VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF HUMANITITES AND SOCIAL SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Course Syllabus
Fall 2020
Course Number and Section:
CJUS 420
Course Name:
Senior Seminar for Criminal Justice
Course Meeting Room:
Virtual (Zoom Online Meeting on Mondays & Wednesdays)
Class Days and Time:
Mondays &
Wednesdays Virtual (Online)
Credit Hours:
3 HOURS
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites: Criminal Justice Senior Standing
I. Instructor Information
:
Name
: Dr. Ifeoma Okoye
Office Location
: Colson Hall 201A (Online/virtual office for the Fall 2020)
Office Phone
: 804-524- 2980
(please communicate through email)
Office Hours
: Virtual and by appointment
Email
:
[email protected]
Teaching Method:
Lectures through Zoom web conferencing, virtual classroom discussions
and virtual in-class activities will be employed in this course.
II. Course Catalog Description:
Senior Seminar in Criminal Justice provides an opportunity to integrate and synthesize the
knowledge and skills gained through successful completion of the criminal justice program of
study. Readings, discussions, and written papers incorporating both quantitative and qualitative
research methods on selected problems and issues in criminal justice required.
Students will be
required to write a final paper and make a formal presentation.
The paper will be reviewed and
accepted by the departmental Senior Seminar Paper Review Committee.
III. Course Materials and Basic Resources:
Required Text
1.
Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., nd Williams, J. M. (2008) The Craft of Research. Chicago,
IL: University of Chicago Press.
2.
Mutchnick, R. J.; Berg, B. L. & Ireland, C. (2010).
Research Methods for Criminal
Justice and Social Sciences
. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
3.
Whisker, G. (2009).
The Undergraduate Research Handbook.
New York, NY: Palgrave
.
4.
Curran, D. & Renzetti, M. C. (2001).
Theories of Crime
.
Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Recommended Texts
1.
American Psychological Association (2010).
Publication Manual of the
American Psychological Associat
i
on
.
(6
th
ed).
Washington, D.C.
APA.
2.
Falcone, D. N. (2010).
Prentice Hall’s Dictionary of American Criminal Justice,
Criminology, and Criminal Law
.
Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.
3.
Ferree, C. W. & Pfeifer H. L. (2013).
Write & Wrong: Writing Within Criminal
Justice.
Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
4.
Johnson, W. A.; Rettig, R. P.; Scott, G. M. (2011).
The Criminal Justice Student
Writer’s Manual.
(5ed).
New Jersey:
Prentice Hall.
5.
Lester, J. D. and Lester, J. D. Jr. (2012).
The Essential Guide: Research Writing
Across the Disciplines
(3
rd
Ed.)
.
New York: Longman.
6.
Lilly, J. R., Cullen, F. and Ball, R. A. (2011).
Criminological Theory: Context
and Consequences
.
California: Sage Publications.
7.
Miller, J. M., Maxfield, M. G. & Babbie, E. R. (2012).
Basics of Research
Methods
. (3ed.) California: Cengage Learning.
8.
Pitch, C. & Terry, K. (2011).
A Short Guide o Writing about Criminal Justice
.
New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
9.
Renzetti, M. C., Curran, D. & Carr, P. (2003).
Theories of Crime: a Reader
.
