School of Social Science and Human Services (SSHS)

Associate Professor of Law and Society
Director, College Honors Program
(2008 - present)

Year Joined RCNJ: 2004

Contact Information:

• Phone: (201) 684-7669
• E-mail: mvides@ramapo.edu 
• Office: A-209
• Office Hours: By Appointment

Education:

• B.A., University of San Francisco
• J.D., Santa-Clara University
• M.Div., Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley
• Ph.D., Graduate Theological Union

Convening Group:

• Law and Society

Courses Offered:

• Introduction to Law & Justice
• Comparative Legal Systems
• Legal Rhetoric
• Introduction to Law & Society
• Issues in Criminal Law
• Contemporary Issues in Law & Society - Law and Religion
• Criminology
• Juvenile Justice
• Family Law
• Directed Reading and Thesis Supervision

Teaching Interest:

• Justice Theory, Dispute Resolution

Research Interest:

• Restorative Justice
• Compassion for the Oppressor

Recent Publications:

• "Social Work Values in Restorative Justice" Chapter 23 in Restorative Justice Today: Applications of Restorative Interventions, forthcoming Spring 2012, Sage Publications.
• Driven from Home: Protecting the Rights of Forced Migrants, (ed.) David Hollenbach, S.J., reviewed in Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, forthcoming, Fall 2011, vol. 31.
• "The American Way: Los Abogados Latinoamericanos como Estudiantes de Maestría En los Estados Unidos de América," co-authored article, in Boletín Mexicano de Derecho Comparado. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México (UNAM), boletín num 130 enero-abril de 2011.
• Various encyclopedia entries "Exilio," "Huitzilopochtli," "Limpias," "Mayahuel," "Tlazolteotl," "Plan Espiritual de Aztlan," "Dia de Los Muertos," and "Hermeneutical Circle" in Hispanic American Religious Cultures, Santa Barbara, SSHS: ABC-CLIO. 2009.
• "Restorative Justice, Empowerment Theory and Transformative Spirituality: Searching for Authentic Strategies in China, Hong Kong, India and Korea." Chapter 14, in edited volume, Restorative Justice Across the East and West, Katherine van Wormer (ed.), Hong Kong: Casa Verde Press, December 2007. English and Cantonese.
• "Entertaining Angels Con Pasión," In Symposium: Strangers No Longer: Immigration Law and Policy in the Light of Religious Values, 83 Detroit Mercy Law Review 901, Summer 2006.

Recent Scholarly and Professional Accomplishments:

• Visiting Researcher, Centro de Estudios sobre la Enseñanza y el Aprendizaje del Derecho, Nuevo Leon, Monterrey, México. Fall 2012.  
• Especialista, Eseñanza en Educación Jurídica, Programa "Preparando a las escuelas de derecho en México para el nuevo sistema de justicia penal" Centro de Estudios sobre la Enseñanza y el Aprendizaje del Derecho, Nuevo Leon, Monterrey, México. Sponsored by USAID, 2011.
• Director, College Honors Program [ http://www.ramapo.edu/honors/ ]