Who’s a better crimefighter: a superhero or their billionaire alter ego?
That was the topic of a panel that Dr. Zachary Hays — an associate professor of criminal justice at California State University, Bakersfield — participated in this July at San Diego Comic-Con, a mecca for pop culture enthusiasts across the world.
“There’s a common misconception that deterrence is the best way to fight crime, and that if you just had more police officers, more caped crusaders out there scaring criminals, there would be less crime,” he said. “We wanted to challenge that notion and show that a billionaire could use their money to find ways to fight crime in ways that could be even more effective.”
A group of around 30 people attended the panel, which included two professors and a librarian from CSU San Marcos as well as an editor for Image Comics. Dr. Hays said many participants expressed interest by asking questions both during and after the panel.
“It was a much better reception than I expected,” he said. “I’m used to doing academic conferences where you would maybe get four or five people, so the engagement was great.”
Dr. Hays, a pop culture enthusiast himself, has often tried to incorporate his passion for superheroes into his classes to help his students better understand the criminology concepts that he is teaching them.
“I really want my students to understand how criminological theory that may seem very abstract and intangible can be applied to the real world, or — in this case — a fictional world,” he said. “A lot of times, I find that students have a hard time learning material when they can’t connect to it, can’t see how it applies to them. When I show how concepts of deterrence applies to characters we love, maybe that’ll stick in their minds and they’ll remember them better.”
This spring, Dr. Hays was contacted by friend and colleague Dr. Matthew Atherton — an associate professor of social sciences at CSU San Marcos — about a panel he was trying to organize for the San Diego Comic-Con.
With their shared interest in pop culture, Dr. Atherton thought Dr. Hays would be a good member for the panel. He quickly accepted the offer.
“It was a great way to take what we talk about in the classroom and do research on and get it out there to more people,” Dr. Hays said. “We’re trying to get more people interested in our field and show them how crime really works.”
Dr. Doris Hall, chair of the Criminal Justice Department, said the presentation was a great opportunity to increase awareness of the university.
“Comic-Con is an innovative and fun way to connect to and get awareness from a wider audience about the important issues in our justice system today, and it’s great to reach out to people who might not know about the criminal justice educational options available at CSU Bakersfield,” she said. “I am very proud of all the work Dr. Hays is doing for our community, department and university.”
Dr. Hays enjoyed being on the panel and would like to do something similar in the future.
“It was an amazing experience,” he said. “It gave us ideas for what we could do differently and do better in future panels.”
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