Highline’s new criminal justice professor wants her students to think deeper when looking at current world problems. 

Before coming to Highline, Professor Weir said a big achievement was getting her education in Denmark. 

“I earned my master’s degree in Denmark [and] from 2016 to 2018, I lived in Copenhagen and studied Comparative Criminal Justice,” she said. “I conducted fieldwork in an open prison, where people who are incarcerated can leave the prison to go to school, work, and every third weekend to visit their family.” 

Leaving her family behind and starting somewhere new was a big transition, Professor Weir said.

“I loved living in a different country, although I missed my friends and family and sometimes it was very challenging,” she said. 

Looking towards the future, Professor Weir said improving as an educator will be her main goal while at Highline. 

“My goal is to become a better teacher and to learn from my students,” she said. “I also have a lot to learn from other teachers – both faculty and staff – here at Highline [and] I feel lucky to have so many smart, loving colleagues.”

Professor Weir said she is not new to Highline’s campus and has been teaching at Highline since 2019. 

“I teach a wide variety of classes in the Criminal Justice Department [and] next quarter, I will be teaching Introduction to Criminal Justice, Introduction to Corrections, and Forensic Psychology. I expect students to come to class with an open mind and ready to learn from both me and their classmates,” she said.

Highline’s students and the goals set out for them is what made Professor Weir want to take on the new position, she said. 

“What originally attracted me to Highline was the diversity of the students and the commitment of faculty and staff to learning. I was hired to build out the prison-based education program at the SCORE jail and the federal detention center. Fast forward several years and I am thrilled to be teaching criminal justice full-time,” Professor Weir said.

SCORE south correctional entity is a jail in Des Moines, Washington. 

Learning about the criminal justice system can leave people with open-minded questions, Professor Weir said. 

“I enjoy teaching Criminal Justice because it is at the intersection of philosophical questions (Why do we punish? What does justice look like?) and the real world, which comes with real controversies, complicated histories, and job opportunities,” she said. 

Furthermore, looking at an example such as mass incarceration within the world and our community can bring up a lot of questions, Professor Weir said. 

“I like to think of my job as providing context for current events that you might hear about through social media or your friends and family,” she said. “You have heard of mass incarceration, but what is the history of sentencing? What is the incarceration rate in the United States and how does that compare to other countries? How do Washington State incarceration rates compare to the incarceration rates in other states? And how will the recent Blake decision affect incarceration?”

The Blake decision ruled the felony drug possession unconstitutional by the Washington Supreme Court back in 2021. 

Aside from becoming one of Highlines new professors, Professor Weir said she can also be adventurous. “I like to hike and bike for fun! If you see someone biking to Highline’s campus, it might be me,” she said.