public Policy and Administration
POLS 3310
Public Opinion, Voting, and Elections
POLS 3160
Campaign Strategy

 

Concentration in Campaigns and Elections

Course List
Code Title Hours
Required Courses
POLS 3160Campaign Strategy4
POLS 3302Judicial Process and Behavior4
Campaigns and Elections Electives
If POLS 4947 was replaced by a co-op or internship, an additional elective must be taken.
Complete two of the following:8
POLS 2345
Urban Policies and Politics
POLS 2350
State and Local Politics
POLS 2355
Intergovernmental Relations
POLS 3310
Public Opinion, Voting, and Elections
POLS 3320
Politics and Mass Media
POLS 3304
Presidential Nominating Process

 

Concentration in Comparative Politics

Course List
Code Title Hours
Theoretical Requirement
Complete one of the following:4
POLS 2370
Religion and Politics
POLS 3418
Nationalism
POLS 3430
Revolution, Civil War, and Insurrection
POLS 3487
Politics of Developing Nations
Regional Requirements
Complete two of the following:8
POLS 3435
Politics and Governance of Europe and the European Union
POLS 3465
Government and Politics in the Middle East
POLS 3470
Arab-Israeli Conflict
Experiential/Practicum Requirement
Complete one of the following:4
POLS 4915
Model Arab League
POLS 4918
Model NATO
POLS 4937
Dialogue of Civilizations: Government and Politics Abroad

 

Concentration in Identity, Culture, and Politics 

Course List
Code Title Hours
Core Course
POLS 3418Nationalism4
Electives
Complete three of the following:12
POLS 2368
Music and Politics in America and Abroad
POLS 2370
Religion and Politics
POLS 2375
Gender and Politics
POLS 3309
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in Public Policy
POLS 3324
Law and Society

Concentration in International Relations and Diplomacy

Course List
Code Title Hours
Experiential/Practicum Requirement
Complete one of the following:4
POLS 4910
Model United Nations
POLS 4915
Model Arab League
POLS 4938
Dialogue of Civilizations: International Politics Abroad
Core Courses
Complete three of the following:12
POLS 3405
International Political Economy
POLS 3406
International Law
POLS 3408
International Security
POLS 3435
Politics and Governance of Europe and the European Union
POLS 3470
Arab-Israeli Conflict

Concentration in Law and Legal Studies

Course List
Code Title Hours
Complete four of the following:16
POLS 2330
American Political Thought
POLS 3300
The U.S. Congress
POLS 3302
Judicial Process and Behavior
POLS 3324
Law and Society
POLS 3406
International Law
POLS 3409
Global Governance
POLS 4500
U.S. Constitutional Law
POLS 4505
U.S. Civil Liberties

 

Concentration in Public Policy

Course List
Code Title Hours
Core Requirement
POLS 3307Public Policy and Administration4
Electives
Complete three of the following:12
POLS 2335
Budgeting and Taxation
POLS 2340
Business and Government
POLS 2345
Urban Policies and Politics
POLS 2350
State and Local Politics
POLS 2357
Growth and Decline of Cities and Suburbs
POLS 2390
Science, Technology, and Public Policy
POLS 2395
Environmental Politics and Policy
POLS 3425
U.S. Foreign Policy

 

Concentration in Security Studies

Course List
Code Title Hours
Complete four of the following:16
POLS 3408
International Security
POLS 3420
U.S. National Security Policy
POLS 3423
Terrorism and Counterterrorism
POLS 3425
U.S. Foreign Policy
POLS 3430
Revolution, Civil War, and Insurrection
POLS 3470
Arab-Israeli Conflict
POLS 3487
Politics of Developing Nations
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