Following the launch of the MA in Comparative Criminology & Criminal Justice, Maynooth University Department of Law is now introducing exciting new opportunities to study criminology at undergraduate level.
Criminology has been described as ‘the study of the making of laws, the breaking of laws and of society’s reaction to the breaking of laws’, signalling the three main branches that make up the subject. As Ireland’s youngest and fastest growing law school, the Department of Law at Maynooth University brings a fresh approach to the study of crime, incorporating perspectives from a wide range of other disciplines such as sociology, psychology, and economics. At Maynooth, we offer a unique opportunity to study Criminology as part of a broad based Arts degree, or in combination with Law as a BCL degree. Take a look at the course brochure here.
| BCL (Law and Criminology) | Bachelor of Arts |
| Study Criminology and Law in equal measure for each of the three years of your degree. | Study Criminology with up to three other subjects in Year 1 (including Law, Psychology, Economics, Spanish, and Sociology). In Years 2 and 3, you continue with a BA in Criminology, studying in combination with one of your other subjects. |
- Think about crime using real life examples and theory;
- Develop strong research, writing, and analytical skills which are useful for most career paths;
- Broaden your career prospects into the criminal justice world, opening up potential careers in the Gardaí, security services, data analytics, probation, prison service, civil service, research institutes, and NGOs;
- Apply for work placements and study abroad;
- Combine academic work with practical exercises, such as role plays and policy debates.
You will take modules from a wide range of disciplines during your degree, opening you up to a variety of challenging perspectives on the nature of crime, criminal behaviour, and the criminal justice system. You will gain perspectives from Psychology, Law, Economics, Sociology, Anthropology, and more.
The Department of Law is lucky to count a number of criminological experts among its staff. Dr Claire Hamilton was a co-editor of the recent publication The Routledge Handbook of Criminology, while both Claire and Dr David Doyle were recently awarded funding by the Irish Research Council to carry out criminological research projects. Claire received a New Horizon's Research Project Grant for her project 'CONTAGION': Counterterrorism, Coercion, and EU Criminal Justice Policy and David was awarded a New Foundations Award to conduct an exploratory study of victim perspectives on forced labour and trafficking for criminal activities in Ireland.