The PhD program in criminology, law and society is designed to produce top academic scholars and leaders in policy and applied settings. It brings cutting edge social science methods to the disciplines of criminology and law and society. Students coming to this program seek to make a difference in the development and evaluation of policy in these fields. The goal of this program is to provide a rigorous course of study that will prepare students to do research, teach, develop and test policies, and administer agencies and programs designed to administer law, deliver justice, reduce crime, and enhance domestic security.
The program draws on a multidisciplinary departmental faculty to teach the required core courses and electives. Students can also take a wide range of other electives from many other university faculty including those in computational social science, conflict analysis and resolution, economics, government, law, philosophy, psychology, public administration, sociology, and statistics. The program takes advantage of the university’s proximity to many justice organizations at the federal, state, and local levels in the capital region. The curriculum is structured to give students the skills to do policy-relevant research and work with justice and security agencies in the region to exercise those skills and serve the needs of those agencies.
Master's Degree
Students admitted to the doctoral program without a master's degree need to earn the MA in criminology, law and society. The requirements for the MA degree are included in the requirements for the PhD listed below. When beginning the doctoral program students should add the master's degree as a secondary program using the Secondary Program Application and then apply online to graduate the semester prior to meeting all requirements for the master's degree.
Reduction of Credit
Students entering the doctoral program with a master’s degree in a related discipline, including a law degree, may request that the required credits for the doctoral degree be reduced by a maximum of 24 credits with approval of the graduate director and dean and in accordance with university policy. Students who have prior graduate course work that has not been applied to another degree may request to have a maximum of 12 of these graduate credits transferred to their degree program, with approval of the graduate director and dean and in accordance with university policy.
Satisfactory Progress
Each new student is assigned an advisor who helps develop a program of study. The program of study must be submitted by the end of the first year. On advancement to candidacy, the chair of the dissertation committee becomes the advisor. The advisor and faculty assess the progress of all students annually. Students who fail to make satisfactory progress may be terminated from the program or dismissed from the university. Satisfactory progress in the PhD in criminology, law and society is defined as maintaining a minimum GPA of 3.00 with the minimum grade of B- in all courses. As in all graduate programs, students who receive a grade below B- will receive an academic warning the first time and a letter of dismissal the second time.
Degree Requirements (Catalog Year 2012-2013)
In addition to meeting the following requirements for this degree, students must meet the university requirements for all doctoral degrees.
In addition to satisfying the requirements for all doctoral degrees, students must successfully complete 72 credits of required course work, pass two qualifying exams, and form a dissertation committee, after which they are advanced to candidacy. The final requirement is a dissertation of original research representing a significant contribution to the field, which should be publishable in a referred journal or a quality press.
- Four core substantive courses (12 credits): CRIM 700, 720, 740, 760
- Four analytical methods courses (12 credits): CRIM 780, 782, 783; and one course chosen from CRIM 781; SOCI 631, 632, 634; STAT 574, 658, 662, 665, 674; PSYC 633, 640; CSS 600, 610; CRIM 795
- Six courses (18 credits) in two substantive fields of study
Students select two substantive fields listed below and complete three courses within each. Students may take one non-CRIM elective course in each area or other courses in criminology, law and society with prior written approval of the director of the graduate program. - Elective courses (6-15 credits)
Students complete the remainder of the 72 credits through additional elective courses relevant to criminology, law and society in consultation with their advisor. Students may have more than 6 credits of electives, depending on the number of dissertation credits required by their program of study. - One professionalization course (0 Credits): CRIM 797
- Qualifying Exams
Students must pass written qualifying exams in two core substantive fields of the student’s choosing, selected from the three fields below. Students may take a single qualifying exam at each sitting. Students are not eligible to take the qualifying exams until they have successfully completed the required course work, as well as course work in the substantive area in which they intend to sit for the qualifying exam. Students have one opportunity across both exam areas to retake a failed exam.
- Dissertation (15-24 credits) Once enrolled in 998, students in this degree program must maintain continuous registration in 998 or 999 each semester (excluding summers) until the dissertation is submitted to and accepted by the University Libraries. Once enrolled in 999, students must follow the university’s continuous registration policy as specified in the Academic Policies chapter of the catalog. Students who defend in the summer must be registered for at least 1 credit of 999. Students may apply to this degree a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 6 credits of 998 and a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 21 credits of 999. They may apply a maximum of 24 dissertation credits (998 and 999 combined) to the degree. Because of the continuous registration policy, students may be required to register for additional credits of these courses. Students who take fewer than 24 dissertation credits will have accordingly more elective credits.
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Dissertation proposal (3-6 credits): CRIM 998
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Dissertation research (12–21 credits): CRIM 999
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Total: 72 Credits
Advancement to Candidacy
To advance to candidacy, students must complete all course work required on their approved program of study. Students must also successfully complete and pass two qualifying exams. In addition, students must have a dissertation committee appointed by the Dean’s Office and have defended their dissertation proposal.
Dissertation Committee
The student’s committee is composed of at least three faculty members and a chair, at least two of whom must be full-time CLS faculty and one, a member of the graduate faculty outside CLS. The chair must be a full-time CLS faculty member.
Substantive Fields of Study
In addition to the required analytical methods and substantive core courses, the curriculum offers three substantive fields. Doctoral students must select two substantive fields and complete three courses within each area. Students may take one non-CRIM elective course in each area or other courses in criminology, law and society with prior written approval of the director of the graduate program.
Justice and Law
Justice-related electives: CRIM 702, 703, 795; GOVT 520, 725; SOCI 619, 640, 711, 712; CONF 501, 701, 720, 721, 723, 726, 747, 802, 803; ECON 611, 852, 854
Law-related electives: CRIM 721, 722, 723, 730; SOCI 503; PHIL 611; CONF 733; ECON 895 (when topic is law and economics); selected LAW courses (Successful completion of CRIM 720 and 721 is a prerequisite for enrollment in LAW courses, which also requires preapproval from the graduate director, law school instructor, and associate dean for student academic affairs of the Law School.)
Justice Organizations, Administration, and Leadership
CRIM 509, 510, 691, 741, 742, 743, 749, 795; PUAD 502, 621, 622, 661, 671, 680, 700, 727, 781; CONF 731, 741, 743; PSYC 631, 639; SOCI 605, 623
Crime and Crime Policy
CRIM 761, 795; SOCI 607; GOVT 745; PUAD 644; PSYC 617
Requirements may be different for earlier catalog years. See the University Catalog archives.