Stephanie A. Jirard, JD

Education

• JD, Boston College Law School
• MA in Applied History, Shippensburg University
• AB, Cornell University

Research/Creative Interests

• Media representations of law and justice
• Race and juvenile justice
• The death penalty

Teaching Philosophy

My teaching philosophy is "I do, We do, You do." I show how to critically analyze course content, WE apply learned concepts, together, to solve real world problems, and then YOU, the student, perform the best you can on graded assessments.

Professional Activities and Affiliations

• Massachusetts Bar
• Louisiana Bar
• US Supreme Court Bar
• Jirard, S. A. (2025, October). New legal research and writing strategies for the AI-Ready Paralegal. Annual Fall Conference of the American Association for Paralegal Education, Grand Rapids, MI
• Jirard, S. A. (2025, March). Subverting hegemonic concepts of femininity and achieving gender equality under law: Perry Mason female killers. 62nd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Denver, CO
• Jirard, S. A. (2023, April). Sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll: Celebrity biography through the lens of Autopsy. Annual Meeting of the Popular Culture Association, San Antonio, TX
• Jirard, S. A. (2019, March). Count me in: Content analysis of #metoo presidential tweets and news coverage during Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing. 56th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Baltimore, MD
• Jirard, S. A. (2018, September). The monster in white: The banality of language authorizing human experimentation in the United States. Classical & Modern Languages and Literatures Symposium. Mississippi State College, Starkville, MS
• Jirard, S. A. (2018, February). Defining archaeological looting as terrorism: A new weapon in the fight to save cultural property. 55th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, New Orleans, LA
• Jirard, S. A., & Slattery C. A. (2017, March). School-to-prison pipeline: From chilling statistics to interruption initiatives. 19th Annual Conference of the National Association of Multicultural Education, Carlisle, PA

Grants, Awards, Honors & Recognitions

• Blue Flame Award for Sustained Inspirational Teaching (2025)

Employment History

• Professor Emeritus of Criminal Justice, Shippensburg University (PA)
• Assistant Public Defender, Capital Litigation Unit, Columbia (MO)
• Assistant Federal Public Defender, Boston
• Assistant US Attorney, Boston
• Trial Attorney, US Department of Justice, Washington, DC
• LT, US Navy Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps, New Orleans

Recent Scholarly or Creative Contributions

• Textbook: Jirard, S. A. Criminal Law & Criminal Procedure: A Courtroom Approach. Sage Publishing (2019).
• Chapter: Jirard, S. A. “Policing America: An Instructor’s Guide to Classroom Discussions on Racism, Reform, and Redefining Justice.” Sage Publishing (2020).