蜜桃传媒

鈥淲e are all affected by crime, even if we are not directly victimized,鈥� says Associate Professor Rachel Durso, chair of the sociology department and director of the justice, law and society minor. 鈥淲e make decisions about the areas we travel to, where we live, and where we shop or hang out based on our perceptions regarding our likelihood to be a crime victim.鈥� The impact and discussion of crime can be felt across many departments within the liberal arts鈥攁nd at 蜜桃传媒.

Dr. Durso's course SOC 240: Criminology has become a favorite among sociology and justice, law and society students, but many other students have enjoyed taking the class as well.

鈥淚 see a lot of鈥�psychology, business, anthropology, political science, human development, and biology [students].鈥�

The class examines a variety of topics in criminology, including law, social determinants of crime, and the criminal justice system, in addition to attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions about crime.

鈥淚 was also told by one of my students that Prof. [James] Hall has recommended the class for creative writing minors to help them write convincing villains or antagonists,鈥� said Durso.

蜜桃传媒 has steadily added more options to its course catalog over the past few years, most notably adding new minor programs like justice, law and society. This new program has given students who aspire to work in criminal justice or national security a more direct path toward their educational goals. Courses like Criminology add to those education pathways while also adding a new layer of interesting and topical courses for students.

鈥淢y main reason for taking this course is that I am a true crime fan, so I really wanted to learn more about the field of criminology,鈥� said Amelia Bonsib '23, a psychology major. 鈥淚 took a criminology course in high school and found it fascinating to study serial killers and criminal patterns, so I wanted to continue expanding on this knowledge.鈥�

This is a common sentiment, according to Durso. True crime has drawn a lot of students to her Criminology course.

鈥淯ltimately, the good and bad thing about criminology is that it is always topical. Crimes occur every day and are well represented in our news media and entertainment. At any given time, if you look at the top-rated podcasts, TV shows, and movies, a large portion of them will be crime related. Additionally, there is a bit of a cultural obsession with true crime, so I typically have lots of issues to pull from.鈥�

Dr. Durso's course is divided into three units. Unit One examines the foundations of criminology and explores perceptions of crime, offending patterns, crime data, and victimology. Unit Two explores different types of crime, and students spend Unit Three exploring different criminological theories that explain individual criminal behaviors, larger patterns of crime, and the types of social relationships and circumstances that prevent crime.
Many students appreciate the rigor and authenticity of Dr. Durso's criminology course.

鈥淏eing in Dr. Durso's class feels like you are in a graduate-level course鈥�I can't stress enough how we are encouraged to think like sociologists,鈥� said Jude Souazoube '24, a political science major. 鈥淭he course isn't built in a way to just feed you information, but it allows you to apply what you learn in your everyday experiences. It changes the way you respond to [and] understand news reports, depictions of crime in shows, etc.鈥�

鈥淒r. Durso genuinely cares about us learning, so the assignments were always about applying theories and information we learned in class, and never busy work,鈥� said Amelia. 鈥淪he encouraged discussions and questions within the class.鈥�

While the class covers a very serious topic, Dr. Durso is known to balance creating a light mood and maintaining the respect that teaching about crime data requires.

鈥淒r. Durso is an incredible professor known for her humor and ability to make students feel respected and valued,鈥� said Lauryn Konieczka '23, a psychology major. 鈥淚 took this course online in the fall 2020 semester, and even with it being virtual, she still found ways to make lectures engaging and informative鈥�she incorporated a mix of lectures, discussion, textbook and other readings, films, and videos.鈥�

Criminology will be available for students this coming fall, and Dr. Durso is very excited to teach it once again.

鈥淚 love teaching this class because it never gets stale. There are always developments in terms of how crimes are being committed, especially with advances in technology. There are also constant changes in crime policy, victimization patterns, data, and crime media. Therefore, each semester, I can keep things fresh with new articles, podcasts and media, and lots of good examples,鈥� Durso said. 鈥淚n fact, just this morning, I came across an article in The Atlantic, about how the Uniform Crime's transition to a different reporting system is going poorly and how it is negatively affecting the reporting of crime data, which I plan to use in class next fall.鈥�