Programs

Interested in sociology or criminal justice? The Department of Sociology at Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÐþ»ú Michigan University offers programs in criminal justice and sociology.

  • Criminal justice students study the components of the justice system and its assumptions and implications for society.
  • Internships are often available and many interns pursue careers in the justice system.
  • Sociology students study a somewhat broader range of institutions—educational, political, medical, religious, and others—and problems including poverty, inequality, racism, sexism, and economic dislocation.
  • Both majors share a set of core methods and theories and both seek to understand the interdependencies of individuals, families, social groups, and normative and regulatory systems in a society. Increasingly, this is done cross-nationally and cross-culturally as well as an indirect examination of global systems of interdependence.

Graduate programs stressing both theory and method include masters and doctoral programs. Check out our new accelerated M.A. program!

WMU embraces collaboration and leverages resources to offer academic programs that are responsive to the needs of all students and society.

News

The Department is sorry to report that our beloved colleague Subhash Sonnad passed away on July 12, 2021. The department has named The Dissertation Completion Scholarship in his honor.

WMU Cold Case Program

The Criminal Justice Studies Program has partnered with Michigan State Police to create the Cold Case Program. Under the direction of Dr. Ashlyn Kuersten, help review and organize cold case files searching for new leads to help police with unsolved murders in southwest Michigan.   ;

Faculty

  • Dr. Chien-Juh Gu’s research on Taiwanese immigrant families was featured in .  Dr. Gu was a finalist for the 
  • Dr. Ann Miles receives the WMU Distinguished Service Award. The award recognizes faculty and staff members who have demonstrated exceptional service in areas that reflect innovative and effective programming, increase Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÐþ»ú's stature or extend the University's impact and presence in the community.
  • Dr. Angie Moe receives the 2021 WMU CAS Women’s Caucus Gender Scholar Award.  A longtime victim advocate, she explores new ways to provide support and comfort to crime victims. , the two are breaking boundaries in and out of the classroom. 
  •   (Rutgers University Press) by Dr. Ron Kramer is a 2020 Choice​ Outstanding Academic Title.
  •  Research uncovering inherent racial bias among prosecutors in jury selection by Drs. Whitney DeCamp and Elise DeCamp gains . 

Graduate Students

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