In May 2018, students and faculty in CRM 247T - Comparative Criminal Justice Systems traveled to England, Scotland and Wales for a comparative study of the American criminal justice system and criminal justice systems in the United Kingdom (UK). The group had a guided tour of the UK Supreme Court, observed a debate in the UK House of Commons, visited the Palace of Westminster and toured the Clink Prison Museum in London before heading to Windsor Castle. The team also had an audio-guided tour of the Tower of London, Blue Badge guided, law-focused, walking tour of London, and observed a murder trial at the Old Bailey criminal in London. The comparative course also took faculty and students on a guided “Jack the Ripper” walking tour in London as well guided tours of Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace. In Scotland, the team had an overview of the development of the Scottish criminal justice at the Edinburgh Castle, toured the Scottish Police Campus in Glasgow and participated in a comparative criminal justice lecture at the University of Edinburgh, School of Law. In Wales, the team were given a guided tour of the Welsh National Assembly (Senedd), participated in Criminal Justice lectures by faculty in the Department of Criminology, School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University. Before returning home on May 19, the students and faculty also visited the Cardiff Prison/Clink Prison Restaurant to interview prisoners in a prisoner-operated restaurant designed to equip prisoners with employable skills upon release. 

The Great American Teach-in is an annual event held on the Thursday before Thanksgiving in schools throughout Florida. The aim of the event is to invite community members and parents to talk, showcase and demonstrate to students the ins-and-outs of their professions. On November 15, the entire cohort of 2nd semester Juniors in the Education Department at UT visited students at Cannella Elementary in Tampa to talk about life as a university student.

On October 18, in the Music Room of Plant Hall, more than 60 students and faculty attended an evening with New York civil rights and criminal defense attorney Paul V. Prestia, Esq. The event was sponsored by The University of Tampa, The Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice and moderated by Assistant Professor Andrea M. Walker. Mr. Prestia is known as "a voice for the voiceless" for those who have experienced unfair treatment by the criminal justice system and an advocate for criminal justice reform. Prestia has discussed civil rights abuses with students at UCLA, Miami, Howard, Syracuse, and American law schools, and now at the University of Tampa. Prestia is more widely known for his legal representation of Kalief Browder and his appearance in the Netflix/Spike TV Docuseries “Time: The Kalief Browder Story”. 

The evening began with a viewing of part of the Netflix documentary. After the film, Mr. Prestia took to the stage to discuss Kalief’s story, and what it is like advocating for equity and justice for people who are processed through the criminal justice system and may not be able to advocate for themselves. The floor was then opened to the audience to ask Mr. Prestia questions about his experiences fighting for his clients and his perceptions of the current state of the system. At the conclusion of the event, students and faculty had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Prestia one-on-one, take pictures, and even do a bit of networking. When asked what he thought of the UT students who attended, Mr. Prestia commented: “The students were awesome! They were engaged and asked great questions. They really seem to care.”

Congratulations to the following CSSME faculty members who were selected as Board of Fellows Grant recipients:

Assistant Professor of Education Enilda Romero-Hall was honored with the 2018 Outstanding Service Award at the Association for Educational and Communications Technology (AECT) International Convention in Kansas City, MO on October 23 - 27 for her service as President-Elect (2016), President (2017), and Immediate Past-President (2018) for the AECT Research & Theory Division. 

While at the conference, Romero-Hall participated in the following panel discussions:

 

Students in Denis Rey’s Honors Introduction to Government and World Affairs class visited Stageworks Theatre several weekends ago to attend a matinée performance of Judgement at Nuremberg. The students, pictured on the set after the performance, were impressed with the dramatic portrayal of the events that transpired during the attempt to hold perpetrators accountable for the crimes committed during the Holocaust. They were conflicted between the arguments made by both the prosecutor and defense attorney, and contemplated whether principles such as collective responsibility applied, a broad concept that implicated most if not all of German society, or whether a narrower standard should be employed. In the end, students benefited greatly from watching these dilemmas play out. The Honors Program provided the funding for this learning experience.

On Thursday Nov. 1, the Department of Education held a retention event for Secondary Education declared majors. The aim was to meet the freshmen and sophomore declared majors and let them network with Junior and Senior Secondary Education majors. Alumni visited as well. Many of the alumni spoke about their passion what how the Education Faculty supported them and how they love the profession of teaching. All in all there were about 60 students in attendance.

On Friday, November 2, the Psychology Department held a pizza party to welcome new freshmen psychology majors to UT. Students had the opportunity to chat with faculty about the program.

Students in MAT 490 - Senior Seminar will present their research on a topic in mathematics. During the Fall semester, these students have conducted personal and library research under the guidance of a UT mathematics faculty member.

The senior seminar will be held on Wednesday, November 28, in the Library, Room AV1 at 4:00 pm.