Society operates according to laws and norms. But all law creates outlaws–those who don’t follow the social rules.

This learning community explores what makes criminals. Are they evil? Are they merely rebels, people who don’t fit into society? Are they psychologically damaged or created by their environment? It will also explore what should be done with them. What, overall, is the purpose of punishment? Is it to make the rest of us feel better, to expel them from the community so they can no longer do harm, to reform them into society? Is punishment revenge?

All these questions will underlie the classes that make up the Crime & Punishment learning community. Students will attend classes in criminology, social science analysis, ethics, sociology, composition, and law and politics, plus two or three classes of your choice in the first and second semesters.