Winter Session Highlights
Intro to Criminal Justice
Major Issues in Criminal Justice (CJBA 101 – 501: IN PERSON)
This is an introductory course on the major problems in criminal justice. Students will develop understanding of the criminal justice system and its components and examine and evaluate critical issues and problems in the criminal justice system today. Students will learn about the importance of empirical research and how to read scholarly articles about criminal justice.
Criminal Justice: Theory in Practice (CJBS 300 – 597 / 598 / 599: ONLINE)
This course builds upon knowledge acquired in previous courses and connects theoretical approaches with practical applications. Students will study a broad array of assessments and evaluations of the policies and programs that have evolved in the field of Criminal Justice. Students will review and analyze experiments such as D.A.R.E., Minneapolis Domestic Violence and Kansas City Preventive Patrol in the light of relevant criminal justice theories. The ultimate goal of the course is to provide students with essential skills for critically evaluating and assessing programs, based on findings from empirical studies and the scholarly literature.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 201 and CJBS 250 and either CJBS 101 or CRJ 101
Introduction to Criminal Justice Management (CJM 101 – 599: ONLINE)
This course is an introduction to prominent administrative and management challenges across the three major focal areas of the criminal justice system - law enforcement, courts, and corrections. Within each of these focal areas, students will explore the relationship between administrative actors (behavior) and administrative failures (outcomes). The course will also expose students to contemporary innovations that were a direct response to administrative and managerial failures.
Introduction to Corrections (COR 101 – 599: ONLINE)
This course is intended as an introduction to the corrections system and will provide an overview of current institutional practices, policies and legal issues. The course focuses on the relation of corrections to the criminal justice system, theories underlying correctional practice and the role of institutions within the corrections system. Specifically, this course provides an overview of the field of corrections. It reviews the historical development of crime and corrections, sentencing, jails, prisons, correctional policies, agencies, prison life, and challenges facing correctional populations. It will further explore the principles and practices of treatment accorded to offenders in various types of correctional settings.
The Law and Institutional Treatment (COR 201 – 599: ONLINE)
The process of law from arrest to release from confinement in its relation to correctional principles and practices. Functions of the police, defense, prosecution, courts, probation, correction, parole. Civil rights of the accused and the convicted. Legal documents relating to commitment, bail, fines, and writs.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 101 + COR 101/CRJ 101/ ICJ 101/CJBS 101 + Sophomore standing
Environmental Crime (EJS 240 – 599: ONLINE)
The growing global challenge of environmental crime undermines our ability to protect our land, water, species, and habitats. In this course, students confront the extent of these crimes and examine the diverse frameworks and debates that explain social, political, and economic drivers of environmental crime. While exploring solutions, students consider the complexity of legislation and legal frameworks that criminalize practices harmful to the environment. Case studies allow students to apply their knowledge to real life problems.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 101 and CJBA 110 or EJS 200 or CJBS 101 or CRJ 101 or ECO 101 or ICJ 101
Law and Evidence (LAW 202 – 599: ONLINE)
A comprehensive analysis of the rules of evidence. Particular subjects include judicial notice, presumptions, the nature of real and circumstantial evidence, burden of proof, province of court and jury, documentary evidence, hearsay evidence, confessions, admissions, witnesses, and constitutionally protected evidence. Emphasis on evidence in criminal cases.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 101 and Sophomore standing
Latinx Experience of Criminal Justice
(LLS 325 – 599: ONLINE)
This course analyzes the criminal justice system and its impact on the lives and communities of Latinx and other groups in the United States. Particular emphasis is placed on Latinx human and civil rights and the role that race, ethnicity, gender and class play in the criminal justice system. Interdisciplinary readings and class discussions center on issues such as the over-representation of Latinx people and racial minorities in the criminal justice system; law and police-community relations; racial profiling; stop and frisk policies; immigration status; detentions and deportations; Latinx youth; media representations; gangs; and access to education and employment and the school-to-prison-pipeline.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 201 and Junior standing
Introduction to Police Studies (PSC 101 – 599: ONLINE)
A survey of law enforcement agencies, their role, history, and development within the field of criminal justice.
Enrollment Requirements: Placement into ENG 101
Introduction to Criminal Investigations (PSC 107 – 599: ONLINE)
The course provides a history of criminal investigation and an in-depth look at the investigative process as well as ethical considerations that apply. Students will learn about the qualifications for becoming an investigator, crime scene search techniques, preparing effective field notes and investigative reports, interviewing and interrogating suspects and witnesses, the proper collection and packaging methods used to preserve evidence, contributions of forensic science in criminal investigation, legal issues involved in criminal investigations and preparing a case for trial. They will also learn about real-life examples to enhance their understanding of how to effectively apply the techniques and tools provided.
Introduction to Cybercrime: Theories and Applications (SEC 107 – 599: ONLINE)
This course delves into the complex world of cybercrime by exploring different types of cybercrime; the nature and extent of cybercrime; cybervictimization; criminological theories; the reasons why offenders commit cybercrime; cyberwitnesses’ roles and reactions to cybercrime; the applicability of criminological theories to specific cybercrimes; and existing laws, policies, and measures and those needed to effectively control and combat cybercrime.
Cybercrime Investigations (SEC 217 – 599: ONLINE)
This course provides a comprehensive analysis of national and international public and private cybercrime investigations, looking in particular at: the manner in which these investigations are conducted, digital evidence, rules of evidence, and the legal admissibility of digital evidence. This emphasis of this course is on the investigation of crimes involving the Internet, computers, and related technology, including network, email, social media, cloud, mobile device, gaming console, and Internet of things forensics. Special attention will be paid to the challenges private security professionals and criminal justice agents face in the detection, investigation, prosecution and prevention of cybercrime committed on the visible web and Darknet, and the measures needed to overcome these challenges.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 101 and SEC 107
Multiculturalism & Diversity
Race and Ethnicity in America (AFR 125 – 599: ONLINE)
This course examines racial and ethnic issues in American society from the perspective of justice. Among the key concepts that will be discussed are race and ethnicity as social constructions and the causes and effects of constructing individual racial/ethnic identities. Using demographic information, the course investigates how well various ethnic and racial groups are doing in areas such as income, human rights, education, and employment.
Gender & Work Life (CSL 260 – 599: ONLINE)
In this interdisciplinary course, articles from a variety of disciplines including counseling, history, psychology, economics, sociology, gender studies, and organizational studies will be read to understand the changing roles and expectations of people at work in the U.S. Students will explore the meanings of gender, race, ethnicity, class, accessibility issues, and sexual orientation in human development. The course will address how formal and informal types of social control associated with these categories operate in career options and choice, and experiences in the workplace. Students will also explore what activities constitute work. For instance, can parenting or other forms of unpaid labor be considered a job.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 201
Latinx Communities in the United States (LLS 124 – 599: ONLINE)
This course is an interdisciplinary introduction to the field of Latin American and Latinx studies focusing on the establishment and development of the diverse Latinx communities in the United States through the processes of migration, colonization, racialization, and integration. Students will explore the intersections of race, class, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality through such topics as identity formation, language rights, economic and political participation, transnationalism, law and civil rights and social justice movements.
Introduction to Latin American History (LLS 130 – 599: ONLINE)
This is a survey course spanning Latin America's history from the pre-Columbian period to the recent past. Focus is on the origins and development of Latin American social, political and economic systems, Amerindian and African peoples, the legacies of colonialism and slavery, the pursuit of nationhood and identity, the persistence of inequality, and the role of the United States in shaping the destiny of the region.
Music in World Culture (MUS 104 – 599: ONLINE)
This course explores the traditional and modern musics of selected world cultures, examining both their styles and their socio-cultural backgrounds. Areas to be studied may include Africa, India, Indonesia, and/or other regions, as well as diasporic communities in New York City.
The Law and Politics of Race Relations (POL 313 – 599: ONLINE)
Analysis of the politics of race and racism in the United States through the examination of major court decisions and of legislation affecting minority groups. Treatment of racial minority groups in the criminal and civil justice systems, and by courts, police and prisons will be included.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 201 and POL 101 and Junior Standing
The Law and Politics of LGBTQ Rights (POL 318 – 599: ONLINE)
This course explores legal and political issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the United States. It focuses in particular on contests over the criminalization of same-sex activity; the enactment of legal protections for LGBTQ people and their families; the marriage equality movement; and contemporary debates over the scope of federal non-discrimination protections, transgender rights, and exemptions for those who object to LGBTQ equality on religious grounds. The course aims to give students a deeper appreciation of the constraints, opportunities, and strategic choices that have shaped the development of LGBTQ rights in law and policy, both historically and in the present day.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 201; POL 101 or GOV 101; junior standing or above
Gender and Law (POL 319 – 599: ONLINE)
This course examines the constraints and limitations of law to achieve equality, justice and freedom in matters related to gender. It will examine how individuals use, challenge, and resist the law legal institutions to define problems and create social change. Drawing on a range of social science research, class readings pose important and persistent questions about whether and how law can adequately address gender related concerns, such as those related to violence, work, family, reproductIon, and education.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 201 and POL 101 and Junior standing
Police and Diversity (PSC 202 – 599: ONLINE)
This course will explore the pervasive influence of culture, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and various disabilities on daily encounters, contacts and interaction between police officers and civilian employees of police organizations, and other community members. The emphasized focus is on the cross - cultural contact, ethno- cultural diversity, the need for awareness and understanding of cultural, ethnic, racial, religious, sexual orientation, gender, and an array of disabilities and other differences. The need to understand these differences is rooted in the concept of procedural justice and respect for those of different backgrounds that influences the decision making processes regarding deployment and other operational considerations.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 101; and PSC 101 or CJBS 101 or CRJ 101 or ICJ 101
Multicultural Psychology (PSY 352 – 599: ONLINE)
This course will investigate the influence of sociocultural factors, such as race, ethnicity, gender and class, on human thought and behavior. Students will explore different theoretical ways in which psychology addresses the tensions between cultural differences and universals, with a focus on how cultures construct human thought, behavior and identity. Building on this theoretical foundation, the course examines varying perspectives on psychological constructs, such as gender, sexuality, parenting and identity, as crucial components of self-hood. Students will be challenged to think critically about universal assumptions in psychology and to become aware of cultural influences on individuals. The application of multicultural principles to psychological practice and research will be integrated throughout the course.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 201, PSY 101 and STA 250
Sociology of Families (SOC 202 – 599: ONLINE)
This course will examine the family as a changing institution. Topics to be dealt with will include families throughout western history, families in different societies and cultures, maleness and femaleness, the nature of love, sexuality, being single and alone, dating and courtship, cohabitation, marriage, women and work roles, parenting, family stress and conflict, divorce and remarriage.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 101 and SOC 101 or PSY 101 or ANT 101
Women and Social Control in the US (SOC 215 – 599: ONLINE)
This course examines how women negotiate and navigate the various systems of social control that influence how they are positioned in society. It offers an intersectional analysis which explores the complex ways race, gender, and class give meaning to and shape women’s diverse experiences and life chances, as they actively engage family, health, education, economic, political, and other social institutions of society. Throughout the course students will critically examine both historical and contemporary issues to analyze how women’s experiences have evolved, been sustained, challenged, and changed by examining the role of law, public policy, and protest in altering the institutions of social control that influence women’s lives.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 101 + SOC/ PSY/ANT 101
Social Justice & Ethics
Systems of Law, Justice and Injustice Across Cultures (ANT 315 – 598: ONLINE)
Using the perspective of anthropology, this course investigates concepts and practices of law, justice and injustice across cultures. Students learn about and critique methods of dispute resolution, and concepts of justice, norms, punishment and rehabilitation. Students engage with ethnographic cases studies - ranging from non-Western, small scale communities to totalitarian and capitalist systems, that explain how different types of societies configure power, maintain order and how they negotiate, mediate and adjudicate conflicts. Students also learn about the integrated cultural aspects of systems of injustice such as gender exploitation, racism, xenophobia and colonial and post-colonial forms of domination as well as cultural movements and transcultural legal concepts such as human rights, that attempt to resist these systems.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 201 and any ANT or LAW course and Junior standing or above
American Cultural Pluralism, Justice and the Law (ANT 330 – 599: ONLINE)
People’s struggles in the law against injustice in the U.S. are also cultural struggles. Sometimes, those struggles are for equal legal rights and recognitions. Other times, oppressed groups struggle to maintain their self ?determination and sovereignty. Collective legal aspirations are intertwined with custom and definitions of community. Through legal and ethnographic cases, this course examines the anthropological concept of cultural pluralism and the ways in which different racial, ethnic, new immigrant, LGBTQ and other identity groups struggle to assert cultural and legal claims in the context of United States law.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 201; Junior standing or above
Environmental Justice (EJS 300 – 599: ONLINE)
Environmental justice is defined as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Drawing from the social sciences, the humanities, and the sciences, this interdisciplinary course will provide students with an understanding of the main principles and issues of environmental justice, emphasizing their international scope and the inextricable connection of the local and the global in matters of environmental equity.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 201 and Junior Standing
Making Waves: Troublemakers, Gadflies & Whistleblowers (ISP 322 – 501: IN PERSON)
This general education course in the Justice Core: Struggles for Justice and Equality in the USA area examines historical and contemporary examples of people who make waves -- often at great personal risk -- to achieve social, political, economic, and moral justice in America. Readings, films, and other depictions consider the motives, methods, and consequences to those who live in the United States, such as labor leaders, corporate whistleblowers, and political agitators, who stand up to powerful people and institutions to expose what they perceive as dangerous secrets and gross injustice.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 201
Ethics and Law (LAW 310 – 599: ONLINE)
Inquiry into the relationship between morality and law; their organic interrelationship in the natural law tradition; their separation in positivism. The contemporary debate illustrated by the issues of human and civil rights; the enforcement of sexual morality; civil disobedience, and the ethics of law enforcement.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 201 and any Philosophy course
Latinx Struggles for Civil Rights & Social Justice (LLS 322 – 599: ONLINE)
This course provides an interdisciplinary overview of the experiences of Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans and other Latinx people during the Civil Rights period. It focuses on the Latinx social movements during the 1960s and their consequences today for the struggles for civil rights and social justice of Latinx people and other racial minorities in the U.S. Topics include access to education and employment; immigrant rights; detention and deportation; race and crime; Latinx and African American alliance building; Latinx citizenship and the military, and gender values and sexuality.
Ethical Theory (PHI 210 – 599: ONLINE)
Ethical theory is the attempt to understand the principles that should guide our thinking and decision making about morally important issues. In this course, we investigate moral theory in the history of philosophy. This course compares first principles and moral intuitions, moral relativism and moral dogmatism, moral character traits and the ethics of duty. Focus will be on theories, arguments and their relation to practical issues. We will examine these issues with reference to historically influential ethical systems, with an eye toward better understanding those systems and their relevance. The course will examine the ancient Greek tradition, which is still pivotal to the ethical debates of today. Part of the analysis of the dominant theories will include important alternatives to this tradition. These alternatives might include, but are not limited to, feminist ethics, Buddhist ethics, animal ethics, and environmental ethics. We will also be calling into question some of the key assumptions these ethical systems make, such as who counts as a morally relevant being and what sort of considerations are morally relevant.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 101
Ethics and Information Technology (PHI 216 – 599: ONLINE)
This course will provide an introduction to the primary philosophical frameworks for reasoning about global problems of applied ethics in information, communication, and computer technology use ? from surveillance, free speech, privacy, intellectual property, hacking, distributed denial of service, whistleblowing, cybercrime, cyberterrorism, and the digital divide, to ethics in social networking and online communities. The course will discuss the ethical responsibilities of information technology students, professionals and users, and promote responsible use of technology.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 101
Police Ethics (PSC 321 – 599: ONLINE)
An identification and analysis of the diverse ethical issues encountered in the police service. Traditional ethical theories will be examined and will be applied to such topics as discretion, deadly physical force, misconduct, authority and responsibility, affirmative action, civil disobedience, undercover operations, and privacy.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 201 and one of the following: CJBS 101, CRJ 101, ICJ 101, PSC 101
Arts & Culture
Arts and Culture in the African Diaspora (AFR 132 – 599: ONLINE)
This course examines the arts and cultural production in social justice movements across the African Diaspora. Course sections examine different genres of cultural production, focusing on the ways in which the arts both impact and are influenced by social and political happenings. Possible topics include dance, oral tradition, spoken word poetry, hip hop, theater, and visual arts. Special attention will be paid to the intersections of creative expression and performance and how these practices shape our concepts of the African Diaspora.
Intro to Cultural Anthropology (ANT 101 – 598 / 599: ONLINE)
This course is an introduction to cultural anthropology, the study of human societies and cultures. Students will examine the concept of culture in historical and global perspective, and learn tools for cross-cultural comparative analysis with an emphasis on critical thinking in relation to cultural values and practices, variation in human behavior, the organization of social life, and the making of cultural identity. Cross-cultural topics include subsistence, power and law, gender, family and kinship, language and intercultural communication, and the impact of globalization on human societies. Students will also learn fundamental concepts in anthropology to better understand the causes and conditions of our contemporary world.
Sex and Culture (ANT 210 / PSY 210 – 598 / 599: ONLINE)
Study of behavioral and psychological differences between males and females in the light of contemporary theories of social structure, social learning, and individual development. Emphasis on the examination of contemporary theoretical issues in cross-cultural perspective.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 101 and Sophomore Standing
Culture and Crime (ANT 230 – 597 / 598 / 599: ONLINE)
This course examines crime, criminality and responses to crime from an anthropological and cross-cultural perspective. Students will analyze the concept of crime as a cultural construct and as a social phenomenon and consider its causes, factors and complexities in a global context. Norms and transgressions will be explored through ethnographic case studies of and cross-cultural research on a variety of world cultures and how power, economics, identity, gender, religion, and other meaning systems are integrated with these transgressions on local, national and global scales. Students will study cases critically and learn qualitative anthropological methods such as interviews and observation to consider and compare examples of and attitudes toward crime in their own society.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 101
Culture and Personality (ANT 310 / PSY 310 – 599: ONLINE)
This course examines the factors in, and the effects of, cultural conditioning on the biological foundations of personality. A study, on a cross-cultural basis, of the conditioning factors of child care and training, group values and attitudes, practices and culture forms, with reference to basic personality formation.
Enrollment Requirements: ENG 201 and ANT 101 or PSY 101 or SOC 101 and Junior standing
Introduction to Art (ART 101 – 599: ONLINE)
This course presents an overview of the history of art in painting, sculpture, and architecture from prehistoric times though the twentieth century. It emphasizes significant stylistic movements and highlights the relationship between visual art and its historical and social context, with a view to understanding the artworks both as unique objects and as creative expressions of various civilizations at particular moments in history.
Eco Art and Design (ART 122 – 599: ONLINE)
This interdisciplinary studio art course explores diverse and exciting ways artists use to engage with our environmental challenges. Students will create a rich variety of art projects such as collages, jewelry, fashion design, and proposals for performances, installations and large-scale art projects that remediate the environment. The inspiration for student projects will evolve from fieldtrips, thought provoking videos and slides, discussions, exercises and experiments with found objects, and explorations of environmental problem sites.
Popular Musics of the Caribbean (LLS 110 / MUS 110 – 599: ONLINE)
A survey of the major popular music styles of the Caribbean, including salsa, reggae, soca and other genres, exploring their social contexts, historical origins, and relation to indigenous folk musics. The important role of New York City as a center for Caribbean music will also be examined.
The Language of Music (MUS 102 – 599: ONLINE)
This course introduces students to the nonverbal language used by musicians around the world to read, write, and listen. Students will learn to express themselves musically using music notation and applying the basic principles of music theory. The course includes exercises in reading and composing vocal and instrumental music and practice in ear training. Previous musical training is not required.
Popular Musics of the Caribbean (MUS 110 – 599: ONLINE)
A survey of the major popular music styles of the Caribbean, including salsa, reggae, soca, and other genres, exploring their social contexts, historical origins, and relation to indigenous folk music. The important role of New York City as a center for Caribbean music will also be examined.
Piano (MUS 120 – 598 / 599: ONLINE)
The basics of playing the piano. Instruction in reading music for the piano as well as the fundamentals of technique, including hand positions and finger exercises. Daily practice required; practice pianos available on campus. Exploration of the general history and literature of the piano.
Introduction to Guitar (MUS 140 – 599 / 599: ONLINE)
This course will enable a beginning student to learn how to play the guitar and read music. Basic musical concepts to be covered include treble and bass clef, scales, chords, melody, and harmony. The student will learn the fundamentals of guitar technique including hand positions and finger exercises. The construction and technology of the instrument will be explored and discussed in conjunction with the study of technique in a variety of musical cultures and contexts from around the world.