Major in Criminology

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The criminology major at K-State is designed to gives students a comprehensive knowledge of crime, victimization, and criminal legal operations and prepare them for a broad assortment of careers working in areas of crime prevention, law enforcement, corrections, victim's services, criminal legal research, and related fields. In addition, our students frequently go on to law school and graduate studies.

Students in the criminology major are required to complete 41 hours of criminological course work. Below is a list of courses required to complete.

Required Criminology Foundation Courses (6 hours)

Criminology students must successfully complete the following two courses:

• SOCIO 211 – Introduction to Sociology
• STAT 325 – Introduction to Statistics

Core Courses (10 credit hours)

• CRIM 261 – Criminal Justice Systems (3)
• CRIM 364 – Criminological Theory (3)
• SOCIO 423 – Methods of Social Research (4)

Skills Requirement (1 credit hour)

• CRIM 367 - Real World Criminology (1)

Social Context (3 credit hours)

Students are required to take 3 credit hours from the following:

• SOCIO 260 – Social Problems
• SOCIO 363 – Global Problems
• SOCIO 431 - Comparative Social Theories
• SOCIO 531 – Urban Sociology
• SOCIO 532 – Our Communities, Our Futures

Structural Inequality Requirement (3 credit hours)

• SOCIO 510 – Social Welfare as a Social Institution (3)
• SOCIO 541 – Wealth, Power, and Privilege (3)
• SOCIO 545 – Sociology of Women
• SOCIO 570 – Race and Ethnic Relations in the USA (3)

Criminology Electives (12 credit hours)

Criminology students must take 12 credit hours of criminology electives.

• CRIM 301 – Topics in Criminology
• CRIM 362 – Police and Society (3)
• CRIM 454 – Criminal Law & Society (3)
• CRIM 460 – Youth and Crime (3)
• CRIM 463 – Gangs in American Society (3)
• CRIM 470 – The Criminal Justice System and Family Violence (3)
• CRIM 480 – Prisons and Punishment (3)
• CRIM 482 - Criminal Procedure and Investigations (3)
• CRIM 462 – The War on Drugs (3)
• CRIM 477 – True Crime (3)
• CRIM 500 – Criminological Perspectives on Contemporary Issues
• CRIM 550 – Cybercrime, Security, & Society (3)
• CRIM 552 – Sex, Crimes & Society (3)
• CRIM 562 – Study of Serial Murder (3)
• CRIM 569 – Field Experience in Criminology (3)
• CRIM 572 – Death Penalty (3)
• CRIM 592 – Rampage: Mass Murder (3)
• CRIM 665 - Women and Crime (3)
• SOCIO 635 – Sociology of Human Trafficking (3)
• SOCWK 350 – Social Work with Criminal Offenders and Victims (3)
• ANTH 680 – Forensic Anthropology (3)

Capstone Requirement (6 hours)

Students may either take an “internship” or “scholarship” approach to fulfilling this requirement. Each requires 6 credit hours from courses within the following two tracks.

• Internship
  • CRIM 568 – Criminology Internship (6)
• Scholarship
  • Six additional credit hours of 600 or 700 level Criminology or Sociology courses (6).
  • Or CRIM 599 – Senior Thesis (6)

Undergraduate Thesis

During their senior year, student in the criminology program may conduct supervised research with faculty assistance. This is ideal for students interested in graduate school, for more information contact Dr. Kevin Steinmetz at kfsteinmetz@ksu.edu.