WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – On Monday, April 13, Professor Peter Liu’s Criminal Justice held an educational crime presentation as a part of the 14th Annual Global Understanding Convention.
The students in Professor Liu’s class formed groups, and each created a short presentation based on a particular crime and elected a member or members of the group to speak at the event. The topic of the event was, “I really really want to commit a crime.”
“I thought it was an interesting way to present the information,” said sophomore Jenna Lally, who attended the event with her
class.
At the beginning of the event, students were required to select a crime group that served some interest to be researched throughout the semester. Each group created a presentation based on the knowledge of the crime within three nations: China, Japan, US. The trick? The group members had to commit a crime within their chosen group and explain where they would want it to take place.
Criminal Justice major Sean Edson was the leader of Group 3 who spoke about gang related crimes during the event. “My role during the event was to present a 15 minute power point presentation based on the issue of gangs and their involvement with human trafficking in the United States, China, and Japan,” said Edson.
Insert Photo Here (Senior Sean Edson presenting during Global Understanding Convention)
“I think that many individuals are unaware that human trafficking can happen in the United States,” Edson stated. “It’s a huge problem that tends to be pushed under the rug.”
Other topics discussed at the event included presentations about drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence and sex crimes within China and Japan.
“The overall goal of this event was to education students on the crime that happens in other nations besides ours and how that selected nation handles it,” said Edson.
Sponsored by the Institute of Global Understanding, this year’s theme was “Practicing Non-Violence in a Violent World.” Several classes participated in the convention, conducting presentations similar to that of Professor Liu’s class in order to highlight the various aspects of non-violent practices. In shedding a light on a topic as serious as crime, Liu’s class brought into perspective the reality of crime on an international level, engaging the Monmouth community in a very real issue.
“It was a very different approach to such a mundane topic,” said Lally. “[It made] us think like a criminal rather than just presenting the information.”
