Scranton Professors to Instruct Schemel Forum Fall Courses

The University of Scranton’s Schemel Forum fall courses feature two evening series exploring timely topics in women’s history and criminal justice.

The first course will be held on Tuesdays, beginning Sept. 2. The second course will be held on Mondays, beginning Oct. 20. Both courses will be taught by University of Scranton professors in six weekly sessions in the Weinberg Memorial Library, Room 305.

Susan Poulson, Ph.D., professor of history, will present “American Mothers: Society, Science and Maternity after the Civil War.” Classes will be held Tuesdays, Sept. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 and Oct. 7 from 6 to 7:15 p.m.

This course will explore the public perception of maternity as reflected in the half-century campaign for a federal Mother’s Day holiday. With guided discussions, participants will review the social biology of 19th-century maternity, the use of motherhood by women's rights campaigners to claim political power, Gilded Age conflicts over birth control and abortion and the 1914 adoption of a Mother’s Day holiday that celebrates women’s domesticity.

The course topic is connected to Dr. Poulson’s research into the history of American motherhood in preparation for a presentation of that topic at a conference in November.

“I look forward to seeing which material prompts the greatest response, which will affect how I approach the topic in my research,” she said.

By the end of the course, Dr. Poulson hopes participants will have a much better understanding of the historical struggles over motherhood, in defining its value to society and in who can control the conditions of motherhood.

A longtime faculty member at Scranton, Dr. Poulson’s teaching specializes in the history of American women and 20th-century United States history with strong interests in political, social and foreign relation issues. Her past research has been on the history of women in higher education and women’s rights. She is currently working on research projects exploring mental health and criminal law in the late-19th century. She received a bachelor’s degree from George Washington University and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from Georgetown University.

For the second course for the fall semester, Michael Jenkins, Ph.D., professor of criminal justice and chair of the Department of Criminal Justice, Cybersecurity and Sociology at The University of Scranton, will present “Criminal Street Gangs: Causes, Consequences and Controls.” Classes will be held Mondays, Oct. 20, 27 and Nov. 3, 10, 17, 24 from 6 to 7:15 p.m.

According to Dr. Jenkins, it’s evident from speaking to criminal justice practitioners that many local crime problems are associated with gangs. But, he says, people’s common conceptions of a “gang” don’t always align with how the effects of gangs really play out in our communities.

“I believe that to have a real effect on the kinds of crimes that concern us, we need to have a clear understanding of what the causes and structures of the problem really are,” said Dr. Jenkins, who has worked with multiple gang violence intervention strategies in various cities and has studied the many ways to reduce gang-related violence.

This course will discuss criminological theories related to an understanding of gang involvement and crime, distinguish the characteristics of criminal street gangs, and review the literature on and practice of gang prevention, intervention and suppression methods.

“I hope participants walk away with a better understanding of gangs, their effects on communities, and the outcomes of our approaches to preventing gang crime, to encourage support for those strategies that prevent gang problems and to be critical of those approaches that unjustly bring people into the criminal justice system,” said Dr. Jenkins.

In addition to serving as professor and department chair, Dr. Jenkins is the founding executive director of the University’s Center for the Analysis and Prevention of Crime. He recently served as the director of academics on the creation of a Bachelor of Security Sciences program for a foreign ministry of interior. He earned his bachelor’s degree from The University of Scranton and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from Rutgers University. He has served as a Fulbright Scholar with the London Metropolitan Police and University College London and has published work on police-community relations and police organization.

The Schemel Forum is sponsored by Munley Law. To register for courses or for more information on the Schemel Forum, call 570-941-4740 or email schemelforum@scranton.edu.

Registration is free for University of Scranton and Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine students, faculty, staff and Schemel Forum members; and $100 per person and $175 per couple for non-members.

To pay for courses online and see additional events, visit the Schemel Forum webpage.