Message from the Chair - Welcome to the Criminology Department
By: Dr. Michael Boudreau

Hello and welcome to the Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice, St. Thomas University. The Department offers a variety of courses in Criminology and Criminal Justice.

Faculty Research and Expertise
The Department’s faculty have diverse and exciting research interests and areas of specialization which offers students a truly multi-disciplinary approach to the study of Criminology, Crime, and Criminal Justice.

Some of these areas of specialization include: Crime Prevention; Youth Rights and Justice; Criminal Law and Social Justice; Human Rights; Offender Assessment and Classification; Effective Correctional Treatments; Ethnography; Police Studies; Cultural and Visual Criminology; The Influence of the Media on Crime; Crime and Popular Film; Hate Crime and Hate Speech; the History of Crime and the Law; and Social Protests.

Courses
Here is a sampling of the Department’s courses: Introduction to Criminology & Criminal Justice; Young Offenders and Juvenile Justice; Police and the Canadian Community; Corrections; Crime and Society in Historical Perspective; Victimology; Crime and the Media; Crime in Popular Film; Crime Prevention; Wrongful Conviction; Visual Criminology; Cultural Criminology; Child and Youth Rights; Psychology of Criminal Conduct; Organized Crime; Hate Crime; and International and Comparative Criminal Justice.

In January of 2012 the Criminology Department will be joined by Dr. Alan Clarke, a scholar who specializes in international law. Dr. Clarke will occupy the Endowed Chair in Criminology & Criminal Justice. Dr. Clarke will teach CRIM 4003: “Issues in International Human Rights Law: The Death Penalty, Torture, and Genocide.” Dr. Clarke’s course will be held on Tuesdays, 7:00pm-9:50pm. If you are interested in enrolling in this course, please contact Dr. Clarke at aclarke@stu.ca.

Honours, Major, Minor
I encourage students to consider completing either a Minor or a Major in Criminology. Students can also complete an Honours degree in Criminology. The Honours programme allows a fourth-year student to complete a thesis based upon original research on a topic that is chosen by the student, in consultation with a faculty member who has agreed to be their supervisor. The Honours programme is particularly suited to those students who are interested in pursuing graduate studies in Criminology and Criminal Justice.

Students have completed Honours theses on such topics as: Police Discretion; Cyberbullying; The Regulation of Hate Speech; The Wrongful Conviction of Erin Walsh; Dangerous Offenders; Fear of Crime; Drug Laws; Racial Profiling; Professionalism and Corrections Officers; and Youth Crime and Youth at Risk.

Students who are interested in applying to the Honours programme in Criminology for 2012-2013 must enroll in CRIM 3253 in the Winter semester of 2012.

The Department’s faculty are dedicated teachers and scholars. Students should feel free to speak with any member of the Department regarding the courses that they teach. They are very approachable and enjoy talking with students.

I welcome questions and comments from current, and future, students about the Criminology and Criminal Justice programme. My e-mail address is: mboudreau@stu.ca. My office is located in Mulroney Hall, room 404.

I look forward to meeting you and I hope that you have a successful and rewarding academic year at St. Thomas.

Yours sincerely,
Dr. Michael Boudreau
Associate Professor & Chair