The Zoukis Summer Institute was held in Georgia State’s Department of Political Science from May 1-5, 2023.
This year 30 undergraduate students and 11 graduate students participated in the Summer Institute, where they heard from 7 panels of speakers that included a Federal Judge, Federal Prosecuting Attorney, Federal Public Defender, a Representative from the Georgia House (District 101), many formerly incarcerated individuals, and numerous leaders of non-profit organizations.
The students also worked in one of five small group research projects that were led by graduate students and delivered a final presentation of their team's work on the last day.
The Zoukis Research Collaborative was founded in 2015 and is housed in the Department of Political Science at Georgia State. Its mission is to encourage and support scholarly research into all aspects of mandatory sentencing and associated “tough on crime” policies, including – but not limited to – research on the creation and passage of mandatory sentencing laws, the broad effects of such laws within the criminal justice system and beyond, and public support for these policies. The Zoukis Research Collaborative also seeks to facilitate communication and dialogue among multiple stakeholders and across different scholarly disciplines. The Summer Institute and the Zoukis Research Collaborative are supported by a generous Endowment provided by the Steven and Suzan Zoukis family.
For more information, please check the Zoukis Research Collaborative webpage.