Bachelor of Arts

Criminology, Law, and Society

Academic Department

Contact: Dr. Michael Kane, kanemf@stthom.edu

Criminology, Law and Society focuses on the challenge of crime in a free society. Courses present overviews of legal systems with particular emphasis on criminal and juvenile justice, forms of criminal behavior, the applications of various criminology theories. Students are provided with opportunities to become acquainted with the varieties of behavior that society chooses to control or regulate; the methods and institutions used to achieve that control or regulation, and the approaches aimed specifically at altering sanctioned behavior. The bachelor degree in Criminology, Law and Society incorporates the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Principles of Catholic Social Justice into several Criminology courses as an instructional foundation for righteousness, integrity and fairness.

Students who complete this program will demonstrate:

Evaluate, explain and value the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Principles of Catholic Social Justice applications into today's criminal justice system.
An understanding of the criminal justice system and its components.
An understanding of criminological theories and their application to contemporary law and society.
An ability to use skills in critical thinking, synthesis and analysis, of informational sources about policing, criminal law, corrections, leadership, applied research, and social justice.
An understanding of applied research methodologies.

Bachelor's Degree Requirements

The following overall requirements are needed in order to earn a bachelor's degree. For a full explanation of the requirements, please see policy A.04.01.

Completion of the core curriculum. Specific core plan is dependent upon accepted transfer credit, major, and Honor's Program participation.
Successful completion of at least 120 credit hours, with the final 36 hours taken in Residence at UST. Total credits listed on the page only reflect the major.
Completion of a major.
Completion of 36 upper-division credit hours.
A cumulative grade point average (GPA) above 2.0
A cumulative GPA above 2.0 in your major
Freshman Symposium is a one-credit hour, mandatory course exclusively for first-year students at the University of St. Thomas, introducing them to the UST mission and the Basilian Fathers’ core values of goodness, discipline, and knowledge. Freshmen register for it during the Freshmen Registration/Orientation events and can choose a class that aligns with their interests, with course descriptions provided in advance.