University of St. Thomas

When asked what one word best describes the sociology and criminal justice major at St. Thomas, a faculty member responded, “imagination!”

A real student asks:

 

Does studying four different disciplines better prepare
me for a job?

A sociology and criminal justice faculty member responds: I always tell students that studying different disciplines gives a more rounded perspective on the work. For example, even an engineer needs to understand human relations to work in teams and in organizations. Moreover, that same engineer needs to be able to think about social systems and social change to anticipate where her industry is going.

What jobs are possible with a Criminal Justice major?

What are recent graduates doing now?

“J” graduated 3 years ago. During his time at UST, he worked with a faculty member on research and completed both study abroad and an internship, all in the area of community development.  After graduation he worked entry-level jobs in urban planning, most recently with a professional association in Chicago. This past spring he was accepted into several outstanding programs in urban planning and begins graduate school in September.

What opportunities are there to bolster my resume while I'm in the program?

Internships. Sociology and criminal justice majors have interned everywhere from the private sector (e.g., human resources in a large bank) to the government (e.g., as a legislative aid for a Minnesota senator) to nonprofit organizations (e.g., Minnesota AIDS project). Our criminal justice majors are required to complete an internship.

Study abroad. While we do not have a freestanding study abroad program, we have faculty with active interests in researching and teaching abroad, and we strongly encourage our students to take advantage of opportunities to learn in and from a different culture. We have begun to establish a link with the University of Limerick, which has a sociology program very similar to ours. This means a UST sociology major could participate in that program without ‘stepping out’ of her major.

Faculty at work

The sociology and criminal justice faculty have active research agenda, many of which include student researchers. For example, one member of the department just began a research project on ‘helicopter parents’ and is working with a journalism professor and a student on a funded project.  The student will co-author at least one paper to be presented at professional meetings.