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Arcadia University’s Criminology and Criminal Justice major offers students a range of experiential learning opportunities as part of their broad-based liberal arts education.
Students get hands-on investigative experience in Arcadia’s Crime Scene House and in our Cold Case Practicum. While the murders investigated in the Crime Scene House are staged, the crime reviewed in the Cold Case Practicum is not. Working with the American Investigative Society of Cold Case (AISOCC), Arcadia students review the actual investigative file of a real cold case, offering a fresh set of eyes to an unsolved criminal case.
Still want more?
How about a course that lets you see the prison system from another perspective? Criminology and Criminal Justice majors can enroll in one of several Inside/Out courses Arcadia offers. Led by an Arcadia faculty member, these courses meet once a week inside a Philadelphia
County prison and feature a class composed half of Arcadia students and half of inmates from the institution.
Or would you rather your research be used by practitioners in the criminal justice system? Students in “Applied Research in the Criminal Justice System” conduct research requested and used by the Pennsylvania Innocence Project and the Philadelphia Defender’s Association.
The knowledge base and skills acquired through the process of evaluation and critical inquiry will prepare you for a criminal justice career or graduate-level education.
From the graduating class of 2018 alone, six CJ majors were enrolled in graduate studies in Criminal Justice in Fall 2018, and another was in law school.
The Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Criminal Justice fosters an awareness of the various schools of thought and social theories on the origins, nature and extent of criminal behavior, criminal justice and the justice system. Courses stress the relationship between issues of criminal behavior and criminal justice and sociological factors such as class, gender, race and other demographic characteristics.
Students take a common curriculum as well as take courses to complete a concentration in Social Justice or Law Enforcement.
The Criminology and Criminal Justice minor provides students with the conceptual and research knowledge necessary to think critically about issues in criminal justice. Further, the program creates and instills a set of values respecting human individuality and dignity that will guide the manner in which criminal justice tasks and responsibilities are carried out. The Criminology and Criminal Justice minor, in conjunction with a student’s major, also builds a base of knowledge and constructs a process of evaluation and critical inquiry upon which criminal justice professional training and/or graduate-level education can readily take place.
A semester abroad can easily be incorporated into the Criminal Justice program and is strongly encouraged. Students are encouraged to explore study abroad options during the sophomore year or fall of the junior year.
A study abroad experience is invaluable for both the foundational focus on liberal arts as well as the major studies in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Thinking comparatively and globally about criminal justice issues is essential for students who plan on working in the field.
University-sponsored study abroad programs are available in England, Scotland, Wales, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Spain, Italy, and South Africa.
Since it is important that students plan ahead for study abroad, they should consult with their advisers as soon as possible and make their intentions known to the Department Chair and the Office of Global Engagement.
Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal Justice Website
Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal Justice
Easton Hall, Room 344
215-572-4073
Enrollment Management
1-877-272-ARCADIA (1-877-272-2342)
admiss@arcadia.edu