Carceral Studies Certificate
The Carceral Studies Certificate provides students with an interdisciplinary approach to the study of mass incarceration.
Description of Certificate
The Carceral Studies Certificate, a program of the Prison Engagement Initiative at the Kenan Institute for Ethics, provides students with an interdisciplinary approach to the study of mass incarceration in the United States and abroad. The certificate will help students to understand mass incarceration in historical and political context. It will show them approaches to carceral studies using both quantitative and qualitative research methods, as well as artistic ones. Students will learn various theories about the production and purpose of mass incarceration, its role in America’s economic structure, and its relationship to race and racial disparities.
The certificate is open to all majors but may be of special interest to students interested in law, public policy, and/or social justice.
Please note: only students in the graduating class of 2027 and subsequent years are eligible to enroll in the Carceral Studies Certificate. This is because the Capstone course, a certificate requirement, will be offered starting in the 2026—2027 academic year.
Certificate Requirements
Students interested in enrolling in the Carceral Studies Certificate are welcome to submit a statement of intent of about 250 words to co-directors James Chappel (james.chappel@duke.edu) and Chris Wildeman (christopher.wildeman@duke.edu), explaining why you are interested in the certificate. Please also list the courses that you hope to take to fulfill the certificate requirements, as well as those already taken.
The goal of the Gateway course, “Incarceration Nation,” is to understand what is unique about mass incarceration, what caused it, and what its consequences are.
Topics include: the history of jails/prisons and the causes of mass incarceration; the conditions of confinement: the lived experience of incarceration in these facilities; the effects of incarceration on crime, the state, human capital, families, health, and communities.
Please note: the Gateway course for the Carceral Studies Certificate is listed under two different course numbers.
SOCIOL 128CN
During the Fall semester, the course is reserved for first-year students in the Social Control constellation.
Curriculum Codes: SB (Social and Behavioral Analysis) and IJ (Interpreting Institutions, Justice, and Power).
Instructor: Christopher Wildeman
SOCIOL 228
During the Spring semester, the course is open to anyone.
Curriculum Codes: SS (Social Sciences) for students matriculating prior to Fall 2025; SB (Social and Behavioral Analysis) for students matriculating in Fall 2025 and subsequent years.
Instructor: Garrett Baker
Please note: in order to be eligible for the certificate, the Gateway course must be taken by the second semester of your junior year.
The Capstone course is designed to help students reflect on their learning and consider how that knowledge might impact their lives and careers.
The course entails: interdisciplinary conversations about mass incarceration; visits from community partners; a final project: sustained experience with a written reflection or research report.
Please note: the Capstone class will be offered starting in academic year 2026–2027.
Students must take four electives — each originating in a different department or program. One of these electives must have a significant non-U.S. component; courses with an asterisk (*) have been pre-approved as such.
Please note: These are pre-approved electives. A student may petition the Certificate Co-Directors to count a course that isn’t listed or that they think should count towards the significant non-U.S. component requirement. Please email them a brief note about why you think the course should count, and attach the syllabus if possible.
Additional alternatives to listed electives:
• An in-prison course, of any type, may be substituted for an elective, if accompanied by a written reflection and approved by the certificate co-directors. Such courses are typically offered by Duke Divinity School.
• A 150-hour field experience (e.g., internships or volunteer experiences) may be substituted for an elective, if pre-approved by the certificate directors. Please note this option may involve some additional requirements (e.g, readings, reflections, papers). These requests should be made as early as possible.
AFRICAN & AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES
AAAS 338: Popular Representation of Black Masculinity
AAAS 345: African Americans, Mass Incarceration and Citizenship
AAAS 387: Moral Panics, Spectacle, and Everyday Life: Social Anxieties and Minorities
ECONOMICS
ECON 445: Economics of Crime
ETHICS
ETHICS 195S: Human Rights and Legal Redress: Seeking Justice through Human Rights*
ETHICS 256: Just Work: RJ Models and Applications
ETHICS 272: Sexuality and the Law
DOCUMENTARY STUDIES
DOCST 321S: Police, Pandemics, and Assassinations: Art Video History and Practice
GENDER, SEXUALITY, AND FEMINIST STUDIES
GSF 295: Sex Work: The Politics of Sexual Labor*
GERMAN
GERM 284: Poetics of Murder*
HISTORY
HISTORY 147: Global History of the Prison*
HISTORY 158: Fascism: A History*
HISTORY 182: The Law in Slavery and Freedom
HISTORY 235: Drugs, Chemicals, and Health: Histories of Substances in Economies, Environments, and Bodies*
HISTORY 313: Crime and the City from Dickens to the Wire
HISTORY 396: Racial Justice in the 20th Century US and South Africa*
POLITICAL SCIENCE
POLISCI 355: Michel Foucault and Theories of Power*
POLISCI 364: Political Violence, Repression, and Organized Crime
POLISCI 373: Law and Politics
POLISCI 537: Transitional Justice*
POLISCI 589: The Black Radical Tradition: COVID-19, #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd, and the Movement for Black Lives
PHILOSOPHY
PHIL 206: Philosophy of Law
PHIL 246: Prisoner’s Dilemma and Distributive Justice
PSYCHOLOGY
PSY 153FS: Drugs & the Law
PSY 215FS: The Psychology of Crime: Scientific and Public Perspectives
PSY 257: From Madness to Mental Disorders: Sociology of Mental Health
PSY 274: Drugs, Brains, and Behavior
PUBLIC POLICY
PUBPOL 250FS: Law, Ethics & Responsibility
SOCIOLOGY
SOCIOL 238: Just Laws: Inequalities in the US Legal System
SOCIOL 219: Juvenile Delinquency
SOCIOL 220: Causes of Crime
SOCIOL 222: Inequalities in the US Criminal Justice System
SOCIOL 265: Drug Use & Abuse: Getting High in the US
SOCIOL 330: Bad Behavior
SOCIOL 343: Displacements: Migration and Human Trafficking
Additional Certificate Requirements and Considerations
- The Gateway and Capstone courses must be taken in separate semesters. This means that the Gateway course must be taken by the Spring semester of your junior year.
- Each elective must originate in a different department or program. One of these electives must have a significant non-U.S. component.
- No more than two course credits to fulfill the requirements of a certificate can overlap with another major, minor or certificate.
- At least half the courses taken to satisfy the certificate must be Duke course credits. Transfer students should consult with the department.
- The combined number of majors, minors, and certificates may not exceed three.
Contact
If you have questions, please write to the Carceral Studies Certificate co-directors.
Gilhuly Family Associate Professor of History
james.chappel@duke.edu
Professor of Sociology
christopher.wildeman@duke.edu