Kimora
Adjunct Professor
Social Sciences, Human Services and Criminal Justice
EMAIL: kimora@bmcc.cuny.edu
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PROFESSOR KIMORA
kimora@bmcc.cuny.edu
BIOGRAPHY
KIMORA has been a Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in NYC since 2004. She also teaches “Corrections” at BMCC. She has been an elected member of the City University of New York’s (CUNY) University Faculty Senate (UFS) since 2011. She was honored to chair the Student Affairs Committee (SAC) during 2017-2018. She was re-elected to a second term on the Executive Committee (EC) of the CUNY University Faculty Senate this past May, 2019. Professor Kimora was re-elected to a third term to the Executive Committee (EC) of the CUNY University Faculty Senate (UFS) in May, 2020. She will be Chair of the UFS- Academic Freedom committee beginning in September, 2020.
During the spring of 2019, Professor Kimora initiated the Correctional Educational Academy (CEA) at John Jay College of Criminal Justice to promote research in the field of correctional education and to emphasize the need for more students to pursue a career as a correctional educator in prisons, jails, treatment programs and alternative-to-incarceration programs in the United States.
She teaches Corrections courses in the Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration Department (LPS) as well as the Graduate School at John Jay College and the HONORS program. She developed the curriculum for COR 397: Corrections and the Media. She also developed COR 395: Educating behind bars and Policy Implications, the FIRST college correctional education course in the United States. She also teaches two leadership courses that she designed in the Honors Program.
Kimora is an accomplished teacher in the classroom as well as online. In April, 2015, Criminal Justice Pursuit named her the best criminal justice professor in the United States. In 2012, Princeton Review named her the second best professor (of all professors) in the United States.
Professor Kimora’s research, publishing and teaching focus is on correctional educational programs for correctional officers as well as for participants in the jails and prisons in the United States. In March, 2015, Kimora published two books: 1) When Young People Break the Law: Debating Issues on Punishment for Juveniles and 2) Ethnic Profiling: A Modern Framework. In 2012, she presented research regarding the need for prevention and treatment services in the criminal justice system in Central and Eastern Europe at the University of Maribor in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Dr. Kimora is the Education Director for Treatment Services at the Osborne Association, which is a New York State based prison, re-entry and family services program.
Kimora has served on the Board of Directors of Reality House, Inc., a New York City advocacy group for veterans and their families since 2004. In 2017, she was unanimously elected Vice Chair of Reality House, Inc.
Kimora has a Ph. D. in Education from the University of Minnesota. Her doctoral dissertation entitled “The need for cognitive skills training in correctional vocational education programming” was published in the Yearbook of Correctional Education, 1998-1999.
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Expertise
My areas of EXPERTISE are:
-Correctional Education
-Corrections
-Ethics
-Leadership
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Degrees
- Ph.D. in Education, University of Minnesota
- Master of Arts in Theatre and Drama, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Courses Taught
- Criminal Justice is the field that studies formal social control. This course covers the processing of crime by agents of formal control (police, courts, and institutional corrections). The general focus is on understanding the complex interactions of structures and agents in the system. Of particular concern are discretion and diversity in law enforcement, due process in criminal courts, and the punishment-rehabilitation dichotomy in corrections. The ultimate goal is to provide a critical foundation that prepares students for the challenges of a career in criminal justice.
- This course examines the history of criminal punishment in Western society, emphasizing the United States. The course highlights social forces (political, religious, economic, and technological) shaping punishment; reviews common theories (deterrence, retribution, rehabilitation, incapacitation, and restoration) and examines how theory relates to policy. The course takes a critical approach to correctional systems and policies by considering disparities and structural inequalities. Empirical evidence is used to examine contemporary crises of punishment (i.e., mass incarceration, school-to-prison pipeline) as well as prison culture, staffing, privatization, and prisoner civil rights. Alternatives to traditional punishment, especially restorative justice models, are explored. Prerequisite: CRJ 101
- This course provides a historical overview of the relationship of the states of the Bill of Rights, and how the Supreme Court has interpreted the powers of the federal government. The effect of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment on the application of the Bill of Rights to the states is examined through a study of the leading Supreme Court decisions related to criminal justice. Topics include characteristics and powers of the three branches of government, the principles governing the operation of the Bill of Rights, and the variables affecting the formulation of judicial policy. Prerequisite: POL 100
- This is an introductory and foundational course in the study of crime and justice. It is designed to introduce students to the various historical and contemporary theories and empirical research used to understand deviant and criminal behavior. This course takes a critical approach to the study of the definition and measurement of crime, as well as applications of these theories to practice and in policy. Offending and victimization, as these relate to specific crime types (i.e., white collar crime, violent crime, sex crime, drug related crimes, etc.) will be explored. Prerequisite: SOC 100
Research and Projects
Correctional Education Academy (CEA)
Publications
Kimora ,editor, (March, 2015). Ethnic Profiling: a Modern Framework. New York and Amsterdam: International Debate Education Association.
Karsten J. Struhl and Kimora, editors (March, 2015) When Young People Break the Law: Debating Issues on Punishment for Juveniles. New York and Amsterdam: International Debate Education Association.
Kimora, (March, 2013). “The work of Jerome H. Skolnick: a pioneer in policing” in Police Practice and Research: An International Journal. Taylor and Francis Group.
Kobilinsky, L. and Danielle Sapse (Eds.) (spring, 2011), Trends in Legal Aspects of Methamphetamine in Advances in Forensic Science and Applications of the Judiciary System. CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group.
Honors, Awards and Affiliations
- BMCC Distinguished Teaching Award, 2020
- Criminal Justice Pursuit, Best Criminal Justice Professor in the United States, 2015
- Princeton Review, Second Best Professor in the United States, 2012
