UB’s Department of Sociology is now the Department of Sociology and Criminology

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo’s College of Arts and Sciences on June 4 officially changed the name of its Department of Sociology to the Department of Sociology and Criminology.

The study of criminology and faculty research in that field is among the department’s strengths. Roughly half of the current faculty already specialize in crime, law or justice, either as a primary or secondary area of expertise. The new name now better represents the programs, degrees, faculty and students within the existing department.

The American Sociological Association also suggests that department names clearly reflect its programs and students, a best practice realized by the renaming, according to Robert Adelman, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Sociology and Criminology.

“In addition to our bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in sociology, we also offer a bachelor’s and master’s in criminology,” says Adelman. “Our undergraduate criminology program in fact has grown about threefold since its launch a few years ago.”

The rebranding to the Department of Sociology and Criminology was preferable to establishing separate departments because sociology remains the current department’s base.

“The department has been very strategic in hiring new criminology colleagues who have PhDs in sociology, rather than criminology, including the eight faculty members hired within the last five years,” says Adelman. “Although this may change in the future, one of the assets of our criminology faculty is that they all contribute significantly to other areas within sociology.”

Adelman says criminologists do work that overlaps with aging and the life course, family, education, health and medical sociology, for instance.

“The intersections of those core areas in sociology are vital and what distinguishes our faculty from those in the standalone departments of other universities,” he says.

Students at all levels in the department are reacting enthusiastically to the new name, according to Ashley Barr, PhD, an associate professor in the department and director of graduate studies.

“While the master’s degree in criminology already provides students with the applied skills to do well in areas related to their interests – from policy analysis, social service organization, social justice advocacy, public safety and law enforcement – they expect the name change will offer even more value to their degree,” says Barr. “Informal conversations between faculty and our wonderful undergraduate students indicate they’re just as excited."

Barr says the daily operations of the department shouldn’t be affected much by the new name.

“The feeling is that ‘sociology and criminology’ better captures what we do,” says Barr. “It speaks to our strengths with the goal of attracting even more students and faculty members down the road.”