More Than the Sum of Its Parts

How the Department of Sociology and Criminology is redefining what it means to study—and transform—society.

The University of Utah’s Department of Sociology has deep roots—sociology was first offered here in 1896, making it one of the earliest programs in the nation. In Fall 2024, the department took its most significant step in decades: it officially renamed itself the Department of Sociology and Criminology, giving formal recognition to a transformation that had been building since 2018, when the university launched a standalone criminology major. The response from students was immediate and enormous. By May 1, 2026, the department counted 1,085 declared majors in Sociology and/or Criminology, making it one of the fastest-growing majors on campus.

For Department Chair Kim Korinek, the new name was simply a matter of accuracy and representation. “We’ve grown the faculty,” she says, “we’ve grown the majors, we just changed the name to be more consistent with the composition.”

Two Disciplines, One Vision

The most important story here is not enrollment numbers—it is intellectual synergy. Criminology Program Director Heather Melton, an associate professor whose research focuses on gender-based violence and the interaction between victims and the criminal justice system, is careful to distinguish what the department’s criminology major actually is: not a vocational criminal justice degree, but a rigorous social science that places crime in its full societal context. Courses like “Women in Crime,” “Social Structure, Inequality and Crime,” and “Policing and Society” reflect that broad, analytical approach.

And sociology, far from being displaced by criminology’s rise, is what gives criminology its depth. Synergies among the faculty illuminate the connection: sociologist Megan Reynolds, who studies the effects of immigration and state policies on birth outcomes, finds natural common ground with Katie Durante, whose research examines the health consequences of incarceration on mothers and newborns work that has netted Durante not only the CSBS Superior Research Award but also the university's Early Career Teaching Award. 

The department’s forthcoming Master’s of Science in Criminology—expected to launch in fall 2027—will require students to take a sociology elective, because, as Melton puts it, if you are going into the system, you need to understand how institutions, structures, and stratification shape behavior. “Getting into criminology versus just criminal justice gives you more breadth, more opportunities,” she says. “If you’re a criminology and sociology student, the world opens up.”

Korinek sees the pairing as natural and powerful. “Those two degrees anchor each other,” she says. “You can very clearly think about how involvement with the criminal justice system affects health, families, patterns of migration—many of the things sociology already studies deeply.” Politics, social inequality, and social movements – some of our sociology faculty members’ core areas of expertise – also inform criminal legal system involvement and public policy. Double-majoring in both has become a common and organic choice for students who want the richest possible preparation.

Sociology Informs Practice: The Chris Burbank Example

Few alumni illustrate the value of a sociologically grounded approach to criminal justice more vividly than Chris Burbank BS’05, who completed his studies at the U serving nine years as Salt Lake City’s police chief. Known for a progressive, community-centered approach to policing, Burbank went on to join the Center for Policing Equity, a national nonprofit research consortium dedicated to using data to end racial disparities in law enforcement. His guiding philosophy was clear: “It’s not about crimes and arresting people,” he said in aKSL.com interview. “It’s about preventing crime and not having to arrest people.” That instinct—to examine structural roots rather than simply manage symptoms—is exactly what the department trains students to do.

Meeting a Societal Need

The surge in student interest in criminology reflects something larger than campus trends and the vaulting popularity of the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation franchise aired primarily by CBS. The U.S. incarcerates more people per capita than virtually any other country. Policing, recidivism, gender-based violence, the collateral consequences of over-criminalization—these are urgent public questions demanding rigorous social-scientific attention. The department is positioned to train the people who will tackle them. Faculty collaborate with the Family Justice Center, the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Violence, Salt Lake County Pretrial Services and other community organizations. Melton has contributed to the state’s sexual assault kit tracking initiative and serves on the board of the McCluskey Center for Prevention of Violence. Students complete internships, assist in community-based research, and go on to careers in advocacy, law, public health, corrections, and research.

A Student’s Journey: Abigail Nelson

Senior Abigail Nelson arrived at the U unsure of her direction. She enrolled in an introductory sociology class, fell in love with it, and—halfway through her sociology degree—realized she had also been gravitating toward criminology. Adding it as a second major required little extra work, and she soon added psychology as a third. “Having the criminology program embedded in sociology was super helpful,” she says. “The classes have a strong sociological theory foundation, which I think helps you better understand what is really going on and how to better solve problems.” This summer, Nelson heads to Washington, D.C., for an internship with the National Head Start Association—channeling the advocacy instinct her studies have sharpened. Of the faculty who shaped her, she is direct: “The female professors are powerhouses that I look up to, such as Heather Melton. Learning from their courses has empowered me with the information and skills I need to become a powerhouse myself.”

Celebrated—and Clear-Eyed About Challenges

The department’s successes are real and well-documented. Faculty publish in the discipline’s top journals such as the American Sociological Review, win university research and teaching awards and mentor students with a commitment that goes well beyond the classroom. A recent external review found the department to be “a collegial, high-functioning unit” whose students described a “tangible shift in well-being” from being part of it. At the same time, leadership is clear-eyed about challenges: criminology’s rapid growth has strained faculty workloads, graduate funding has not kept pace with cost of living, and the federal research environment has grown more difficult for social scientists. These are problems the department is working to solve—not signs of a program in retreat, but the growing pains of one on the rise.

A Name That Finally Fits

After more than a century as the Department of Sociology, the U now has a department whose name tells a truer story: two disciplines that sharpen each other, faculty who move fluidly between them, and students who arrive wanting to make the world more just. Korinek puts it plainly: “We really care about our students. We’re implementing solutions for challenging problems in the classroom and involving students in our research—helping them bring that into their careers once they graduate.”

From Abigail Nelson, headed to the nation’s capital to work on behalf of children in poverty, to Chris Burbank, whose sociologically informed vision of policing shaped a department and a city, the evidence is clear. The Department of Sociology and Criminology is not simply two fields sharing an address. It is, as its best work demonstrates, something genuinely greater than the sum of its parts.