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Jack Levin
Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Anthropology

Jack Levin in the Press

Jack Levin for Northeastern Global News

Northeastern professor studies how Charles Manson, Ken Bianchi, and Kenneth Seguin became notorious killers

Northeastern professor studies how Charles Manson, Ken Bianchi, and Kenneth Seguin became notorious killers

Jack Levin, Northeastern professor emeritus, examines why perpetrators plan to kill in his new book "The Allure of Premeditated Murder".
Professor recalls interview with Charles Manson a decade before killer’s death

Professor recalls interview with Charles Manson a decade before killer’s death

Charles Manson, an infamous cult leader and serial killer who died this week at age 83, once told Northeastern professor emeritus Jack Levin, “I am the most famous person who ever lived.” Levin, a sociologist and criminologist, said he wasn’t too far off.
Northeastern reflects on conflict, civility, and respect

Northeastern reflects on conflict, civility, and respect

In the first event in a yearlong educational series on “civic sustainability,” Northeastern faculty and administrators encouraged students to embrace their diversity across culture, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.
3Qs: After tragedy in Newtown, what’s next?

3Qs: After tragedy in Newtown, what’s next?

We asked experts in law, psychology, and criminology to examine last Friday’s Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut that claimed the lives of 20 children and seven adults.
3Qs: Analyzing the Colorado shooting tragedy

3Qs: Analyzing the Colorado shooting tragedy

Northeastern criminologist Jack Levin probes the mind of 24-year-old James Holmes, who allegedly opened fire in a crowded Colorado movie theater last Friday morning, killing 12 and wounding 58.
3Qs: Analyzing, and preventing, school shootings

3Qs: Analyzing, and preventing, school shootings

Earlier this week, a teenager was accused of killing three high school students after he opened fire at an Ohio high school. Eric Madfis, a doctoral candidate in Northeastern’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology and a research associate at the Brudnick Center on Violence and Conflict, has been working with criminology expert and professor Jack Levin to complete his dissertation focused on school shootings. We asked Madfis to analyze this incident and how it relates to others in the past.
Faculty Reads, Volume Three

Faculty Reads, Volume Three

Northeastern faculty members have written at length on a wide range of topics. Here, we highlight the third batch of published works in a feature on recent faculty books.
3Qs: ‘West Memphis Three’ set free

3Qs: ‘West Memphis Three’ set free

Professor Jack Levin examines the unusual nature of a murder case in which three young men served nearly 20 years in prison for a crime that new DNA analysis suggests they did not commit
3Qs: The mindset behind mass murder

3Qs: The mindset behind mass murder

Last week’s terrorist attack in Norway stunned that nation and the world. We asked Jack Levin, the Brudnick Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Criminology at Northeastern University, who specializes in the study of violence and hate, to discuss the mindset of the accused killer and the potential for changes in Norway’s judicial system, which imposes relatively lenient sentences for brutal crimes.
3Qs: Fugitives can run, but can’t hide

3Qs: Fugitives can run, but can’t hide

On Wednesday, the FBI arrested notorious Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger and his companion in Santa Monica, California, after the couple averted authorities for more than 16 years. We asked Jack Levin, the Brudnick Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Criminology at Northeastern University, to assess the role of tipsters in capturing fugitives, the difficulty of living life on the lam and Bulger’s place among the world’s most notorious criminals.