Darrick Brake, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice

Office
Main Hall Rm. 218
304-336-5000

Education

• 2004 BA in Sociology, Adrian College
• 2008 MA in Sociology, Central Michigan University
• 2017 PhD in Sociology, Western Michigan University

Biography
Dr. Brake joined the Department of Criminal Justice at West Liberty University in the fall semester of 2018, and will be teaching various CJ undergraduate and graduate courses such as: Drugs and Policy, Race and Gender, Human Trafficking as a special topics course, and Advanced Criminological Theory. My future courses are Women in Prison, Research Methods, Social Psychology, and numerous other special topics courses. In addition to teaching, he was just awarded the 2018 Teaching Fellow Award for the combined North Central Sociological Association and Alpha Kappa Delta National Sociological Honor Society. This teaching fellowship provides multiple forms of support for innovations and new techniques in college teaching which is also time consuming (to say the least). Brake is also writing two chapters: the first is for a reader on how terrorism is financed; the second is on human rights violations and terrorism. Between these academic endeavors, he spends time advocating for educational opportunities for students and community members to understand the dynamics of human trafficking and the risks associated with and social factors that increase human trafficking.

Teaching Experience  
West Liberty University 2018 (current)
Ball State University 2018
Glen Oaks Community College 2018-2017
Concord University 2018-2017
Grand Valley State University 2016-2014
Western Michigan University 2013-2009

Areas of Interest
Dr. Brake’s main areas of interest are: human trafficking, terrorism and financing, symbolic interactionism and social psychology, economic inequalities, global disparities, sociology of economics, racial identity, and social theory. Within these areas he also studies the intersections of race, gender, and class.  

Professional Activity
*NCSA Member and Teaching Fellow for 2018-2019
*AKD Teaching Fellow Grant Winner 2018-2019
*Chapters on terrorism and finance and terrorism and human rights in Global Terrorism (2019) by Landon Elsemere Press.

Courses Taught

• Introduction to Sociology
• Social Problems
• Marriage and the Family
• Globalization and Society
• Social Psychology
• Criminological Theory
• Human Trafficking and Society
• Drugs and Society
• Race and Gender
• Honors College Courses