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About the Department

CLS PensUCI’s distinctive, interdisciplinary Department of Criminology, Law and Society integrates two complementary areas of scholarship — criminology and law and society (sometimes called socio-legal studies). It is the only criminology department and one of only two law and society units in the University of California system. Among our distinguished faculty are three former presidents of the American Society of Criminology; former presidents of the Law and Society Association, the Society for the Study of Social Problems, and the American Psychology-Law Society; and two Fellows of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. The department is currently ranked 5th (U.S News & World Report; Chronicle of Higher Education) in the nation among doctoral degree-granting programs in criminology and criminal justice, and 5th in scholarly productivity (2005 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index). 

Recent News

CLS News Updates

Congratulations to Jim Meeker who has been selected to receive an Award of Merit from the Legal Aid Association fo California for his exemplary work in improving access to justice as a volunteer & board member with the Legal Aid Society of Orange County, the Access Commission & Public Law Center.


Congratulations to our recent Ph.D. student, Christie Gardiner, who has received one of the annual Community Engagement Awards from CSU Fullerton, where she has been teaching in the Department of Criminal Justice.  Christie was named "Outstanding Service Learning Instructor" in recognition of her innovative efforts to design courses that bring students into the community. 


MAS is officially featured on the front page of UCI's website.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Lori Sexton will defend her dissertation “Under the Penal Gaze: An Empirical Examination of Penal Consciousness Among Prisoners ”

Date: June 1, 2012

Time: 2:00pm to 3:30pm

Location: Binder Conference Room (SE II, Room 2372)


Sarah Smith will defend her dissertation “Grievous or Gratifying? Inmate Grievance Processes and Justice in a California Women's Prison”

Date: May 30, 2012

Time: 1:00pm to 2:30pm

Location: Binder Conference Room (SE II, Room 2372)


Alyssa Whitby Chamberlain will defend her dissertation “Community Change and Recidivism: The Interrelationship Between Neighborhood Ecology and Prisoner Reintegration”

Date:           May 22, 2012

Time:          1:00pm to 2:30pm

Location:    Binder Conference  Room (SE II, Room 2372)


Randy Myers will defend his dissertation, “Meaningful Failure: A Political Criminology of Young Women in Trouble with the Law”.

Date:              May 22, 2012

Time:              10:00am to 11:30am

Location:        SE I, Room 306