Focus Your Criminal Justice Degree on Restorative Justice at NVU.
Campus-Based Program at NVU-Lyndon
NVU-Lyndon’s innovative and comprehensive concentration in restorative justice is one of the firsts of its kind in the nation. Restorative and transformative justice are growing movements in both the fields of criminal justice as well as education. You’ll graduate with hands-on experiential knowledge about implementing restorative justice practices in your professional career, whether in policing or corrections, in victims’ advocacy work, or in schools as counselors, educators, or community resource officers.
Hallmark features of this concentration include advanced courses on applied restorative justice methods, victimology, as well as the foundation of peace-making theories. You’ll learn the skills and techniques of conducting restorative conferences as well as leading mediation circles. In addition, our program has a strong partnerships with leading restorative justice professionals in the state of Vermont — many of our students have completed internships or gained employment with the St. Johnsbury Community and Restorative Justice Center and Orleans County Restorative Justice Center.
Within restorative justice practices, circles are used widely as a response to crime, within schools to address student misconduct and/or conflict, as well as to offer support for offenders returning to the community. This past year, students in our applied restorative justice practices course participated in a circle with an offender, drawing upon their theoretical foundation of restorative and transformative justice as well as practicing the skills and techniques learned in their courses. This concentration would be well utilized by criminal justice students as well as students pursuing degrees in the fields of psychology, human services, social work, and education.
Courses within this concentration include: Race, Class, Gender, and Crime; Victimology; Community and Restorative Justice; Applying Restorative Justice Practices; and Peace Making.
Hybrid Option for NVU-Johnson Students
Starting in fall 2019, students at our Johnson campus can earn a bachelor of science in criminal justice with a concentration in restorative justice through our hybrid program. Take your general education classes on the Johnson campus*; complete your criminal justice major classes online.
* Campus-based students can also take online general education classes.