Criminological theories and research are used by a wide variety of non-academic audiences including activists, bureaucrats, lawyers, journalists, judges, politicians, and law enforcement actors. There are also many ways to mobilize academic research, including through litigation, government-led policy reform, public engagement, and grassroots activism. This course will examine criminology's potential to propel social change or reinforce the status quo by studying a selection of current Canadian debates and policy discussions within the fields of civil liberties and criminal justice. Specific topics may include criminal record checks, the bail system and pre-trial detention, solitary confinement, "carding" and racial profiling, prison conditions, the legal regulation of drug use, sex work, and/or sentencing reform. Throughout the course we will consider the benefits and pitfalls of academics using their research to propel social change, the challenges posed by "applied" academic research and the various ways in which social science research has been used (or abused) within the Canadian context.