Study Criminal Justice at Southern Oregon University
My name is Brian Fedorek. I've been in the criminology and criminal justice department since 2009.
My name's Dave Carter. I've been here at Southern Oregon University for nine years in the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department.
I am Dr. Allison Burke and I have been with the department since 2008.
We really are a balanced program. There are some programs around the country that are more focused on one particular aspect of criminology or criminal justice...
...so some people, they might be considered pre-law, but we really try to provide a balance to both the theoretical and the research side as well as the applied side, the criminal justice discipline area.
So the campus is not only wonderful, the faculty that I work with are beautiful...not only within the department but also outside of the department. There's a lot of passion from all the faculty that really want to help SOU as an institution...
...but also the students that we have. We really try to help them with their career aspirations and with criminology and criminal justice.
I love being in the classroom. I love interacting with students. I love the 'cognitive dissonance' that happens when you say something and, all of a sudden, it pushes them back on their heels and they say..."What do you mean?!" and we have a really...
...interesting conversation about something that they had never thought about. Or they thought conmpletely differently about the topic.
I looked into the department and I talked to a few of the professors. I talked to a few students, too, hanging out in Taylor Hall.
And everyone was in love with it, and the professors were super nice, super welcoming.
I started the Criminal Justice Program right when I came in as a Transfer. At first it was my minor because I wasn't really sure if I was going to like it or not. I ended up loving every single class that I took more than any other classes I had.
I wanted to be able to get to know my professors, and that's what I've been able to do.
They've been really helpful in showing me, you know, different career paths other than just being a police officer. So my main focus now is juvenile justice.
I'd like to work with juveniles, or youth, or children at some point in the future.
We have professors that are experts in the prison system and the detention center system.
We also have experts in juveniles and women in crime. We also have experts in implicit bias...
...so, every one of our professors has a niche that
the students can come in and wherever they want to go in CCJ - can contact that professor and get mentored throughout their entire SOU Bachelor Degree career here.
Those students that have graduated that have contacted me in the past...they love their job, whether they're in law enforcement or probations or corrections. Even in social work - you can tell that they're  really passionate about helping out those individuals.
We have faculty who have specialties in a wide variety of disciplines. We have law, corrections, juvenile delinquency...
...theory, policing...we have faculty who are experts in their field and from what I hear from the students who talk about us, that they love that we get along so well.
They love that we can joke around with each other. That we joke around with the students.
Our professors are really open to you as an individual and helping you as an individual. That has been a big part of my success here.
I also think that a university setting is just finding out who you want to be and I really think that SOU is a wonderful place that offers a wide range of programs and classes and perspectives - that we can really help students find out who they are and what they want to do...
...with their lives.
