Maynooth University Department of Law is delighted to announce that it will be offering a new MA in Comparative Criminology & Criminal Justice in September 2016.
Criminology deals with issues that are constantly in the media and attract much public interest. Given the impact of globalising processes on crime and on society more generally in the contemporary era, the Department of Law has identified the need for a programme to deepen engagement with the global across a wide range of criminological and criminal justice issues. The MA in Comparative Criminology and Criminal Justice has been developed to address this need.
At a time of global links at the level of crime threats and criminal justice responses, our view of criminal justice systems as comprising distinct national jurisdictions comes increasingly under challenge. With this increasing cosmopolitanism comes a need to examine a broad range of criminological and criminal justice issues from an internationally comparative perspective. This is what the MA programme aims to do through the unique combination of generic modules in qualitative and quantitative research methods together with theoretical awareness of key issues in comparative criminology such as the aims of comparison, the different schools of thought on comparative criminological research and the impact of globalisation. In addition, students will be provided with an opportunity to pursue their own particular interests in the comparative field through a choice of two (out of four) optional modules and through the completion of a 20,000 word dissertation.
The programme will be delivered primarily via small group lecturing; masterclasses will be provided for the Dissertation module. The programme will commence in September 2016, with applications opening in early 2016. Further information is available on the website of the Department of Law.