About the Grant Sawyer Center for Justice Studies

The Grant Sawyer Center for Justice Studies was established at the University of Nevada, Reno in 1992. The Center was established out of a recognition that one of the timeless areas of citizen concern is justice at all levels of society. This concern directs attention to scholarship, social policy and the relationship between the two. The Center was created to stimulate research scholarship that would generate information about justice issues which could form the basis for informed social policy.

The Center is part of the School of Social Research and Justice Studies, whose purpose is to facilitate and encourage interdisciplinary social research, especially in social justice related areas and to expedite and promote interdisciplinary teaching and development of degree programs among the constituent organizational elements making up the school.

Goals

• To encourage faculty and departments, with an interest in broad issues of justice, to work together on research, teaching and service activities of mutual interest.
• To forge working partnerships between scholars on the one hand and practitioners within the justice system of the community, state and nation on the other.
• To continue to work closely with the Judicial Studies, Justice Management and Interdisciplinary Social Psychology Graduate Degree Programs at the University, which share a common focus on justice issues.
• To join efforts with the internationally recognized National Judicial College and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges in seeking greater understanding of justice issues and better performance of the mechanisms through which justice is developed and fostered in society's institutions.