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Oberweis Incorporates her Research on Criminal Justice Responses to Violence in the Classroom  

The impressive work of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Trish Oberweis, PhD, professor in the College of Arts and Sciences’ (CAS) Department of Criminal Justice Studies, has earned her the 2025 Paul Simon Outstanding Teacher-Scholar Award.  

“I am honored to be counted in this esteemed group of award winners!” Oberweis said, of the University’s well-regarded and highly competitive award. The SIUE Graduate School annually presents the award to a tenured faculty member who has a proven record of combining scholarship and teaching. 

The recognition demonstrates the belief that to be a good teacher, one must also be a good scholar. Award recipients have made significant contributions to original research or creative activities and have successfully integrated those contributions into their teaching practices. 

Oberweis, who began working as an assistant professor in 2002 at SIUE, has always incorporated her research experiences into her classroom. She started her teaching career with an interest in the relationship between identity and morality, studying how police decide when to enforce the law and when to cut someone a break. 

“Early in my career, I directly incorporated my research on identity and police morality into my classes on race and criminal justice, gender and criminal justice, and drug policy,” said Oberweis. “I asked the question of how police and other government officials determine the ‘right’ thing to do through the lens of their lived experiences and personal identity.” 

Her interest in violence prevention led to a decade of research on sexual violence on college campuses, although she is currently focused on unsolved homicides. “Through an extremely lucky invitation from some forward-thinking Illinois State Police leaders, I was invited to work on cold case reviews to help keep investigations alive,” Oberweis recounted. “This led to a whole new chapter of my career. I’m now guiding students through cold case reviews every semester and helping other universities build similar programs. This, in turn, inspired me to pursue a new credential.” 

Oberweis recently completed a graduate certificate in forensic investigative genetic genealogy (FIGG), which is the newest investigative tool to use DNA to develop new leads for police to solve crimes of violence.  

“The sexual violence research gives me multiple ways to connect with students,” she shared. “First, the data I collect longitudinally are about our own campus, and so I teach the results to my students in gender and criminal justice classes. In my Research Methods course, I engage with the problem of how to measure difficult-to-count experiences (such as rape, domestic violence and stalking). Students can deeply engage with a real survey and consider measurement quality.”  

The scholarly benefits of Oberweis’s research on students have been multifaceted. “I have at least three students listed as co-authors on papers that are published or currently under review,” she said. “Several students have had their career plan come clearly into focus after their experience on the Cold Case Project.”  

“Several other students have had an interest in graduate school bloom because of the things we have done in the Research Methods course,” continued Oberweis. “This is the course that lit my intellectual fire as an undergrad, and little is more satisfying that seeing that fire light up in a student’s eyes in that same course. These students get much encouragement from me to pursue advanced degrees, and many do. I love to learn later what they studied and how their research unfolded.”  

Teaching is not complete without learning, and Oberweis emphasizes that it is not what she gives out that excites her as much as what is received. 

“The best minutes of my professional life are when students have that moment where things click and they see things a new way,” said Oberweis. “In my case, this normally means they understand the process of knowledge creation. The experience of a student realizing that they understand something more deeply than most people do, or than they did before their “a-ha moment” is remarkable and deeply rewarding.” 

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Trish Oberweis, PhD, professor in the CAS Department of Criminal Justice Studies is the 2025 Paul Simon Outstanding Teacher-Scholar Award winner.