Pitch Ideas:

• The idea that I had pitched for my feature story was to write about the new Criminology program that is being introduced to UNE this fall. For this story I could interview a professor that is a criminologist and will be teaching courses for the program. I want to provide more information on the major and criminology itself. What is criminology? Why is it important? Why should students want to take courses in criminology? Why did UNE decide to add this program?

• Another idea I had in mind for my feature story was to write about UNE’s efforts to restore the American Chestnut tree. I would interview professors and students who have worked on these restoration efforts and discuss why it’s so important for the environment. I ultimately decided against this topic because there have already been stories written about it.

First Draft:

The University of New England has recently announced its plans to introduce two new undergraduate majors for students in the fall of 2022, one of which is the Bachelor of Arts in Criminology. Although Criminology may sound like just another term for criminal justice, the discipline actually takes on a much different approach when viewing crime. The field of criminology takes a look at crime and criminal behavior from a societal and psychological standpoint, addressing issues regarding equality in law enforcement and unfair treatment within the criminal justice system all while focusing on effective rehabilitation methods. While there is not one clear answer as to why people commit crimes, or one simple way to stop crime from occuring, criminology gives some insight as to what may lead someone to take part in deviant behaviors and how we can work towards deterring and preventing crime, ultimately creating a safer and more productive environment for everyone. 

One goal of this new program is to allow students to take part in hands-on learning experiences, such as internships, with the hopes that they will be well prepared for a career in the field. While many individuals with a degree in Criminology go on to be criminologists, they are not limited to the one career, as there is a range of options for students with this major. The UNE website lists the following as career options for those with a degree in Criminology: Jury Consultant, Probation Officer, Forensic Psychologist, Criminal Attorney, Clinical Social Worker, Criminology Professor, and Criminal Policy Analyst.

Workshop Draft:

Duffy Rose

New Criminology program comes to the University of New England’s Biddeford campus, available for students this coming fall semester. 

The University of New England has recently announced its plans to introduce two new undergraduate majors for students in the fall of 2022, one of which is the Bachelor of Arts in Criminology. 

The field of Criminology takes a look at crime and criminal behavior from a societal and psychological standpoint, addressing issues regarding equality in law enforcement and unfair treatment within the criminal justice system, all with a strong focus on effective rehabilitation methods. 

I spoke with Karen Goldberg who attended Southern Maine Technical College (now renamed as Southern Maine Community College) where she studied Criminal Justice with a focus in Criminology. Goldberg explained why she thinks it’s important that UNE is adding Criminology to its list of majors. 

“I think in general a lot of people will agree that the Criminal Justice system in the U.S. needs an overhaul,” she said. “There is not a lot of rehabilitation and looking at why these things happen. If we include more things like social work, which is what Criminology is based on, I think that could really help the whole system.” 

One goal of this new program is to allow students to take part in hands-on learning experiences, such as internships, with the hopes that they will be well prepared for a career in the field. In addition to internship opportunities, hands-on learning for the program can occur in the form of a study abroad experience. 

Many individuals with a degree in Criminology may go on to be criminologists, but they are not limited to the one career. There are a range of options for students with this major. 

The UNE website lists the following as career options for those with a degree in Criminology: Jury Consultant, Probation Officer, Forensic Psychologist, Criminal Attorney, Clinical Social Worker, Criminology Professor, and Criminal Policy Analyst. 

Goldberg was able to work at a few different types of jobs where she applied what she learned when studying Criminology. 

“After college I was a domestic violence advocate and a children’s advocate at a local shelter,” said Goldberg. “I then went into police dispatching and then I became a part time police officer.” 

With Criminology being a broad field that takes a look at a variety of different topics, some of the specific issues can be seen within the different courses students can take. 

Some of the courses that will be available to students, according to the UNE website, include: Deviance and Crime, The Criminal Legal System, Theories of Race and Racism, Crime/Media/Culture, Human Trafficking, and Juvenile Deliquency.

Goldberg said that her favorite course within her school’s program was Criminal Deviance. “I think it was really fascinating because it focused specifically on psychology and the whole unpacking of what makes a criminal deviant,” she said. 

Anyone is encouraged to look into taking classes having to do with Criminology. Even for students who don’t necessarily plan on getting a degree in Criminology, these courses can be interesting and beneficial in many ways. 

“If you have any interest or are someone who likes watching crime shows or movies, it’s an interesting piece of knowledge to have in the back of your toolbox,” Goldberg said. “Even if you are a math major, it opens your mind up and is a way to learn about psychology and sociology within a different field.”

(I also have an interview scheduled with Professor Campbell who is a Criminologist and will be teaching some of the Criminology courses here at UNE)

Final Draft:

Workshop Experience Reflection: (Journal #8)

I think that hearing feedback on my story was extremely helpful and I really appreciate the way that everyone went about providing this feedback. Everyone was super respectful and gave thoughtful suggestions that will really guide me in my revision process. I always think that it’s important to hear what others have to say about your work, as they can provide new perspectives and give you ideas that you may have completely overlooked otherwise. 

One thing that was pointed out to me was that I did insert myself into the story by saying “I spoke with.” I’m really glad that the class brought this to my attention because I know how important it is for the author to remove themself from the story. This is something that I’ve noticed in other people’s work but completely overlooked in my own, so this just shows how important it is to get feedback from other people. When revising my story I will be sure to remove this part and introduce the person I interviewed in a different way. I also got a suggestion to remove some of the times that I said “she said” when ending a quote. Looking back I realize how repetitive this was in my story and I will go back and take that out where I’ve already introduced the person I’m quoting. 

The next suggestions I got were about people that could be interesting to interview. It was brought up that if possible, I could find someone who either plans on majoring in Criminology or just wants to take Criminology classes when they are available at UNE. I agree that this would be a very interesting element to add to my story. I’m not completely sure how I would go about seeking someone out, but I will try to brainstorm ideas and ask around. It was also suggested to me that I could interview Dean Millen who could give me more information as to why UNE is adding this major. These are definitely people I will consider reaching out to. 

One final piece of advice I received was about the way I provided background information on the person I interviewed, Karen Goldberg. There was some confusion as to whether or not Goldberg was associated with UNE. Looking back on my story after hearing this, I can definitely see how this could cause some confusion. Goldberg is not associated with UNE, but I wanted to provide a perspective from someone who has studied Criminology at a different school to see why it could be beneficial here. I am definitely going to go back and see how I can make this more clear in my story.

Editorial Team Reflection:

Like I have mentioned throughout this whole process, I feel as though the workshops were very helpful and I learned a lot from everyone’s suggestions. Some of the most helpful comments in the earlier workshops had to do with formatting the stories. People suggested that in order for a piece to read more like an article rather than an essay, it can be beneficial to break up the paragraphs. As someone who has only ever written essays for school assignments, I was definitely not used to writing articles. I was able to apply these suggestions to my own work even when my piece wasn’t being workshopped. Something else that I noticed people brought up for almost everyone’s story were suggestions on who the author could consider interviewing. As the reader, you are able to give more insight as to who the audience would want to hear more from or who could give an interesting perspective on the article’s topic, so I found these suggestions to be some of the most helpful. 

As we got into the most recent workshops, I think that everyone became more comfortable with sharing their feedback which definitely allowed for more conversation and ideas to come from one another. We started to get more into how we can present the interviewee for each story in the best way possible. We talked a lot about how removing unnecessary words or sentences from quotes can make the story flow better, which I thought was interesting. It made me realize that the smallest alterations can completely change the message or meaning of a quote. In our most recent workshop, another interesting point was brought up, that depending on where throughout the story a quote is placed, it can completely change the context. I think that after going through this whole workshopping process I have come to realize that you really have to pay attention to small details in your writing because the smallest changes to a story can have a huge impact on the final product.

Feature Story Reflection:

This whole project was a very big learning experience for me. I have been so used to writing essay style papers, so it was definitely difficult to put what I know aside to try this new style of writing. The first thing I really struggled with was just overall knowing where to start. I knew I wanted to write about the new Criminology major that UNE is introducing, but I knew very little on the topic and I only had one specific person in mind to interview. With that being said, once I started to do research and gather more information, I was able to begin the process of piecing together my story. Once we started workshopping other people’s stories, I also got a better understanding on how I should format and organize my piece. 

The biggest challenge throughout this whole process was finding people to interview. The initial person I wanted to interview stopped getting back to me, so I was really desperate to find someone else I could reach out to. I ended up finding someone who had attended a different college, but had experience in the field of Criminology. While I do think they definitely provided me with some great information, I really wanted to speak with someone who was involved here at UNE. I think that would have been a great addition to my story. So, I tried reaching out to both the Provost and Dean Millen. Unfortunately, neither were available for an interview before the deadline. If I could go back and change one thing, I would have definitely reached out to more people sooner to increase the likelihood of scheduling another interview. 

I think that where I learned the most during this project was when I received feedback from my classmates during my workshop. People pointed out things that I completely overlooked, such as my use of “I” in my story. They also pointed out parts of my story that were confusing, needed more clarification, and what parts I should elaborate on. Everyone’s suggestions really helped me during my revision process.