June 25, 2008
“This trip to New York City and St. John’s University has
exposed my students to a different justice system and encouraged
them to determine how we can apply the most effective practices to
our justice system back home,” said Douglas College criminology
instructor Heidi Currie. Currie along with 25 of her comparative
criminal justice system students traveled from Vancouver,
Canada, to the United States to participate in a comparative study
of the New York City community court system. Along with their visit
to the Red Hook Community Justice Center, the comparative justice
students looked to St. John’s renowned faculty and administration
for their knowledge of the criminal justice field.
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Canada’s first community court will be opening this summer in
downtown Vancouver. “The New York City court system is a lot faster
and it is a benefit to see beforehand how it is going to work, not
just in theory but in practical application,” said Jennifer
Petrichenko a third year student at Douglas College.
During the June 12 criminal justice seminar at St. John’s, the
criminology students were introduced to seasoned criminal justice
professionals who’ve worked in areas of criminal justice ranging
from the City of New York Department of Correction to the New York
City Fire Department. These presenters—most of them current St.
John’s faculty and administration in the criminal justice
department of the College of Professional Studies—spoke about prior
experiences in their respective fields of law enforcement.
The seminar was an open forum for the criminology students to
ask questions about their comparative studies project and receive
answers from distinguished St. John’s College of
Professional Studies faculty. “I am so impressed by your
university and faculty” said Currie “The energy and the vibrancy is
making it hard for my students to want to go back home.”
College of Professional Studies faculty and administration who
spoke at the seminar included: Rev. Michael Cummins, C.M.,
Assistant Dean; Dean Kathleen MacDonald, Ed.D.; Keith Carrington,
Ph.D., Associate Professor and Chair, Criminal Justice and Legal
Studies Program; Antonio Lodato, Assistant Dean; Thomas Ward, Sr.
Associate Professor, Ph.D.; Angelo Pisani, Associate Professor,
Ph.D.; James O’Keefe, Associate Dean, Ph.D.; Harvey Schlossberg,
Ph.D., Associate Professor; Antoinette Schlossberg, Associate
Professor and Director of Criminal Justice, Ph.D.; and Linda Chin,
Assistant Professor.
Douglas College Comparative Criminal Justice students all agreed
that they thoroughly benefited from their visit to the University
and look at their experience at St. John’s as an essential starting
point in their research.
Click here for more information about the St. John’s Criminal
Justice program.