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This course examines trauma as both a personal and social experience with direct implications for the criminal justice system. Students will critically explore the concept of trauma — its clinical definitions, symptoms, and diagnoses — while also interrogating the complexities that surround this terminology.

Building from this foundation, the course focuses on how trauma shapes justice-involved populations:

• How traumatic experiences influence offending behavior,
• How victimization intersect with criminal outcomes, and
• How police officers, correctional staff, and other system actors are themselves impacted by trauma exposure and must also respond to the trauma of others.
  
  

The class will also consider how justice processes — from arrest to incarceration — can create or exacerbate trauma. Readings will draw primarily from scholarly articles, and discussions will be structured using the Harkness Table method, fostering student-led dialogue and collaborative learning. By the end of the course, students will not only understand trauma in multiple dimensions but also critically evaluate its role in crime, victimization, and justice system practice.

This course addresses key issues in bioethics, including:

• Experimentation with humans and human tissues
• Assisted reproduction
• Gene therapy
• Organ donation
• Health care resource allocation

Students will develop a critically informed understanding of the ethical questions that arise in biological and medical contexts. Through the exploration of diverse ethical perspectives, they will deepen their engagement with complex bioethical dilemmas.

The course emphasizes the development of essential academic skills, including:

• Critical thinking
• Thoughtful discussion
• Analytical writing
• Ethical inquiry

While an understanding of biology may be helpful, no advanced knowledge is required. Students from scientific backgrounds may find the course uniquely challenging, as it emphasizes ethical reasoning and open-ended inquiry rather than the definitive answers typical of traditional science courses.

This course is cross-listed with BSC 4938. Students must enroll in one course or the other and will not receive credit for both.

This capstone course provides students with hands-on experience in community-based research, with a strong emphasis on designing and utilizing research methods that can be applied in real world community settings. Students will learn how to design and implement research projects that integrate quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches, drawing on methodological frameworks that address real-world social issues. By situating research methods within applied community contexts, the course equips students to move beyond theory and into practice, preparing them to contribute meaningful insights to pressing social issues.

A central component of the course is the opportunity for students to partner with local agencies, organizations, or community groups, including programs that provide behavioral health services, peer support and/or recovery-based services, and the child welfare system. Through these partnerships, students will apply their methodological training to address questions that matter to the community, such as program evaluation, needs assessments, or outcomes research. In doing so, students will not only strengthen their research and analytical skills but also develop professional competencies in collaboration, ethical engagement, and culturally responsive practice.

By the end of the course, students will have produced a capstone project that integrates their learning, demonstrates mastery of research methodology, and reflects their ability to conduct research that has both academic rigor and social impact. This experience will serve as a bridge to graduate study, research positions, or careers in social services, public health, nonprofit organizations, and other applied settings where research informs meaningful change.

Permit required. Only students who have completed Thesis I may enroll in Thesis II. 

Note: This section is for Sarasota-Manatee campus students only.