Criminal Justice and Criminology

Welcome to Criminal Justice and Criminology — one of the largest degree programs at Kentucky Wesleyan College. This program is intended to introduce students to the study of criminal behavior, criminal justice systems, social justice and law from a multidisciplinary, liberal-arts perspective.

Students seeking a degree in criminal justice and criminology or legal studies will study the complexities of relationships among the legal, social, political, historical and psychological influences affecting crime, criminals and law processes.

Criminal Justice and Criminology Overview

The Criminal Justice and Criminology Program is one of the largest and most popular degree programs at Kentucky Wesleyan College. Our program is intended to introduce students to the study of criminal behavior, criminal justice systems, social justice, and law from a multidisciplinary, liberal-arts perspective. Students seeking a degree in criminal justice and criminology will study the complexities of relationships among the legal, social, political, historical, and psychological influences affecting crime, criminals, and law processes.

 After obtaining a degree in Criminal Justice and Criminology, many students seek careers as professionals working within the criminal or juvenile justice system (i.e., courts, law enforcement, correction), family, youth, or social service organizations, or go on to attend graduate or law school.

Criminal Justice & Criminology Honors Graduates

CJC students who achieve high academic success will graduate with honors.

KWC Honors Program Description

The Kentucky Wesleyan College Honors Program is an auto-admit enrollment for incoming freshmen meeting the 3.25+ GPA with a 25+ ACT that requires 15 hours of Honors courses to completion. The Kentucky Wesleyan Honors courses offer an honors component that is engaging and rigorous while satisfying General Education or Core requirements. Some honor courses will be outside the major with one being a Senior capstone course in which the Honors student must submit a scholarly thesis paper. High achieving students-candidates have the opportunity to enrich their critical thinking, communication, and self-direction with other important traits, such as engagement. Students will grow research skills, enhance writing skills and actively participate in their education while exploring leadership roles, service to the community and creative research. The Honors Program encourages Independent and Creative Research, Service Learning and Study Abroad. This program challenges the Honors candidate with extra learning opportunities that integrate diverse disciplines.

Once admitted to the Honors Program, the incoming Honors freshmen will begin their journey as participants in the KW101 Learning Community. The Honors Program participants will be recognized at the Bridging Ceremony at the end of their freshmen year. At the conclusion of the 15 hours, the senior Honors student must complete a capstone thesis project presented at Scholars Day to share insights on their experiences and learning with the Wesleyan Community. The special designation of Honors Program will be placed on the official transcript and degree upon completion of all requirements to identify the student as high achieving to graduate schools or employers.

Wesleyan Fellows

Wesleyan Fellows is a grant-based work-study program with the purpose of providing work under the mentoring of a Kentucky Wesleyan College professor or an off-campus supervisor while also providing an opportunity for the student to think creatively, solve problems, and explore alternatives. The Wesleyan Fellows program must be more educationally rewarding than a traditional work study job — i.e., more intellectually demanding, more likely to create genuine learning for the student, more closely related to a career or scholarly field, or more directly related to faculty research.
At the end of the year, awardees MUST have a completed a project that will be presented at Scholar’s Day (late April).

Students with a 3.15 cumulative average may apply.

Service Learning, Internships, and Research Opportunities

Criminal Justice & Criminology students will have the opportunity to participate in meaningful out of classroom learning experiences, such as service learning, internships, and research. Service-Learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. Internships allow student to gain hands-on experience working with local CJC organizations. On and off campus research opportunities allow students to gain valuable experience in preparation for graduate programs.

Criminal Justice and Criminology Association

The Criminal Justice & Criminology Association centers on the educational, social and career development of its members. The CJCA is open to any student who is interested in the field of criminal justice, criminology, and/or law.

The CJCA strives to improve criminal justice through educational activities, promote professional, academic, and public awareness of criminal justice issues, and to provide a unified voice for professionals and students in the field of criminal justice and criminology.