Spring 2002 Newsletter

Gail Caputo

THREE NEW FACULTY TO JOIN DEPT IN FALL

After an intensive search, the Department has hired three new faculty–two in criminal justice and one in sociology and anthropology–who will begin teaching in the fall. Gail Caputo is coming from the University of North Texas, but her degrees are homegrown: B.S., M.A., and Ph.D. in Criminal Justice all from Rutgers-Newark. She has also taught at Texas A&M and worked as a senior research associate at the Vera Institute of Justice in New York City. Her research interests include corrections, alternatives to incarceration, and shoplifting. She has helped develop and evaluate programs for offenders on probation. In the fall, Gail will be teaching Confinements and Corrections and a course in the new Master’s in Criminal Justice Program, Policy Analysis in Criminal Justice.

Cati Coe

Cati Coe will be moving down from New Haven, where she works as a classroom ethnographer for the Institute for Community Research. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania in the Folklore and Folklife Department, and her B.A. from Wesleyan University. Cati has researched schools and education in diverse settings, and her dissertation research was carried out in Ghana, West Africa. She has taught at the University of Pennsylvania and at Community College of Philadelphia. Cati will teach be teaching Sociology of Education each semester for the Teacher Preparation Program, and will the be department’s main liaison to that important program. She will also be teaching Individual and Society in the fall.

Michelle Meloy

Michelle Meloy comes to us from Widener University. She received her Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from the University of Delaware, her M.A. from Northern Illinois University, and her B.S. from Indiana University. Her research has included sexual offenses and offenders, gender in the justice system, and victimization and victims’ rights. Michelle also brings the experience of having spent several years working as a probation officer and a sex offender supervision specialist in Illinois. In the fall she will be teaching Courts and Criminal Law and Varieties of Crime.

 

 

 

 

Preregistration for Fall 2002 Begins April 8th

  • Students are reminded that early preregistration for fall semester courses not only saves you money but also ensures that the courses will run and that there will be a place for you.
  • The department strongly recommends consulting with your departmental advisor before or during the preregistration period. This is critically important for anyone expecting to complete their coursework for graduation either over the summer or during the fall.
  • It is department policy that both Sociology and Criminal Justice majors should take Methods and Techniques of Social Research (920:301) as early as possible in their academic career, and that transfer students should take the course in their first semester at Camden. If you are a major and have not taken this course, you should definitely take it in the fall. It is a prerequisite for other upper-level courses, and the knowledge of MicroCase gained in the course is required in both Sociological Theory and Theories of Crime and Delinquency, as well as other courses.
  • Sociological Theory is only offered in the fall semester, so any sociology major planning to graduate in Spring 2003 must take it in the fall. Students taking Sociological Theory who have not previously completed Methods and Techniques of Social Research should take the latter during the fall as well.
  • Departmental faculty have created over 35 course websites to support their courses. Although not all courses have websites, these websites offer a helpful resource for students deciding what courses to preregister for. They may be accessed from the departmental website by clicking on Online Syllabi and Course Materials.
  • The department’s Service Learning Course: Bridging the Digital Divide in Camden, will go into its fourth semester. The course meets once a week for a Wednesday late afternoon seminar led by Camden teacher and technology coordinator Anne Harkins, and involves approximately five hours a week of service work in Camden schools or community centers. Service Learning offers a chance to contribute to the Camden community while at the same time acquiring valuable knowledge and skills.
  • This year’s 13 summer offerings by the department are unusually extensive, and may be also accessed at the Summer Session website. For the first time, Race and Ethnicity is being offered in the summer, along with a variety of electives in anthropology, criminal justice, and sociology. The Community Corrections course will highlight community policing.
  • Attention film buffs: Prof. Kathleen Asbury reports that her Sociology of the Family and Mass Media and Popular Culture courses in the second summer session will each focus on how movies and films have influenced the the family, sexuality and contemporary modern culture.
  • Given the resurgence of interest in the social force of religion following 9/11, students may be particularly interested in considering Prof. McCarty’s Gods, Cults and Rituals by checking out his detailed description.
  • Sheryl Van Horne, who has ably filled in as a one-year appointment, will be continuing her dissertation research at Rutgers-Newark. She will however be teaching two not-regularly-offered summer courses, and for her descriptions of each of them, click on their respective titles: Comparative Criminal Justice Systems and Popular Culture, Crime and Justice.

 

 

 

Click here to submit your Poster Session Title

Plan to Join the Fourth Annual Poster Session on May 3rd
Show Off Your Research and Get a Free Lunch!

 

Plan to present your research this year at the annual Undergraduate Research Poster Session, co-sponsored with the Psychology Department, on Friday, May 3rd, 12:00-1:30 p.m. It looks good on your resume and it’s great fun as well. So save your work and think about how to present it visually in poster format. Last year’s Poster Session attracted over 100 presenters and guests. You need not be a presenter to attend, but if you intend to bring a poster that visually presents your research project, please sign up by filling in the Poster Session Online Form with your name and the title of your poster presentation. That way you will be listed on the printed program. The event is held in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Campus Center.

Criminal Justice Master’s Program Begins in September

The much-anticipated Master’s Program in Criminal Justice will begin in Fall 2002. The program is being instituted in close cooperation with the Department of Public Policy and Administration, and will have a strong administrative skills focus. Applications are currently being accepted. For further information about the program, check out the Master’s Program in Criminal Justice webpage at the departmental website.

 

 

 

 

Dept’s Web-Enhanced Curriculum Receives National Recognition

The Department’s Web-Enhanced Curriculum, supported by several Dialogues grants from the Office of the Vice-President for Undergraduate Education, recently received national recognition in Footnotes, the newsletter of the American Sociological Association. In its “Spotlight on Departments: An occasional column showcasing accomplishments and innovations in sociology,” Footnotes singled out the department for Enhancing the Curriculum through the Web at
Rutgers-Camden.

The department continues to develop the wide variety of resources available at its website, and has plans for a substantial further expansion in the spring semester. The website is organized around its Departmental Homepage and its Web-Enhanced Curriculum Homepage. Here’s a list of what’s currently available:

Departmental Homepage
Full-Time Faculty
Adjunct Faculty
Online Syllabi & Course Websites
Masters Program in Criminal Justice
Course Schedule
Major Requirements
Minor Requirements
Advising FAQs
Departmental E-List
Masterton Award
Current Newsletter
Poster Session Photos

Web-Enhanced Curriculum Homepage
Plagiarism Policy and Guidelines
Citation Guidelines
Table and Graph Format
MicroCase Resources
Excel Resources
Methods Tutorial
Virtual Tours
Library Resources Online
Pedagogy Page
Selected Websites
Streaming Audio and Video Resources
Student Research Opportunities

Students are expected to familiarize themselves with the policies and resources at this site. 
 

MicroCase Tutors Needed for Fall Semester

Drs. Wood, Meyer and Siegel are looking for student assistants to provide MicroCase tutoring to students in various courses, grading of exercises, updating of the MicroCase Resources webpage and assistance in developing online MicroCase tutorials as part of the department’s web-enhanced curriculum. Interested students (who must have completed Dr. Goertzel’s Methods and Techniques of Social Research course) should contact Dr. Wood, Dr. Siegel, or Dr. Meyer. Up to three credits of independent study may be earned.

Stay Connected! 
Subscribe to the Department’s E-List!

All students are strongly encouraged to subscribe to the Department’s E-Mailing List. By subscribing to this list, students will receive timely information about preregistration, developments in the department, recommended lectures and events, etc. All majors and minors in sociology, anthropology and criminal justice are strongly encouraged to subscribe. Just go to https://sociology.camden.rutgers.edu/curriculum/list.htm and follow the simple instructions.

April 1, 2002