Exploring the Criminology Curriculum – Using the Intersectionality Matrix as a Pedagogical Tool to Develop Students’ Critical Information Literacy Skills

Abstract

Traditional literacy skills often neglect to develop students’ critical understanding of how information and knowledge are formed, and the unequal power relations at the heart of this process. There are deep, entrenched biases within criminology curriculum content, and empowering students to use critical information literacy skills is an important part of recognising and disrupting knowledge hierarchies in relation to race, class, and gender. This paper builds on research exploring the content of student reading lists from the curriculum of a new criminology degree programme at an English university. Focus groups and one-to-one interviews were held with 20 undergraduate criminology students to explore how students interact with the course reading lists and how they consider and engage with the sources they use. We argue for critical information literacy to be embedded within our teaching of criminology, and for lecturers and students to more pro-actively consider the sources they use.