Upper School Intersession 2025

There could not be a better time to study our criminal justice system. We are experiencing a time of significant change (much of it long in coming frankly). Each of you, as community members, can be a part of making those changes positive ones and I hope this seminar will help to inspire you to do just that. So... on to a few basic pieces of information about the seminar:

1. What are we going to be talking about?
The session will cover two primary areas: crime and criminal justice and our criminal justice system. We will be discussing things like: "why does crime exist?" and “is crime getting worse” and "why is there such a disconnect between communities and their police" and "do we really need police” and “do district attorneys and defense attorneys hate each other as much as they seem to on TV?" and, if time allows, "what on earth is going on with our prisons in the United States!? Why do we lock more people up than any other country?"...

Are you intrigued? Good!

We will be talking about current events and I recommend that you start plugging into news feeds from a variety of sources and perspectives. If you take the time to check out the news what we discuss will mean a whole lot more to you.

2. Will Professor Raffaelli just be a talking head?
I sure hope not! Bring on those questions and we will dig into them… I welcome and appreciate student participation and hope you save me (and yourself) from me just prattling on the whole time by myself. The criminal justice system is interesting (really!) and I look forward to hearing from you. I also hope that this class will result in more than a few of you looking further into a career in criminal justice. It is one of the places in this world that gives you an opportunity to make a difference in your community and society. Corny as it sounds there really is no better satisfaction than finding ways to help other people.