Pitt-Bradford has introduced two new minors in the field of criminal justice, criminal forensic studies and legal studies.
The criminal forensic studies minor
codifies work students have been doing in the campus’s Crime Scene Investigation House.
Having the minor on their
transcripts will highlight students’ experience and expertise in criminal
forensics, said Dr. Tony Gaskew, director of the criminal justice program and
associate professor of criminal justice who will serve as the program
coordinator for both new minors.
Gaskew added that students have requested
the minor.
In addition to existing courses in
the CSI lab, the minor also includes a computer information systems and
technology course designed to give students a basic understanding of computer
forensics.
“We have a good variety of courses,”
Gaskew said. A total of 20 credits are required for the minor, which also
includes Introduction to Forensic Science, Criminal Law and Procedure, and
Criminal Evidence and Investigations.
“Pitt-Bradford students who have
taken our criminal forensics courses in the last three years have all placed
within the top two percent of their police academy courses,” Gaskew said.
Gaskew said that students had also
requested the legal studies minor, which dovetails with the pre-law advising
track. The minor is for students of all majors, but particularly criminal
justice or political science, who intend to apply to law school.
The minor is designed to give
students an interdisciplinary understanding of the nature of law and crime. A
total of 18 credits are required for the minor. Courses include Philosophy and
Public Issues, Sociology of Deviance, Law and the Courts, Law and Social
Control in Society, Criminal Law and Procedure and an elective from the fields
of political science, administration of justice, psychology or philosophy.
Both minors are now available. For more
information, contact Gaskew at tog6@pitt.edu
or (814)362-7636.
For disability-related needs,
contact the Office of Disabilities Resources and Service at (814)362-7609 or clh71@pitt.edu.
--30--