Criminology and Law Studies Major

Ours is a culture fascinated by crime, criminal behavior and the justice system. The criminology and law studies major moves beyond simple fascination to investigate causes and prevention of criminal behavior, as well as the meaning and application of the legal process, law enforcement, court management and correctional treatment, as each affects the rights and responsibilities of citizens.

Internships.

Marquette’s competitive internship program offers our criminology and law studies majors hands-on and real-world experiences in Milwaukee-area law enforcement agencies, correctional settings, court offices and legal research bureaus.

Learn from the pros.

Your courses will be taught by some of the nation’s leading criminology and law studies scholars and field professionals. They have distinguished themselves in their fields, and their expertise has been sought by print and broadcast media, including TIME Magazine, NPR and Newsweek.

Thinking about law school?

When you combine the legal foundations of the criminology and law studies major with anthropology, history, philosophy, sociology, social welfare and justice or political science, you will be well-equipped with the intellectual tools you’ll need to put to use in law school.

Get connected.

Join the Criminology and Law Society and you’ll have many opportunities to meet with speakers from the FBI, local law enforcement and the district attorney’s office and the fields of forensic science and probation and parole.

Great mixer.

If you’re interested in a career helping victims of crimes, you can combine the criminology and law studies major with a major or minor in social welfare and justice. Likewise, psychology majors often take advantage of this major’s specialized courses to get their unique perspectives and to prepare for further studies in criminal psychology.

Further your education.

Criminology and law studies students have an opportunity to enter the accelerated degree program in criminal justice data analytics during their junior year and earn their undergraduate and graduate degrees in 5 years. This accelerated degree program (also known as 4+1) allows  students to take graduate courses during their senior year, thereby shortening the time and reducing the cost to earn a master’s degree in criminal justice data analytics, alongside their bachelor’s degree in criminology and law studies. 

Study Abroad.

Criminology and law studies students also have an opportunity to study comparative crime and punishment in Finland and South Korea. These faculty-led study abroad classes take place during summer sessions and offer elective credits for criminology and law studies major. 

Some of the classes you'll take:

  • Introduction to Criminology
  • Police and Society or Police Organization and Administration
  • Criminal Court Process
  • Methods of Criminological Research or Methods of Social Research
  • Carceral Systems: Prisons, Probation and Parole
  • Criminal Law and Procedure
  • Criminology Internship or Criminology Electives

For a complete listing of required courses for the program in criminology, please visit the Marquette University Online Bulletin at this link.