Why study criminology and criminal psychology? | with the University of Essex Online

Join me as I chat to Dr. Jenny Epoyun-William about the MSc in Criminology and Criminal Psychology available at the University of Essex Online. Discover what makes this course unique, from its blend of theoretical criminology and forensic psychology to the use of real-life case assessments

Participants

• Emily Slade - podcast producer and host, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ
• Dr Jenny Epoyun-William - head of department of law and criminology at the University of Essex Online

Transcript

Dr Jenny Epoyun-William: Wow. So we're so excited at University of Essex online, we made it to the finalists category under digital innovation, specifically in learning. So the learning tech team of University of Essex online, they are responsible for our virtual learning platform.

Emily Slade: Hello and welcome back to Future You, the podcast brought to you by graduate careers experts, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ. I'm your host Emily Slade and in this episode we take a look at the MSc criminology and criminal psychology course available from the University of Essex Online.

Dr Jenny Epoyun-William: Hi, Emily, pleasure to meet you. Thank you for the opportunity to do this interview. So I'm Jenny Epoyun-William and I have an LLB. I have an LLM in international commercial law, world trade specialty from the University of Buckingham, and I have a PhD in business and management, specialising in corporate governance at the University of Huddersfield. I'm the head of department of law and criminology at University of Essex online. My role includes supervising and leading on teaching and learning processes and also the assessment processes. So we conduct a periodic review once every five years, whereby we review all the learning content make sure that the subject is up to date and captures all the latest developments. I'm also involved in managing a team of people, and we are all very passionate about teaching learning. I see myself as a widening participation advocate. I was a former international student, so I understand some of the challenges that some of our students might go through when it comes to studying online or studying in a field that they've never done before. So I'm very passionate about why the participation. I believe that education is a tool that can break every barrier to academic success and career success. I'm very much interested in learners, students achieving their goals, and that's what we do. I mean, that's why we are in what we call, you know, teaching profession. We want all our students to be the best they can be, and not just being the best they can be for the now, but also for the future. So if you, if you join us, I hope when you listen to this, you will join us and come to study at the University of Essex, online, MSc in criminology and criminal psychology. And you would, you know, achieve your dreams. So this is the place to be.

Emily Slade: That's fantastic. I love that, education as a tool that's so apt, like I'm obsessed with that. I love that, fantastic. So if you'd like to begin by just describing the MSc criminology and criminal psychology course available.

Dr Jenny Epoyun-William: MSc in criminology and criminal psychology is different from the typical MSC criminology you would find anywhere, and I'm very proud to say that, because we're not just focused on obviously, the key thing is crime. You get to learn about criminology theories, but also you also getting to learn about criminal psychology. So for example, you're looking into forensic psychology and its impact on policing, and we have so many experts in the field, so associate matter experts, otherwise known as our tutors, have experience in the field. Some of them have worked with the prison service, some of them have worked in probation, in policing. So they're not just academics, but they've actually worked in the industry. And this gives you a competitive edge when you're going out there, because all the assessments that have been developed by experts in the field, for instance, psychologists. For example, we've even had a member of one of the homicide teams, one of the largest police forces in the UK. Consultant has helped to develop our model content. So the assessments you're doing, you can be rest assured that they mimic real life cases, and that gives our students that edge, because right from the very beginning, our students can start thinking about employability, because it's good to get the degree, the qualifications. But I believe, as I say, as a wider participation advocate, there is more out there, and the more out there is from day one, you speaking it to think about, you know, your employability, thinking about options out there for you. So even our all our modules, we have at the end of the module, you have, for example, a beyond the module video that you're going to watch to try to see that all the learning that you have learned, all the learning outcomes, is not just a box ticking approach. But how can I how can you apply that? If you have you know, you're faced with a criminological question or a criminal psychology question in practice, for example. So that's what makes us different and unique. And of course, we are 100% remote online, so you have the opportunity to watch, to join your lectures, to join the live seminars from any part of the world, regardless of the time zone that you belong to.

Emily Slade: Yeah, that's fantastic. So you really are dealing with the most cutting edge of research, of people that have been doing this in recent years, and then then bringing that to the classroom?

Dr Jenny Epoyun-William: Yes, sometimes in academia, that's something that, you know, it's just my struggle with in terms of bridging that gap, because anybody can learn theories, anybody can go online and Google, especially with the, you know, advent of AI. But what makes the difference is that you have professionals who have actually reformed, you know, practicing criminologists, criminal psychologists. They work in the profession, and they are teaching you. So you have, during our live seminars, you can ask them questions, and our tutors are very flexible, because obviously we have different students in different time zones. You have one to one. So the only difference is that you're not in a traditional classroom, but everything you get in traditional classroom, you get it with us, because we have a state of the art virtual learning platform.

Emily Slade: So let's talk about that a bit more. We've discussed a few of them, but what really are the benefits of online learning? You've talked about how anyone in the world can come and do this programme. So do you want to expand on that a bit more?

Dr Jenny Epoyun-William: Yes. So like I said, there was a former international student. So obviously now, with a lot of changes in terms of immigration rules and all of that, you don't have to bother about, that you don't have to travel, spend too much money, leave your country, leave your family, your businesses and all of that. But you have some people who are not even able to they can afford to, you know, study abroad as international students. But they can't just leave their family. They can leave the business. And this is where online, then it comes in. This is where we come in, University of Essex, online, because you have the opportunity we have, you know, pre recorded lecture cast and we have a live seminars as well, so you can fit all of these things around your existing commitment. Because we know that we all very busy. Everybody's rushing to do one thing or the other. But with the online learning, you know, it breaks every barrier. That's why I always talk about widening participation. It's a universal model. It gives a universal access to everyone, regardless of your background, to have that opportunity, as long as you are interested and you have a potential, even if you feel you don't have the potential, but you have that interest, we are able to, you know, reach out to you, support you through the process, and we work, it says, an academic team. We're not just, you know, doing things by ourselves. We work with the study skills team, we work with Disability Services, we work with the welfare team, and so we all work together in a collaborative fashion. And our passion and our goal is to ensure, not just, you know, an excellent student experience, but also to ensure that the student, right from the very beginning, is thinking about what is going to happen after. How can I use this learning to improve myself? Because that's what education does. It exposes you. It makes you see things from different perspective. You're going to be with students from different parts of the world. You're going to maybe speaking to a criminologist in Nigeria, a criminologist, one of your classmates could be a criminologist in Ghana, could be a criminologist in the Middle East, could be a criminologist in North America. And we try to find out, Oh, is this, how is this your approach to solving, you know, crime in your country, or this is what we've did, we've done. Or somebody in England will say, okay, um, this is, you know, the rate of crime in wheels in Scotland, you know what? What was the strategy that you use all of these discussions and things you have that opportunity. So it's not just the traditional classroom that has that online as well too. We bring that on board. If you are interested in criminology, we are the place to go to because we have the state of the art technology. We have the expertise. So what else do you need to achieve your dreams?

Emily Slade: That's fantastic. I have a mini side question. Your teaching staff, are they also globally based? So are you getting cutting edge research from the places that you mentioned? Do you have staff based in Nigeria? Do you have staff based in North America?

Dr Jenny Epoyun-William: Most of our colleagues, you know, live as residents in the UK, but we have colleagues who have also taught abroad, taught in the Commonwealth, who have colleagues who have worked in Canada. So we as much as possible. They have what we call like a varied experience of criminology, and not just that. They also collaborate with people, because you have, if you're living in the UK, you could also be writing, you know, a piece of research conducted a piece of research with somebody in at the other end of the world. You could be doing some form of comparative criminology research with somebody in Nigeria or Ghana. So that also gives you that form of experience. And many of them are also external examiners. Some of them are visiting lecturers elsewhere. So that's why they are able to bring in that, you know that angle of inclusivity as part of your teaching, because they understand what is going on. So yes, obviously you're studying from the English chronology perspective, but that's not the basis only you have the opportunity to engage in comparative analysis and understand what is happening, for example, within the global south and what is happening in other countries approaches, and that helps you to also engage in some critical thinking, critical reasoning and your it helps to build up your analytical skills and writing. Once you can understand that verbally, then you can translate that into a written form.

Emily Slade: Fantastic. Thank you. So the Pioneer awards celebrate innovation and achievement in global education. Can you tell us a bit about your involvement with them?

Dr Jenny Epoyun-William: Wow. So we're so excited at University of Essex online, we made it to the finalists category under digital innovation, specifically in learning. So the learning tech team of University of Essex online, they are responsible for our virtual learning platform, which is what any future students would have access to, because obviously, we study in 100% online, and this team created a study skills chat bot, and it basically is a dedicated resource to help our investors, Essex online students. It helps them in terms of, you know, helping them to develop the academic writing skills. In terms of time management and also note taking, because you know that our students are living in different countries, different time zones. They have pre existing commitments. Some have care responsibilities, and just how to balance all of that without having any negative impact on their mental well being and also their physical health. So we made it to the finalists, and it was a very big deal because it was attended by people and organisations celebrating innovation in global education. We were so excited about it because we already got in love positive feedback from our students regarding the study skills. But next time, hopefully next one, hopefully we'll win an award. I'm really hoping and rooting for the University of Essex Online, so we'll get there.

Emily Slade: Perfect. Are you able to talk a bit more about inclusive learning and how it's applied to the course?

Dr Jenny Epoyun-William: Wow, so inclusive learning. I mean, I believe that every organisation, institution, if you don't do inclusive learning, they usually even started when it comes to teaching and learning. Because through inclusive learning, this is thinking about the curriculum. So in the learning resources, even your seminars, and you know the lecture pass, the video, everything you're doing, you're thinking about the diverse needs of students, because we have students in different countries. You're thinking about the fact that students have different experiences, ensuring that the students can see themselves in the curriculum, so if they don't see themselves in a curriculum, it's very hard for them to engage, for example, bringing in some form of comparative studies analysis. This is how we incorporate inclusive learning as part of our teaching and learning strategy, and also being aware that people have disabilities which could also be hidden disabilities as well. So that was why, like I said earlier, we work very closely with the Disability Services team. So we always encourage students at the beginning, if you have a disability, is very important for you to declare this disability, because it's for your own good and for your own interest, because we can then work together with them and see how we can have, you know, reasonable adjustment plan, even when we're creating in any resources and materials. We're thinking about students, you know, any student that could have a disability, is there an alternative form? We want all students to see the module or see the course as an equal access for everyone. So for example, one of the strategies our tutors use is that the learning resources are uploaded far in advance. So our life savers, for example, because they happen live be obviously uploaded that same day or by the next day, and then you have a transcript as well. And the tutors would usually put the videos on so that students can also see all those non verbal cues. They can also lip read or needed. And all of this is just thinking about making sure that everybody has the same, obviously not the same. They may have different learning experiences, but they have the same opportunity and the same equal access, and are not disadvantaged in any way because of maybe, for example, English is not their first language, so you would expect that you, a tutor, is speaking. You consider that students could be speaking English as a second code or fourth language, like I found that in my teaching career, so something to be aware of, not to speak too fast, to be aware and to be used, to be careful in your choice of words, the sensitive words, for example, avoid using terms like ethnic minority, because ethnic minority phrases could also be exclusionary. Some people might, might not necessarily see themselves within that term. So also having a discussion with students in terms of respect languages approaching, how you're going to approach the teaching. And these are all of the things that our tutors do, just to make sure that right from the very beginning, the students. See the platform, you know, see us, see the Virtual Learning Environment, platform as you know, as a safe space. See the live seminars as a safe space, where they can come and learn, where they can engage. And most importantly, they know that they basically can see themselves in a curriculum that this is something for me, this is something, this is a curriculum that can impact me or help me to achieve my goals.

Emily Slade: Brilliant. Thank you. So what are the entry routes for the course?

Dr Jenny Epoyun-William: Very good question. So we have two entry routes. We have the academic entry route, which is very typical standard, you know, in different institutions whereby you have an undergraduate honors degree, it doesn't necessarily have to be from the UK. It could be from any other any country in the world. Obviously, as long as it's accredited in your home country, we would accept that we also have the work entry route, which is for people who you know are working in the field, it has to be at least three years relevant experience. So those are the two forms of entry that we have.

Emily Slade: So, when you talk about relevant experience, what does that look like? Is there a wide spectrum of what that covers, and where can potential students find out what that is?

Dr Jenny Epoyun-William: Well that's the thing about, you know, us working with the admissions team. So the admissions team, once you have that interest, all you need to do is just to reach out. Because what you might feel that may not be relevant, could be relevant, and this includes voluntary experience. It doesn't need to be paid experience as well. It could be working in the prisons. It could be working with the probation service or policing in your home country or anywhere. All we're just easy to do is reach out to us. Don't limit yourself, just reach out to us. I have this work experience. Am I able to register to do the MSc in criminology and criminal psychology? And our admissions team would respond to your request and usually they always get back to us, like I say, we work very collaboratively across teams and departments.

Emily Slade: And in terms of the academic route. Is that sort of any undergraduate and you can come and do this?

Dr Jenny Epoyun-William: Well, usually we would expect the students to have criminology. So you have some students that do joint honors, could be criminology and sociology or criminology and psychology, but in terms of the academic routes, they should, there has to be some understanding of the criminological theories. That's why it's the academic route, because they already have the basics.

Emily Slade: Perfect. Thank you. We've been discussing the MSc overall, but you also offer the PG cert and the PG dip as options. Can you just explain what those mean?

Dr Jenny Epoyun-William: The PG cert is done in eight months, and the PG dip is done in 16 months, and the MSc is done in two years. So why do we have that? Because we have, obviously students who have different commitments and different stages of their career. So they may not necessarily have the time to commit to two years, but they want something to be able to show that they have a post credit qualification. So they can always start with the PG cert, have that qualification, that they can show their employer that they have a postgraduate. So they are stand alone qualifications that they can get. So you have the PG certs. You do it in eight months. You have the PG dip, which, if it stays a higher qualification, also post credit qualification 16 months, and then you didn't have the MSc. So students can choose to either do just the PG certs, and if they come back to us in a few years time and say, oh, I want to progress to do the PG dip or do the MSc. We always welcome them. So that's the process that we follow.

Emily Slade: Fantastic. While I've got you here. Obviously, this is the podcast run by, powered, if you will, by Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ. What's your personal history with Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ?

Dr Jenny Epoyun-William: Wow, I could spend all day talking about that. The first time I had a look at Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ was at the Nigerian law school. So I was, I was studying in Nigeria. You have to go to the one year Nigerian law school to become a barrister and solicitor. So one of my roommates at the Abuja campus. Shout out to Inem. She's a very successful lawyer. She's very interested in technology. So she used to travel to the UK, frequently. And obviously, at that time I was in Nigeria, had not been to the UK. So she brought this Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ, and I found myself just glued to it. And I would I read about all the different areas of law, intellectual property. There were pictures, there were stories about how you could, you know, go into a specific area of law, right there. And then I made up my mind that I was going to, you know, do my Masters degree in the UK. And what it was while I was in the campus Nigerian Law School Bucha campus, Nigeria I got to, I met somebody who was studying University of Buckingham. And I remember there were a number of universities written in that Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ, and Buckingham was one of them. And I didn't even do like research, because the internet was not really readily available much at that time, I just put up my mind I was going to the University of Buckingham. I was, I read this in Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ, and that was it. So that is, you know, I'm just very pleased, and just, you know, amazed at the opportunity to be able to have this interview with Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ, because this was in 2007 and this is 2024. So it just shows, you know, the great work that Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ is doing, because I just stumbled on the hard copy. And by time I got into this booking, I would always look out for all the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ because, you know, I had now had access to it. I didn't have to wait to travel and bring it to me I had everything. I had all the resources available at my doorstep in the library. So I would always go, I would go to the library very early, pack all the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ up, and people be looking at me like, " leave some for other people". I wasn't bothered about that. So it really shows that what you're doing here, you might just feel like you're just reaching a few people, but right there in Nigeria, I read one of the hard copies, but now Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ is now online. Obviously you're thinking about the planet, but thankfully, yeah, for that period, at least, I was able to have, you know, have read about my career, what I wanted to do, the different forms of. I didn't even know that there were so many forms of. I just did a, you know, you do an LLM Masters in law. But I saw different types of LLM, and I was like, wow. So I was always reading it. Yeah, here I am today. So thank you so much Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ»ÆƬ. Thank you.

Emily Slade: That's such a wonderful story. Yeah, we do genuinely check out our website. We have so much detail on all the different things that you've never even realised existed before. So thank you so much for highlighting that that's wonderful.

Dr Jenny Epoyun-William: Oh, pleasure.

Emily Slade: That's all fantastic. Thank you so much for your time today.

Dr Jenny Epoyun-William: Oh, thank you, Emily. I'm so I'm so glad to be given the opportunity.

Emily Slade: Thanks again to Jenny for her time. For more information on the course check out the show notes below. If you enjoyed the episode leave us a review on Apple or Spotify. Thank you as always for listening and good luck on your journey to future you.

Notes on transcript

This transcript was produced using a combination of automated software and human transcribers and may contain errors. The audio version is definitive and should be checked before quoting.

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