Teaching & Advising

Public opinion about crime and criminal justice

This undergraduate seminar is composed of three sections. In the first section, students learn the fundamental theories of public opinion. Readings are selected from the fields of political science, psychology, and communication studies. Students are expected to think critically about questions such as if we can trust public opinion, and the relationship between public opinion and public policy. In the second section, students learn the basics of survey methodology , including sampling, modes of survey, and survey question design. As more researchers implement surveys online, I also teach students how to design a web survey. In the third section, students learn public opinion about crime and criminal justice. Topics include fear of crime, confidence in the criminal justice system, punitiveness, and attitudes towards sex crime and juvenile justice. To learn more about the course, check out the syllabus here.

Women and crime

Criminal offending and victimization are shaped by gender, which is an important social construct that influences our everyday life. In this four-week long summer/winter class, undergraduate students learn four modules on the topic of women and crime. The first module focuses on gendered pathways to criminal offending, such as the differences in over-time patterns of offending between men and women, why women might choose to engage in violence, and mothers killing children. The second module focuses on intersectionalities of gender, race, poverty, and crime. The third module focuses on women as victims of violence and restorative justice. The fourth module focuses on women's fear of crime. The students learn both theories and empirical research regarding gendered crime and victimization. To learn more about the course, check out the syllabus here.

Research methods

This undergraduate course introduces the major types of data and analytic tools used by criminologists. By the end of this course, students should have a comprehensive and clear understanding of the following topics: 1) think analytically about issues in criminal justice research; 2) outline the major steps in empirical research; 3) evaluate and understand when to use different methods for collecting data; and 4) understand the importance and ethics of research methods to the field of criminal justice. Students should be able to decompose a research article and understand how a typical criminological researcher asks a research question based on a theoretical framework, collects data to answer the question, and interprets the results. Students are also encouraged to develop their own research proposals. To learn more about this course, check out the syllabus here.

Corrections

This undergraduate course introduces to the students the purposes and goals of punishment, the forms of punishment, people involved in the corrections system, prison life, reentry and recidivism. Students are expected to understand the rapid growth of the U.S. penal system over the past four decades and mass incarceration. Students will examine hoe social, economic, and political factors influence incarceration trends and other correctional policy choices. Students will also evaluate correctional policies, consider the implications of how we punish, and debate various options. To learn more about this course, check out the syllabus here.

Applied crime theory

This advanced crime theory undergraduate seminar builds on the introductory-level criminological theory class and delves into the current state of criminological theories and their application. By the end of this course, students should have a comprehensive and clear understanding of the following topics: 1) the main themes and core propositions of modern criminological theories; 2) the application of criminological theories in the current criminal justice system; and 3) the limitations of criminological theory research and how to make advancement in the future. To learn more about this course, check out the syllabus here.

Analyzing criminal justice data

In this summer/winter class, I introduce to students the basics about analyzing criminal justice data in four modules. In the first module, I introduce descriptive statistics. In the second module, I introduce bivariate regression. In the third module, I introduce hypothesis testing and confidence interval. In the fourth module, I introduce how to use SPSS. In each module, students are expected to complete a problem set. To learn more about this course, check out the syllabus here.

Advising

If you are an undergraduate or graduate student who 1) has questions about my course materials and assignments, 2) needs an advisor to help with your honors or Masters thesis, 3) needs suggestions about grad school application and a recommendation letter, or 4) needs suggestions about grant application, don't hesitate to send me an e-mail (lshi@bridgew.edu).

In you e-mail, make sure you specify which class and section you are in. I will respond to your e-mail within 24 hours.