Criminology and Justice Studies News | CoAS

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Department of Criminology and Justice Studies

- July 18, 2025
  
  Jade Umstead was interested in both the criminal justice system and the psychology behind crime and found that curriculum in Drexel’s Department of Criminology and Justice Studies allowed students to immerse themselves in both of these different but related disciplines.
- June 10, 2025
  
  Allison Choong was one of 15 finalists selected for the Young Global Changers Recoupling Awards, which allowed her to pitch her project, 'Safiya Speaks Up,' at the 2025 Global Solutions Summit in Berlin, Germany.
- March 19, 2025
  
  Drexel’s Department of Criminology and Justice Studies, in collaboration with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, hosted a Reentry Simulation that allowed participants to step into the shoes of someone transitioning from incarceration back into society.
- March 05, 2025
  
  The Drexel Justice Collaborative (DJC) is a lab for students and faculty across disciplines to learn about and get involved in justice-related research and community engagement projects.
- December 19, 2024
  
  This year, students and faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences explored the humanities, natural sciences and social sciences through interdisciplinary research, creative projects, experiential events and more.
- September 05, 2024
  
  Abryana Kevelier-Williams '24 sat down with Dean David Brown, PhD to discuss her passion for justice informatics and experiences at Drexel, including a co-op in Greece and an intensive course abroad in Denmark.
- August 20, 2024
  
  The College of Arts and Sciences has introduced three new minors for academic year 2024-25: Crime Analysis and Digital Investigations, Environmental Sociology and European Studies.
- March 07, 2024
  
  The Arts and Sciences Innovation Incubator brings together faculty members in diverse areas of expertise to collaborate on research projects that find creative ways to address some of our society's most challenging obstacles.
- November 14, 2023
  
  Research in the Department of Criminology and Justice Studies could give Pennsylvania the unique opportunity to serve as a model for other states as it reimagines its guidelines for sentencing people convicted of crimes.
- May 15, 2023
  
  Congratulations to the College of Arts and Sciences faculty and students who were honored at the 11th annual Celebrating Drexel Authors event. Hosted by the 91��Ƭ�� Libraries and the Office of the Provost, this event recognized members of the Drexel community who authored or edited books or highly-cited journal articles in 2022.
- February 10, 2023
  
  Kathleen Powell plans to use the $544,000 grant from the William T. Grant Foundation to explore how the legalization of recreational marijuana in New Jersey affects Black, Hispanic and White young adults.
- November 11, 2021
  Kathleen Powell, PhD, is an assistant research professor in the Department of Criminology and Justice Studies, with a joint affiliation with the Center for Public Policy. Broadly, her research examines the various impacts of involvement with the juvenile and criminal justice systems. She focuses on identifying person-level outcomes of being arrested, on community supervision or incarcerated.
- November 09, 2021
  Kris Unsworth, PhD, from the Department of Criminology and Justice Studies, has been appointed director of the Center for Science, Technology and Society, effective Fall 2021. She will lead the planning and implementation of initiatives to increase the visibility of the Center both inside and outside the university.
- October 27, 2021
  Keisha April, PhD, a recent graduate of Drexel’s Clinical Psychology PhD program, won the Art Nezu Dissertation Diversity Award for her dissertation “Let’s ‘talk’ about the police: The role of race and the intergenerational transmission of police legitimacy attitudes in the legal socialization of youth.” This prestigious award recognizes an individual whose doctoral dissertation makes an outstanding contribution to the field of professional psychology and diversity and/or multiculturalism.
- August 17, 2021
  The College of Arts and Sciences, recognized by President John Fry as “the heart of the University,” presents CoAS Comes Back! on Tuesday, October 5, from 3 to 7 p.m., in Gateway Garden. All Arts and Sciences students, faculty, staff and alumni are invited to gather, connect in person, and enjoy food, fun and music.
- June 09, 2021
  We are pleased to announce that four CoAS students have received Gilman Scholarships to support study or co-op abroad in 2021. Congratulations to Manmeen Kaur, Elana Sargent, Jade Umstead and Brenda Vong!
- June 01, 2021
  At the Spring 2021 CoAS Interdepartmental Research Showcase, Emily Greberman, a Criminology & Justice Studies and Psychology major, took home first prize for her research presentation on "Twitter As a Mechanism for Coping with a Traumatic Event: Ferguson and the Shooting of Michael Brown."
- May 04, 2021
  
  On Tuesday, June 8, 2021, the College of Arts and Sciences will celebrate the achievements of the Class of 2021 with a virtual commencement. The ceremony will be live-streamed from Mandell Theater, where a small party of dignitaries and speakers will gather.
- January 20, 2021
  <p style="margin: 0in;">Drexel’s Department of Criminology and Justice Studies within the College of Arts and Sciences is now offering a Justice Studies minor to all undergraduate students interested in viewing their disciplines through a social justice lens.</p>
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- October 28, 2020
  Dive into money laundering cases, the rich biodiversity of Ecuador, or the philosophy of desire in these new and noteworthy winter courses!
- October 28, 2020
  This summer, 91��Ƭ��’s Office of Research and Innovation funded projects by 22 faculty and staff across the university from its Rapid Response Research and Development Fund, which was designated for urgent action, short-term projects focused on racial equity. Learn more about the funded projects out of the College of Arts and Sciences, and how the researchers are tackling issues from bystandership among police officers to inclusive teaching practices.
- October 28, 2020
  The mission of the College of Arts and Sciences and the University could not be accomplished without the dedication and support of our faculty members. It is their pursuit of excellence in teaching, research and scholarship that reinforces our position as a modern liberal arts college and enhances our University’s reputation as a world-class research institution.
- August 12, 2020
  Cultivate your intellectual passions and diversify your skills with one of these new and revised CoAS programs!
- July 22, 2020
  The College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to announce that it will appoint an internal candidate to the new role of Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, with an expected start date of September 1, 2020. This new position will report directly to the Dean and become a member of the Dean’s Leadership Team, a group comprising Department Heads, Associate Deans and Directors.
- July 02, 2020
  The spread of the virus in Pennsylvania’s correctional facilities is particularly likely and dangerous due to a confluence of systemic factors, which are documented in a recently released report, from legal scholars in the <a href="/law/academics/kline-difference/clinics/community-lawyering-clinic/">Andy and Gwen Stern Community Lawyering Clinic</a> at 91��Ƭ�� and the Amistad Law Project, titled <a href="https://www.drexel.edu/~/media/Files/law/academics/clinical/clc/CLC-pandemic-pa-prisons-report.ashx?la=en" style="color: #954f72;">Pandemic in PA’s Prisons</a>.
- June 05, 2020
  We are pleased to announce faculty promotions and tenure appointments in the College of Arts and Sciences. Please join us in congratulating the following faculty members!
- May 05, 2020
  Five faculty members from the College of Arts and Sciences are participating in the Teaching and Learning Center’s first Drexel Teaching Academy, a 10-week program designed to develop pedagogical experts across the University and foster an interdisciplinary community among faculty who already hold this expertise.
- January 06, 2020
  As we kick off a new decade of scholarship and innovation, join us for a fun look back at life in the College of Arts and Sciences 10 years ago!
- June 25, 2019
  Students in Drexel’s College of Arts and Sciences are scientific innovators, global explorers and leaders in education, communication and advocacy. Reflecting their accomplishments is the impressive number of national and international fellowships they received this year to support graduate education, professional experiences and research abroad.
- May 22, 2019
  They’ve found their intellectual passions, expanded their worldviews, made friends and memories — and now they’re ready to turn their tassels! Members of the graduating class of 2019 share their advice, Philly faves, memories and more before they head off on their next adventure.
- May 21, 2019
  The mission of the College of Arts and Sciences and the University could not be accomplished without the dedication and support of our faculty members. It is their pursuit of excellence in teaching, research and scholarship that reinforces our position as a modern liberal arts college, and enhances our University’s reputation as a world-class research institution.
- April 29, 2019
  We are pleased to recognize the recent grants, publications, presentations, awards and honors of the members of the College of Arts and Sciences.
- March 05, 2019
  Sure, you could complete your whole degree in Philadelphia, but why not take advantage of Drexel opportunities around the globe? With gorgeous photos, insider tips and stories from international locales, 10 College of Arts and Sciences students share the best place their major has taken them.
- January 03, 2019
  Learn about Drexel’s Criminal Justice Society — and how you can get involved — from two criminology and justice studies majors: Sean McClellan ’21, president of the society, and Yih-Chia Lam ’19.
- November 27, 2018
  Assistant Professor of Criminology and Justice Studies Shannon Jacobsen, PhD, was inspired by her own experiences as an undergrad to investigate the role of gender in perceptions of risk and fear of crime on college campuses.
- September 25, 2018
  We are thrilled to introduce the following new faculty members and welcome them to the College of Arts and Sciences community.
- August 06, 2018
  Drexel President John Fry recently stopped by a classroom with student and community learners, as well as visiting Mandela Fellows, to discuss his views and efforts with civic engagement.
- May 22, 2018
  The mission of the College of Arts and Sciences and the University could not be accomplished without the dedication and support of our faculty members. It is their pursuit of excellence in teaching, research and scholarship that reinforces our position as a modern liberal arts college, and enhances our University’s reputation as a world-class research institution.
- April 03, 2018
- January 16, 2018
  The Unsung, Unpublished Adventures of Drexel Researchers in the Field
- November 20, 2017
  A dean’s seminar hosted by 91��Ƭ��’s College of Arts and Sciences presented a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives on the root causes and the potential solutions to the opioid epidemic.
- October 31, 2017
  With prison systems across the country clogged with inmates, including the 50,000 residing in Pennsylvania’s Department of Corrections, state governments are investing heavily in efforts to keep offenders from returning once they’ve served their time. Despite these efforts, nationally more than 67 percent of offenders end up back behind bars. One 91��Ƭ�� researcher believes it could be due to a simple lack of communication and consistency.
- September 26, 2017
  Emma Nolan ’18 performed 14 interviews with Norwegian prison officials in research on comparative punishment practices.
- August 15, 2017
  For 10 days last winter, a small group of Drexel students toured prisons and courthouses in Norway and Sweden to learn how a focus on restoration and rehabilitation creates a radically different criminal justice system.
- June 26, 2017
  The mission of the College of Arts and Sciences and the University could not be accomplished without the dedication and support of our faculty members. It is their pursuit of excellence in teaching, research and scholarship that reinforces our position as a modern liberal arts college, and enhances our University’s reputation as a world-class research institution.
- June 20, 2017
  After serving as Administrator of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) under the Obama Administration, Robert L. Listenbee, Esq., will return to Philadelphia as a Stoneleigh Foundation Visiting Fellow.
- May 22, 2017
  Larry Krasner won last week’s Democratic primary for Philadelphia district attorney on the back of a progressive platform and his status as an outsider to the prosecutor’s office. DrexelNow asked Anil Kalhan of the Thomas R. Kline School of Law what to expect if Krasner wins the general election.
- May 11, 2017
  Professor Cheri Brooks brought to class a pair of recently released men who were given mandatory sentences of life without parole as teenagers, inviting a discussion on crime, punishment, retribution and rehabilitation.
- April 18, 2017
  The eight candidates vying to be Philadelphia’s next elected district attorney offered their views on the ways to fix an office marred by scandal and a criminal justice system in need of new ideas.
- March 01, 2017
  Drexel senior Alli Scott’s classroom and field experience has her set for a career as a crime analyst where she can focus on the root of the problems facing high-crime neighborhoods. But her post-graduation plans don’t stop there — she sees a nonprofit in her future.
- February 15, 2017
  President Donald Trump’s nominees for U.S. attorney general and U.S. Supreme Court justice have attracted significant attention in recent weeks. DrexelNow spoke with two constitutional law professors to assess their expectations for Jeff Sessions and Neil Gorsuch.
- February 14, 2017
  
  Shoval Dorani has looked justice in the eye before. Rather than diving into college after high school, Dorani left her hometown of Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, to fight in her father’s native country for the Israel Defense Forces. As a canine handler and commander in the IDF, Dorani — along with her trained military dog, a Belgian Malinois named Gula — came face-to-face with enemy soldiers in combat for three years. So, when she left the IDF to study in Drexel’s Criminology and Justice Studies program, Dorani had one goal in mind: she wanted to “lock up criminals.”
- February 02, 2017
  It is one of our nation’s most pressing and persistent public health crises. It is responsible for more than 25,000 deaths each year nationwide, and as many as 3,500 annually in Pennsylvania alone. It reaches from the inner cities to wealthy suburbs and out into the countryside, and its recent growth has been described by officials at the Centers for Disease Control as “unprecedented.”
- July 20, 2016
  Psychology student Alli Spiller recently returned from a research co-op in Sweden that she created using Drexel connections and financial support.
- June 08, 2016
  Eighty-one years ago, Marjorie Barker Gallagher graduated from Drexel thanks to the generosity of her uncle. His only request was that she promise to send someone else to college instead of paying him back. That legacy continues this year, when Marjorie’s granddaughter Elizabeth became the family’s second Drexel graduate.
- February 04, 2016
  New research from a first-of-its-kind human study by 91��Ƭ�� and Arizona State University reveals that the burst of electricity from a stun gun can impair a person’s ability to remember and process information. In a randomized control trial, participants were subjected to Taser shocks and tested for cognitive impairment. Some showed short-term declines in cognitive functioning comparable to dementia, raising serious questions about the ability of police suspects to understand their rights at the point of arrest.
- February 02, 2016
  The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) recently announced that its transit police officers have been equipped with body cameras. The initiative, which is intended to strengthen relationships with the public and provide valuable evidence for investigations, will be evaluated by Jordan Hyatt, JD, PhD, an assistant professor in 91��Ƭ��’s Department of Criminology and Justice Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences.
- January 14, 2016
  Former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey will join 91��Ƭ�� as the inaugural Distinguished Visiting Fellow of the Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation, a new cross-university strategic initiative that aligns Drexel’s academic work with the real-world need for urban revitalization. He also will be affiliated with the Department of Criminology and Justice Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences.
- January 05, 2016
  The Prison Reading Project, an honors colloquium offered this fall, connected eight students and 25 inmates through a correspondence about classic literature.
- October 28, 2015
  Philadelphia Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel will spend the next three years expanding the successful pre-arrest diversion program in the School District of Philadelphia for students with no histories of juvenile justice involvement.
- February 19, 2015
  During Black History Month, a roundtable discussion will be held at 91��Ƭ�� on Friday, Feb. 20 from 6 – 8 p.m. to examine police violence against African Americans, the criminal justice system and community responses. The event will be held in Drexel'sMacAlister Hall, 2019-2020 (3250 Chestnut St., Philadelphia). It is sponsored by Drexel’s Office of Equality and Diversity.
- January 26, 2015
  Drexel researchers have published the first study to systematically look at the economic outcomes of programs that help victims of violence change their lives with a hospital-based intervention.
- July 16, 2014
  Philadelphia’s SugarHouse Casino opened its doors in September 2010 after years of protests from community members who feared that the casino would lead to an increase in neighborhood crime. But a new study by researchers at 91��Ƭ�� and Temple University reveals that these concerns were unfounded.
- July 03, 2012
  DrexelNow spoke recently with Cyndi Rickards, assistant teaching professor of criminal justice and instructor of Drexel’s course “Prison, Society and You,” to find out what she's reading.
- July 02, 2012
  DrexelNow recently chatted with Rob D’Ovidio, associate professor of criminal justice and director of Drexel’s program in computer crime and digital forensics.

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