Criminology Department
Piers Beirne
PH.D in sociology from Durham University, England
Piers Beirne
I have taught sociology and criminology in England, Ireland and the U.S., where I am currently Professor of Criminology and Legal Studies at the University of Southern Maine. At U.S.M I teache courses on Introduction to Criminology (CRM100J); Animal Abuse (CRM 327/SOC380); and Comparative Criminology (CRM401).
My published books include Issues in Green Criminology (2007, edited with Nigel South, Willan Publishing) and an edited 6-volume reprint series, The Chicago School of Criminology 1914-1945 (2006, Routledge). Books in press include Criminology (2010, fifth edition, with Jim Messerschmidt, Oxford University Press) and Confronting Animal Abuse: Reflections on law, cruelty and speciesism (Rowman and Littlefield). In 1997 I was the founding co-editor of the journal Theoretical Criminology.
I like to sail, kayak and windsurf, and dream (forlornly, I suspect) of redoing an 11,000 mile trip on a Triumph motorcycle. Despite trying quite hard, I play the fiddle very badly.