Potter College News

The Department of Folk Studies & Anthropology and the Department of Sociology & Criminology will join together to create the new Department of Society, Culture, Crime, and Justice Studies (SCCJS).

The main academic focus of the department will be on societal, cultural, and justice studies, with a heavy emphasis on community engagement and service. Bringing together the departments will provide students with opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborations across the academic programs as well as with the two award-winning applied units, Kentucky Folklife Program (KFP) and the Kentucky Archaeological Survey (KAS), which will both move to the new department.

“As we think about the structure of academic units within colleges, the pairing of Sociology and Criminology and Folk Studies and Anthropology will bring forth opportunities to create and further conversations surrounding curriculum innovation, resource management, and, most importantly, community engagement,” says Dr. Terrance Brown, Dean of the Potter College of Arts & Letters. “I am thankful for the faculty and staff in both units for their flexibility, understanding, and direction during the restructure period.”

Department of Sociology & Criminology chair, Dr. Holli Drummond, will become the chair of the new department. With years of experience as a department chair, she is excited to blend the two departments together and explore new curricula.

“The Sociology and Criminology programs at WKU have experienced both longevity and evolution with a sociology course listed in the very first undergraduate catalog and creation of our newest degree program, the major in criminology, in 2014,” says Dr. Drummond. “Our long tenure represents resilience, a characteristic we share with our students and one we look forward to developing as part of an expanded academic community.”

Classrooms, administrative offices, faculty offices, and student labs for the new department will be housed primarily in the Ivan Wilson Fine Arts Center. The Anthropology Lab and KAS staff offices will continue to be in Cherry Hall, and the KFP will continue to be housed in the Pioneer Log Cabin.

Program directors and faculty from both departments agree that students will appreciate and value the collaborative nature of the new department.

“Our programs have a deep history of collaborations at WKU, starting with establishment of folklore studies over a century ago in English,” says Dr. Darlene Applegate, Department of Folk Studies & Anthropology chair. “When the anthropology program was created in the 1960s, it was in a department with sociology and social work, so this merger is a full circle of sorts for anthropology. We are excited about opportunities to explore new curricula and research partnerships with our colleagues, such as in forensic sciences and rural health, to create 21^st-century opportunities for our students.”

SCCJS have completed their unification effective July 1, 2024.