H. James Birx, PhDProfessor of Anthropology
E-mail: birxh@canisius.edu
Old Main 016D
(716) 888-2745
Dr. Birx is an anthropologist who has written several books and published many articles in the area of human evolution, including Human Evolution, Interpreting Evolution, and Craniometry of the Orchid Site Ostuary. He teaches physical anthropology and cultural anthropology. He also teaches CRJ 333 Anthropology and Crime Science. He brings to this course his knowledge of biology, anthropology, and philosophy in order to understand and appreciate the value of forensic investigation. His interest in crime science spans the history of human culture. Dr. Birx was an undergraduate at the State University of New York at Geneseo and did his graduate work at the State University of New York at Buffalo. You may go to his homepage by clicking here.
Patricia Christian, PhDAssociate Professor of Sociology
E-mail: christia@canisius.edu
Old Main 014C
(716) 888-2878
Dr. Christian is a sociologist whose teaching and research interests center around families, child care, and gender issues. She teaches two required courses for the sociology major, SOC111, Contemporary Social Problems, and SOC342, Research Methods. She also teaches various electives for the major, including SOC291, Gender and Society, SOC340, The City, and SOC390, Marriage and Family. She was an undergraduate major in anthropology at Wellesley College and did her graduate work in sociology at Brown University. As a Member of the Board of the Child Care Resource Network she helps in the operation of the local child care resource and referral agency. Her latest research project involves participant-observation at day care centers and interviews with parents of children in day care centers.
Patricia Erickson, PhDAssociate Professor of Criminal Justice & Sociology
E-mail: ericksop@canisius.edu
Old Main 016C
(716) 888-2749
Dr. Erickson is the chair of the Department of Sociololgy, Anthropology and Criminal Justice, and director of the Criminal Justice Program. She is a sociologist and an attorney. Dr. Erickson is especially interested in the areas of domestic violence and child abuse and neglect. She has practiced in Erie County Family Court representing parents as well as children. Dr. Erickson teaches several of the required courses for criminal justice majors including CRJ 337 Violence and the Family, CRJ 449 Criminal Law, CRJ 450 Criminal Procedure, CRJ 482 Criminal Justice Ethics, CRJ 227 Criminal Justice I, CRJ 228 Criminal Justice II, CRJ 254 Crime and Society, CRJ 343 Law and Society, and, as director of the Criminal Justice Program, oversees CRJ 498 and CRJ 499. Dr. Erickson taught inmates at the Attica Correctional Facility through the Consortium of the Niagara Frontier, a program partially sponsored by Canisius College. Dr. Erickson was an undergraduate at the State University of New York at Buffalo, did her graduate work in sociology at the University of Denver and received her law degree, cum laude, from the State University of New York at Buffalo. To read more about her work, click here (Adobe Acrobat PDF).
Erin Robinson, PhDAssistant Professor of Sociology
Old Main 014B
E-mail: robinso5@canisius.edu
(716) 888-2748
Dr. Robinson is a sociologist who concentrates her teaching and research in the areas of environmental sociology and the study of social movements. The required courses she teaches for the major include SOC110, Introduction to Sociology, and SOC432, Theories in Sociology. She also offers a number of electives, including SOC 324, Visual Sociology, SOC 273, Social Movements and Social Change, and SOC 234, Environment and Society. She also teaches a course in qualitative methodology, ANT351. She received her undergraduate degree in sociology and English from SUNY Geneseo, her MA in sociology at the University of Tennessee, and her Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Dr. Robinson is involved in the Environment section of the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP). Currently she is working on a project studying the development of People’s Park, a community effort to reclaim unused urban space along Main Street in Buffalo. She also works with the United Way, Tools For Living Working Group, helping to evaluate agencies who are awarded community grants.
Mrs. Maureen Martens
Secretary
E-mail: martensm@canisius.edu
The Honorable Kevin Carter
Adjunct Professor of Criminal Justice
E-mail: carterk@canisius.edu
Old Main 014C
(716) 888-2746
Jennifer Fields, Esq.
Adjunct Professor of Criminal Justice
E-mail: fields1@canisius.edu
Old Main 014C
(716) 888-2746
Jennifer R. Fields is a criminal and family court attorney that has practiced in several counties in New York State including Cattaraugus, Wyoming and Erie. She is a former Assistant Public Defender, Special Prosecutor and Law Guardian and has taught Attica inmates through the New York State Prisoner Task Force. Professor Fields is currently completing her PH.D. at the State University of New York at Buffalo in Sociology with an emphasis in Criminology. She also received her law degree from the same institution with concentrations in both criminal and international law. Upon completion of her Juris Doctor, she was accepted into the law schools Master of Laws program and graduated with an LL.M in Criminal Law with an emphasis on the International Criminal Court of Justice and Terrorism. Professor Fields has worked at various higher education institutions as an adjunct professor and has taught criminal justice courses including CRJ 449 Criminal Law, CRJ 450 Criminal Procedure, CRJ 254 Crime and Society, CRJ 358 White Collar Crime, Introduction to Corrections and Multi-Cultural Policing. She completed her undergraduate work at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.
David Koteras Adjunct Professor of Criminal Justice
E-mail: koterasd@canisius.edu
Old Main 014C
(716) 888-5978 or 888-2746
David P. Koteras recently completed a thirty-five career in law enforcement. He served as the Director of Training for the Erie County Sheriff’s Department in his final assignment. Other experiences in his career involved corrections, traffic enforcement, investigations, writing policy and procedure, and assisting in the creation and administration of law enforcement accreditation. He also is the past president of the Law Enforcement Training Directors Association of New York State. As an adjunct faculty member, Professor Koteras teaches several criminal justice courses including CRJ 351 Police and the Community, CRJ 354 Juvenile Delinquency, CRJ 356 Treatment of Offenders I, and CRJ 357 Treatment of Offenders II, CRJ 344 Violent Crime in American Society, and CRJ 359 Women and Crime. In the future he will be teaching a course on Gangs in
Emeritus:
Jesse E. Nash, Jr.
(716) 888-2746
(716) 888-2746