Program Information
We have two streams: a thesis stream and a course/project stream.
In the thesis stream, you would take the 4 required courses, 2 electives, and complete the thesis.
In the course/project stream, you would take the 4 required courses, 4 electives, and complete the project.
See here for an overview of our program: Program Overview
For additional information, you can consult the MA in Criminal Justice Graduate Studies website.
No. We are an interdisciplinary social science, liberal arts program.
No. While we moved our courses online temporarily because of the pandemic, this is an in-person M.A. program.
No. This is a two-year M.A. if you are a full-time student and a four-year M.A. if you are a part-time student.
Yes. As a part-time student, you could take either the thesis or course/research project streams.
If you are a part-time student, normal time to completion would be 4 years and you would take at least one course in each of Fall and Winter semesters until your coursework was completed.
We know that many students seek part-time options for study because they have other obligations that mean engaging in full-time studies is not feasible (e.g., employment, care-related responsibilities). If you look at our course schedule one year and think that it couldn’t work for you, remember that schedules differ from year to year. In some cases, we are able to offer evening classes.
If you do have any questions about whether our class times can work for you as a part-time student, please email the Graduate Program Chair to discuss further.
Regardless of which stream you are in, all students must take our four core courses, which are 3.0 credit hours each (total 12.0 credit hours): Conceptualizing Criminal Justice, Constitutional Law, Research Design, and Criminal Justice Policy.
In addition to core courses, thesis students will take 6.0 credit hours of electives (typically two 3.0 credit hour electives) while course/project students will take 12.0 credit hours of electives (typically four 3.0 credit hour electives).
Electives offered vary from year to year, but those offered within the department have included Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Preventing Wrongful Convictions; Qualitative and Visual Methods; Critical Criminal Justice Theory; Colonialism and Criminal Justice in Canada; Penology; and Program & Policy Evaluation.
It is also possible for students to take Criminal Justice-related electives in other M.A. programs at UWinnipeg, or at other universities within and west of Manitoba through the Western Deans Agreement.
You can find descriptions of our courses in the Graduate Calendar; scroll down for “All Course Descriptions”.
There is some lecturing in a few classes but yes, courses are mostly seminar-based. This means students are assigned readings and are expected to present and summarize articles, lead discussion, and otherwise actively participate. Term papers are common but most classes will also use some shorter written assignments.
We can let one of our students tell you herself! Here is an interview with Aleks Manzhura, one of our first graduates.
You can peruse this section of our website or visit the Faculty of Graduate studies website.