Faculty
Kristie Blevins, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Education:
Ph.D. University of Cincinnati, Criminal Justice
Email: Kristie.Blevins@eku.edu
Phone: 859-622-6869
Research/Academic Interests:
- Corrections
- The occupational reactions of criminal justice employees
- Crime prevention
- She has also teamed with local law enforcement agencies to study theft, robberies, and prostitution
Publications:
Dr. Blevins’ work can be found in several journals including:
- Journal of Offender Rehabilitation
- Criminal Justice Policy Review
- International Journal of Police Science and Management
She has also co-authored and co-edited chapters in:
- Taking Stock: The Status of Criminological Theory and Transformative Justice: Critical and Peacemaking Themes Influenced by Richard Quinney
Associations/Affiliations/Work History:
- American Society of Criminology
- Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences
- Southern Criminal Justice Association
Charles Fields, Ph.D.
Professor
Email: Charles.Fields@eku.edu
Phone: 859-622-6555
Research/Academic Interests:
- Comparative state laws
Publications:
Dr. Fields’ work can be found in in several journals including:
- The Prison Journal
- Journal of Criminal Justice and Economic Business Review
He has also authored and/or edited books, monographs and journals including:
- The Dialogue
- American Journal of Criminal Justice
- Controversial Issues in Corrections
- Modern Police Organizations
Carole Garrison, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Education:
Ph.D. The Ohio State University, Public Administration with Criminal Justice Concentration
Email: Carole.Garrison@eku.edu
Phone: 859-622-0000
Publications:
Dr. Garrison co-authored a chapteron the "Realities of Police Women" in Women, Law and Social Control (2005).
Associations/Affiliations/Work History:
- Former Director of the University of Akron's Women's Studies Program
- Former Chair, Eastern Kentucky University Department of Criminal Justice and Police Studies
- Appointed in 1990 to the Department of Defense committee on Women in the Military (DACOWTS)
- Served as a District Electoral Supervisor in Cambodia from 1992-1993 as part of the UN peacekeeping mission, UNTAC
- Served as the Executive Director of the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia, a coordinating network of all humanitarian and development NGOs in Cambodia
- Served as a consultant to Natural Farm Nepal (NAFAN)
Awards/Accolades:
- Atlanta (GA) Bureau of Police Services Award for Distinguished Service
- "Outstanding Faculty" recognition from The University of Akron's Board of Trustees in 1987, 1991 and 1992
Stephen Kappeler
Senior Lecturer
Education:
B.S. Central Missouri State University
M.A. Radford University
Email: Stephen.Kappeler@eku.edu
Phone: 859-622-6710
Publications:
Dr. Kappeler’s work can be found in several journals including:
- The American Journal of Police
- Journal of Criminal Justice
- Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology
Associations/Affiliations/Work History:
- American Society of Criminology
- Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences
Awards/Accolades:
- EKU’s Distinguished Educational Leader Award
- EKU’s Excellence in Leadership Award
- EKU’s Service Outside the Classroom Award
Victor Kappeler, Ph.D.
Dean of the College of Justice and Safety and Foundation Professor
Education:
Ph.D. Sam Houston State University, Criminal Justice
Email: Victor.Kappeler@eku.edu
Phone: 859-622-3565
Research/Academic Interests:
- Crime and political economy
- Social construction of crime
- Ideology and crime, crime and popular culture
- Police deviance and corruption
Awards/Accolades:
- 2006 Cabinet for Justice and Public Safety Award for Academic Excellence
- 2005 Outstanding Criminal Justice Alumnus Award from Sam Houston State University
- Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Criminology’s Division on Critical Criminology for “sustained and distinguished scholarship, teaching, and/or service in the field of critical criminology”
Pete Kraska, Ph.D.
Graduate Program Coordinator and Director
Email: Pete.Kraska@eku.edu
Phone: 859-622-1980
Research/Academic Interests:
- Making theoretical sense of the emergence of underground cage-fighting
- The trend to criminalize risky and negligent behaviors as an adaptation to late-modern social conditions
- A continuation of study into the blurring distinction between criminal justice and the military in the wars on drugs and terrorism.
Publications:
Dr. Kraska’s work can be found in a number of leading journals including:
- Social Problems, Justice Quarterly
- Policing and Society
He has also authored seven books including:
- Criminal Justice and Criminology Research Methods, Theorizing Criminal Justice: Eight Essential Orientations
- Militarizing The American Criminal Justice System: The Changing Roles of the Armed Forces and Police
Awards/Accolades:
Dr. Kraska’s work has been featured by:
- The Economist
- The New York Times
- National Public Radio
- Peter Jennings’s World News Tonight
Deborah Louis, Ph.D.
Instructor
Education:
Ph.D. Rutgers University
Email: Deborah.Louis@eku.edu
Phone: 859-622-0000
Research/Academic Interests:
- Strengthening families
- Improving community support services
- Ensuring that all community sectors have a voice in the decisions affecting their lives
Associations/Affiliations/Work History:
- Independent community development planning consultant
- Public interest advocate
- Neighborhood watch
- Community policing
- Diversity training
- Police brutality investigations
- Advising crime victims
- Advocacy for and evaluation of civilian review systems
- Negotiations in the context of civil disobedience
Betsy Matthews, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Education:
Ph.D. University of Cincinnati, Criminal Justice
Email: Betsy.Matthews@eku.edu
Phone: 859-622-8113
Research/Academic Interests:
- Community corrections
- Correctional rehabilitation
Associations/Affiliations:
- Former child care worker in a residential treatment facility for behaviorally disordered adolescents
- Former adult probation officer
- Served on American Probation and Parole Association, serving as a research associate on federally funded grant projects
Kevin Minor, Ph.D.
Professor
Education:
B.S. Indiana State University
M.S. Emporia State University
Ph.D. Western Michigan University, Sociology/criminology
Email: Kevin.Minor@eku.edu
Phone: 859-622-2240
Research/Academic Interests:
- Institutional and community corrections
- Theories of crime and punishment
- Juvenile delinquency/justice
- Evaluation and applied research
Associations/Affiliations:
Dr. Minor has served as a consultant to several organizations and agencies, including:
- National Institute of Corrections
- Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
- U.S. Bureau of Prisons
Derek Paulsen, Ph.D.
Professor
Education:
Ph.D. Sam Houston State University, Criminal Justice
Email: Derek.Paulsen@eku.edu
Phone: 859-622-2906
Research/Academic Interests:
- Spatial aspects of crime
- The impact of urban planning and development on crime patterns
Publications:
Dr. Paulsen’s work can be found in several journals including:
- Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management
- Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling
- International Journal of Police Science and Management
Associations/Affiliations/Work History:
- Director of EKU’s Center for Crime and the Built Environment
Gary Potter, Ph.D.
Associate Dean of the College of Justice and Safety and Professor
Education:
Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University, Community Systems Planning and Development with an emphasis in Criminal Justice
Email: Gary.Potter@eku.edu
Phone: 859-622-7884
Research/Academic Interests:
- Transnational organized crime
- Human trafficking and the sex industry
- Drug trafficking by teenagers in rural Kentucky
Publications:
Dr. Potter’s work can be found in several journals including:
- Crime, Law and Social Change
- Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice
- Criminal Justice Policy Review
He has also authored eight books including:
- Drugs in Society
- Criminal Organizations
- Organized Crime
- Controversies in White Collar Crime
Judah Schept, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Education:
Ph.D. Indiana University
Email: Judah.Schept@eku.edu
Research/Academic Interests:
- The prison industrial complex
- Social movements and resistance
- Ethnography
- Cultural criminology
- Transformative justice
- Law and society
Irina Soderstrom, Ph.D.
Professor
Education:
B.A. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Ph.D. Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Educational Psychology/Statistics and Measurement
Email: Irina.Soderstrom@eku.edu
Phone: 859-622-1156
Research/Academic Interests:
- Statistics
- Research methods
- Research seminar
- Program evaluation
- Evaluative research onparole programs, boot camps, correctional industries, teen courts and school safety
James Wells, Ph.D.
Professor
Education:
Ph.D. Georgia State University, Research, Measurement, and Statistics
Email: James.Wells@eku.edu
Phone: 859-622-1158
Research/Academic Interests:
- Justice and safety agency related program evaluation research
- The improvement of criminal justice training
- Prison Rape Legislation Act
Publications:
Dr. Wells’ work can be found in several journals including:
- Crime and Delinquency
- Journal of Juvenile Justice & Detention Services
- Federal Probation
- Journal of School Violence.
Associations/Affiliations:
- Director of the Center for Criminal Justice Education and Research (CCJER) in EKU’s College of Justice & Safety
