Center for Law, Justice & Culture Announces 2018-19 Certificate Cohort

The Center for Law, Justice & Culture is proud to present this year’s cohort of certificate students in Law, Justice & Culture.

“It’s a perfect time to be studying legal transformation from the ground up,” commented Distinguished Professor Susan Burgess, who will teach the required core course LJC 2000 in spring semester.

The certificate program brings together interdisciplinary coursework from departments across the social sciences and humanities to provide students with intellectual training in a “law and society” perspective. It also provides opportunities for faculty mentoring through research projects, internships, study abroad, and career guidance.

“I’m really looking forward to teaching these students,” Burgess continued. “The interdisciplinary approach of law and society is of interest to students with a wide variety of majors in the College of Arts and Sciences and beyond.”

The 2018-19 cohort of students in the Law, Justice & Culture certificate program includes:

• Kashinea Baker is a second-year social work major who is interested in racial injustice in the U.S. criminal justice system.
• Noah Barr is a third-year Sociology-Criminology major and Psychology and Political minor who participated in the 2018 spring break study abroad program in Northern Ireland.
• Devon Collins is a first-year Political Science Honors Tutorial College student who is currently enrolled in Breaking the Law and the Pre-Law Learning Community.
• Olivia Gedeon is a second-year undecided student who is interested in social media activism, especially in relation to sexual assault and the #MeToo campaign. She is active with the Ohio University undergraduate chapter of the Ohio Innocence Project, and she enrolled in Breaking the Law and the Law, Justice & Culture learning community last year.
• Olivia Gemarro is a second year English Creative Writing student.
• Isabela Gibson is a second-year Journalism major and Political Science minor who is interested in the impact of the U.S. system of mass incarceration on communities of color.
• David Giddens a second-year Political Science Pre-Law major who is interested in the impact of mass incarceration on African American men in the United States. He took Breaking the Law and the Law, Justice & Culture learning community and also participated in the spring break study abroad program in Northern Ireland during his first year. He is active with the Ohio University Mock Trial Team.
• Ellen Gill-Franks is a first-year English Pre-Law student and Cutler Scholar who participated in the Summer Law & Trial Institute as a high school student. She is active with the Ohio University Mock Trial Team and Students Defending Students.
• Hailey Hazlett is a third-year Sociology-Criminology major and Anthropology minor who is interested in racial injustice in the U.S. criminal justice system and social movements for change.
• Darby Hickey is a fourth-year double major in Anthropology and English Creative Writing who participated in the spring break study abroad program in Northern Ireland. She is interested in environmental racism such as water contamination in Flint, Mich.
• Riley Hoepfner is a second-year Anthropology Honors Tutorial College student who is currently enrolled in Breaking the Law.
• Alexis Hummer is a third-year Political Science Pre-Law major with a minor in Business Administration.
• Joe Landusky is a second-year Political Science Pre-Law student.
• Liz Lattner is a third-year Sociology-Criminology major and Psychology minor who is participating in the spring break study abroad program in Northern Ireland this spring. She is interested in rape culture and sexual assault prevention, especially on college campuses.
• Alli Mancz is a second-year English Honors Tutorial College student with an interest in the current environmental crisis and the promotion of sustainability practices. She is also pursuing an Environmental Studies certificate and Political Science minor.
• Kiersten Mitchell is a third-year Political Science Pre-Law student who who participated in the Summer Law & Trial Institute as a high school student and is enrolled in the spring break study abroad program in Northern Ireland this spring.  She is active in the Ohio University Mock Trial Team and the Ohio Innocence Project.
• Corynn Moore is a second-year Accounting and Business Pre-Law student.
• Brea Muzykoski is a second-year Political Science Pre-Law major and African Studies minor who is passionate about studying the intersection of race and politics and using her knowledge to fight institutionalized racism. She enrolled in Breaking the Law and the Law, Justice & Culture Learning Community last year.
• Zach Perie, a second-year English Pre-Law major and Cutler Scholar, is interested in the social impact of the rise of the private for-profit prison industry in the United States.
• Eden Tadesse is a second-year Communication Studies major and Political Science who enrolled in Breaking the Law and the Pre-Law Learning Community last year.
• Chelsea Thompson is a second-year Forensic Chemistry major.
• Angel Vergona is a first-year Political Science Pre-Law major and Sociology minor with an interest in mass incarceration and the Ohio Innocence Project.
• Eli Wanner, a second-year History Honors Tutorial College major, enrolled in Breaking the Law last year.
• Riley Williams is a second-year Environmental Pre-Law major.
• Sadie Young is a second-year Political Science major who enrolled in Breaking the Law and the Law, Justice & Culture Learning Community last year. She participated  in the spring break study abroad program in Northern Ireland last spring, where she became interested in the role of law in sustaining inequality and injustice in society.

Of these students, eight learned about the certificate through the CAS 2500: Making and Breaking the Law class, and two participated in the Summer Law & Trial Institute as high school students.

Five students have been selected to participate in the LJC spring break study abroad program ANTH 4620: Human Rights, Law & Justice in Northern Ireland (taught by CLJC Director Dr. Haley Duschinski) in spring 2019.

Enrollment in the certificate program is a competitive process modeled after selection for law and graduate schools. Students with an overall GPA of 3.4 or above are eligible for 25 slots per year. During the fall application cycle, students are asked to submit a statement of intent as well as a current transcript. Those who do not meet the GPA requirement may submit an optional essay explaining their qualifications.

Once accepted into the program, all new CLJC certificate students will take LJC 2000: Core Course in Law, Justice & Culture, the mandatory seminar offered to the incoming cohort of certificate students each spring.

They are then required to take at least one LJC elective course outside of their majors to ensure that they are exposed to interdisciplinary perspectives. As they proceed through the certificate coursework, LJC students participate in the intellectual life of the Center for Law, Justice & Culture and engage in practice-oriented learning opportunities such as internships and research projects, all dealing with issues of democratic governance, social justice, and human rights.

The program is appropriate for students who plan to pursue professions in law, rights advocacy, justice administration, public policy, government, nonprofit organizations, and academic research and teaching.

Several students in this year’s cohort learned about the certificate program after enrolling in CAS 2500: Breaking the Law last semester, which is the gateway course to the Making and Breaking the Law academic theme. Taught by an interdisciplinary team of CLJC faculty, the theme course introduces new OHIO students to the challenges of law and justice in the 21^st century, and students with a special interest are encouraged to apply for the certificate program.