Criminal Law, Justice, and Inequality Bridging Disciplines Program Certificate
Department website: https://undergraduates.utexas.edu/academics/bridging-disciplines-programs/programs/criminal-law-justice-inequality
The Criminal Law, Justice & Inequality BDP allows students to examine the institutions that shape the origins, functions, and effects of the criminal legal system—from policing, to courts, to prisons—in social life. Drawing on insights from sociology, law, history, government, social work, education, and ethnic and gender studies, among other disciplines, students in this BDP will explore different perspectives on the centrality, legitimacy, and impact of the criminal legal system in the United States in its current form, historically, and comparatively. In addition to learning about the system’s form and function, students will learn about research-based approaches to understanding the causes and consequences of individuals’ involvement with the system, with attention to its intersection with race, ethnicity, gender, citizenship, and other categories of identity and the ways in which social inequalities affect and are affected by the system. Students will consider what crime is, how we define crime, and how society responds to behaviors defined as crime.
The Criminal Law, Justice & Inequality BDP helps prepare students to pursue a variety of career paths, whether working directly in parts of the criminal legal system, on policy or advocacy related to the system, or in intersecting fields such as education, social work, or journalism. Through the Connecting Experiences component of the program, students interested in pursuing graduate school or careers related to this topic will benefit from the opportunity to engage in undergraduate research and/or internship experiences related to the criminal legal system.
Total Hours Required: 19
Requirements
Requirements are listed in the table below. Additional requirements may follow the table, so be sure to read the entire page. Some required courses listed below may also satisfy General Education requirements, including Core Curriculum. Students should also review the University's Undergraduate Minor and Certificate Requirements and Policies.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Hours chosen from: | 1 | |
| Criminal Law, Justice and Inequality | ||
another approved course | ||
| Hours chosen from: | 3 | |
| Foundation courses | ||
| Punishment and Society | ||
| Demography of Crime and Punishment | ||
| Policing | ||
| Criminology | ||
| Sociology of Criminal Justice | ||
| Hours chosen from: additional approved course listed on the BDP website; no more than three semester hours may come from a Contexts category | 9 | |
| Social Inequality- Emphasis | ||
| Race and United States Social Policy | ||
Other courses from approved list on the BDP website | ||
| Social Inequality- Contexts | ||
| United States Immigration | ||
Other courses from approved list on the BDP website | ||
| Law and Policy- Empahsis | ||
| Policing Latinidad | ||
Other courses from approved list on the BDP website | ||
| Law and Policy- Contexts | ||
| Terrorism and Counterterrorism | ||
Other courses from approved list on the BDP website | ||
| Application Across Fields- Emphasis | ||
| Juvenile Justice: Systems, Policy, and Practice | ||
Other courses from approved list on the BDP website | ||
| Application Across Fields- Contexts | ||
| Individual Differences | ||
Other courses from approved list on the BDP website | ||
| Hours chosen from two different research or internship Connecting Experiences, approved by the BDP office; consult the BDP website and BDP advisors for information on proposing Connecting Experiences to count for these requirements. | 6 | |
| Connecting Research Experience | ||
| Connecting Research Experience | ||
| Connecting Internship Experience | ||
| Undergraduate Minor and Certificate Requirements and Policies | ||
| Total Hours | 19 | |
Additional Requirements and Policy
- A three to four page essay in which students reflect on what they have learned and accomplished through their BDP experience is required. The essay is reviewed and must be approved by a member of the BDP faculty panel in order to complete the certificate requirements
- In order to create an interdisciplinary experience, students must choose courses from a variety of disciplines. Only one of the strand courses may come from the student's major department(s), or from courses cross-listed with the student's major department(s). The BDP certificate as a whole must represent a variety of disciplines; the BDP advisor can help ensure that the coursework will meet the certificate requirements for interdisciplinarity.
- In courses taken for a letter grade, the student must obtain a grade of at least C- to meet BDP requirements. The cumulative GPA of all course for the BDP certificate must be at least 2.0.
- Only one BDP course, including connecting experience courses, may be taken pass/fail. Any exceptions will be considered by the faculty panel on an individual basis.
- The student may be able to count courses toward the BDP certificate that do not appear on the curriculum sheet, if enough of the course content relates to the BDP topic. Consult with the BDP advisor to petition a course to count towards the BDP certificate.