Dr. Elizabeth K. Brown

Assistant Professor

Email:

ebrown@niagara.edu

Phone:

716.286.8092

Office Location:

Timon 101

Office Hours:

M. 2:30-3:30; W. 2:30-5:30; F. 2:30-4:30

Bio

Dr. Brown grew up overseas (Africa, Asia) and graduated from high school in Amherst, MA. She graduated summa cum laude from Tufts University with a B.A. in Psychology in 2000. She went on to earn a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from the School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany in the spring of 2009. She was happy to join the excellent faculty at Niagara University in the fall of 2009.

Focus of Teaching

In the fall 2012 semester, Dr. Brown is teaching courses on "Comparative Criminal Justice Systems" at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. In the spring 2013, she will be teaching "American Criminal Courts" (undergraduate) and "Policy Paper" (graduate).

She has previously taught "Corrections" and "Politics of Punishment."

Current Research

Dr. Brown’s research focuses on the contexts and dynamics of punishment policy and policymaking, social and political constructions of crime, the legitimacy of penal policy, state-level punishment practices, public defense systems, the politicization of crime control, and the roles of public opinion in penal policymaking:

Brown, Elizabeth K. (2012). "Rethinking public opinion in penal policymaking: Recommendations for research." Sociology Compass, 6(8): 601-613.

Brown, Elizabeth K. (2012 online first). "Foreclosing on incarceration? State correctional policy enactments and the Great Recession." Criminal Justice Policy Review.

Brown, Elizabeth K. (2011). “Constructing the public will: How political actors in New York State construct, assess, and use public opinion in penal policy making.” Punishment & Society, 13(4): 424-450.

Alissa Pollitz Worden, Andrew Lucas Davies & Elizabeth K. Brown. (2011) "A Patchwork of Policies: Justice, due process, and public defense across American states" 74 Alb. L. Rev. 1423.

Brown, Elizabeth K. (2009). Public Opinion and Penal Policymaking: An Examination of Constructions, Assessments, and Uses of Public Opinion by Political Actors in New York State. Ph.D. Dissertation, School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany.

Brown, Elizabeth K. (2006). “The dog that did not bark: Punitive social views and the professional middle classes.” Punishment & Society, 8 (3): 287-312.

Acker, James R., Brown, Elizabeth K., & Englebrecht, Christine M. (2004; reprinted 2007). “The Scottsboro Boys’ Trials: Black Men as ‘Racial Scapegoats.’” In F. Bailey & S. Chermak (Eds.), Famous American Crimes and Trials: Vol. 4. Crime, Media, and Popular Culture. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishing, 147-168.

Current Involvement

Dr. Brown is a member of the American Society of Criminology (ASC) and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS), and reviews manuscripts for Justice Quarterly, Theoretical Criminology, Social Problems, Criminal Justice Policy Review, and Criminal Justice Review. She serves on the Niagara University Fulbright committee, the College of Arts & Sciences Curriculum Committee, and at the Heart, Love and Soul soup kitchen in Niagara Falls.