Sociology Department

This course introduces students to the origins and development of sociological thinking and research, beginning with the foundations of the discipline in the 19th century. Students are then introduced to the concepts and methods within sociology. The objective is to explore the extent and limits of our capacity to change the social world by reference to sociological research in both a Canadian and global context. Credit will be granted for only one of SOCI 101 or SOCI 100. Three credits.

This course builds on the foundations of sociological theory, methods and historic considerations established in SOCI 101. Students will explore a range of topics dealing with various aspects of social inequality, culture, integration, and ideological conflict in both a Canadian and global context. Together with SOCI 101, this course provides the prerequisite for all other sociology courses. Credit will be granted for only one of SOCI 102 or SOCI 100. Prerequisite: SOCI 101. Three credits.

This course addresses how various philosophic assumptions shape the aims and practices of research in sociology. It provides students with empirical research design principles and an introduction to methods of collecting and recording data, assessing reliability and validity, and conducting data analysis. Different research strategies are introduced. The ethical implications of research will be discussed. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

The “tragedy of the commons” has been a reoccurring concept when discussing ocean resources. In this course students will encounter how social scientists study and understand the use of the resources in the oceans’ commons. The course will explore theoretical paradigms, governance, social class, gender, race, fishing, aquaculture, and oil and gas. Students will gain a foundational understanding in social science approaches to issues relating to the aquatic resources. Credit will be granted for only one of SOCI 205, AQUA 202, AQUA 200, 297 or 298. Cross-listed as AQUA 202. Prerequisites: AQUA 101/102 or 100, completed or concurrent or permission of the instructor. Three credits.

Students will approach the study of human health from an intersectional, critical sociological perspective that emphasizes the links between social, economic, political, environmental and climate justice. The class will engage in an ongoing analysis examining how equality along the lines of race, class, gender, ability and sexuality are relevant to accomplishing health justice. Beginning with an understanding of the distinction between biomedicine and the social determinants of health, the class will explore some of the dominant sociological debates and approaches to the study of health and illness and how these can best be used as instruments for achieving health justice. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

This course presents an analysis of Canadian Society and its development from a sociological perspective. Particular attention is given to political/economic institutions, ideology, class structure, regionalism, cultural forms and national identities. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

This course discusses the interconnected realities of race, class, gender and sex from various sociological perspectives. Substantive topics will include the socially constructed nature of these concepts in places like media, and the experiences of classism, sexism and racism in the workplace, schools, and everyday life. Cross-listed as WMGS 217. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

Looked at through the lens of class and power, this course examines the socio-economic roots of social inequality, as well as the causes and consequences of poverty. Special attention will be paid to rise of social inequality, and the impact of neoliberal social policies. Topics include: the relationship between wealth, occupation, and education; the structural and cultural factors generating cumulative disadvantage across generations, especially related to race, gender and disability; and the consequences of inequality as it relates to health, incarceration, and homelessness. Credit will be granted for only one of SOCI 218 or SOCI 328. Three credits.

This course analyzes the marriage and family life from a sociological perspective. It provides an overview of social changes over the past century, such as the falling birth rate, the rise in cohabitation and the legalization of same-sex marriage. Topics include marriage and fertility trends, the rise of intensive parenting and the dual earner family, the normalization of separation and divorce, the social cost of family violence, and how technology is influencing parenting. Cross-listed as WMGS 221. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.
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An introduction to the sociological study of religion. Topics include social factors that influence religion at individual and communal levels; religion as agent of social cohesion and social conflict; religion and power structures; the impact of pluralism and globalization on religion today. Cross-listed as RELS 215. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits. Offered 2024-2025.

This course provides students with a sociological interpretation of education in Canada. Students will investigate the relationship between education opportunity and conditions of inequality, socialization, social participation in education, and the contextualized within the historical development of Canadian educational institutions. Credit will be granted for only one of SOCI 231 or SOCI 230. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

This course introduces students to topics and debates in youth sociology, including contemporary and historical conceptualizing of youth, social, cultural, and political theories pertaining to youth, the impact various social institutions have on youth from diverse backgrounds, and youth participation in social movements and politics. Students will come away with a deeper understanding of the forces shaping what “youth” means today. Credit will be granted for only one of SOCI 238 or SOCI 298 (2021-2022). Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

This course explores classical to contemporary theories of consumer society beginning with Marx’s conception of the commodity as fetish. Themes discussed include conspicuous consumption, gender and consumption, social class, environment, identity, advertising and marketing. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

This course offers students a theoretical foundation for understanding social processes of deviance and social control. Using various theoretical devices, students will critically examine the social category of deviance and its use in social institutions and daily social practices. Topics could include mental illness, drug and alcohol use, alternative sexualities, social violence and disability. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

This course draws upon the theoretical preparation provided in SOCI 251 to critically assess various topics in deviance and social control, and their power relations. Students will for instance, consider the complex relations of power and control associated with sex and sexuality, contemporary notions of fitness and health, white versus blue collar crime, as well as ‘natural’ disasters. Prerequisite: SOCI 251. Three credits.

This course explores social class as a lived experience - one in which everyday life both reveals and denies the structural advantages and disadvantages that perpetuate class differences. By way of ethnographic and theoretical literatures, students will study how stages of life and encounters with institutions (school, state, family, etc.) shape social class experiences. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

Explores the development and diversity of sociology’s foundational perspectives through the study of selected original works by such authors as Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

This seminar course on contemporary theory varies from year to year. While a survey approach to contemporary theory may be part of the course, it is probable that the professor will choose specific interests for in-depth analysis. Potential perspectives include feminist theory, anti-racist theory, postmodernism, and neo-Marxist theory. Prerequisite: SOCI 101, 102, 301. Three credits.

This course examines various directions feminists have taken in studying women’s experiences and the construction of gender. Students will learn how these theoretical approaches have influenced feminist research and critical practice. The course will include early feminist thought as well as contemporary feminist theory. Cross-listed as WMGS 303. Prerequisite: WMGS 100. Three credits.

The course introduces students to the qualitative research methods used by sociologists. The course introduces the philosophical, theoretical, and ethical aspects of qualitative research as well as qualitative approaches to data collection, data analysis, presentation of results, and methods of evaluating qualitative research. The various aspects of qualitative research are illustrated with classical and contemporary studies. Prerequisite: SOCI 202. Three credits.

The state is a central concept within the social sciences and one of the most significant sources of power in the modern world. Despite this, states today appear increasingly in crisis, with their very legitimacy questioned. In this course, we will explore the development of the modern state in order to better understand our present. Topics include: the power of disinformation; surveillance; Trump; and Black Lives Matter. The course concludes with a reflection on democracy. Cross-listed as PSCI 318. Credit will be granted for only one of SOCI 309 or SOCI 297 offered in 2020-2021. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

A critical review of the science of masculinity and recent theoretical developments on the social construction of men’s lives and masculinities. Topics include male gender role socialization; the role social institutions play in shaping masculinities; masculinity politics, men’s movement, and social change. Cross-listed as WMGS 311. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

An introduction to the field of disability studies, this course examines the ways in which disabled people and disability issues are defined and treated in contemporary society. Social and political conceptions of disability are contrasted with medical and individualistic definitions of disability with the aim of developing a critique of taken-for-granted conceptions of normal bodies, minds, and senses. Community-based contributions and responses to disability knowledge are emphasized and common ideas and assumptions about disability are situated historically to illustrate changing relations to disability over time, and to the role of disability knowledge in social change. The experience of disability will be stressed. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

Beginning with the understanding that disability is a social phenomenon, this course provides students with the tools to analyze such cultural conceptions as normalcy-abnormalcy, ability-inability, independence-dependence. Students will examine cultural representations of disability that marginalize and oppress disabled people, and explore the ways in which cultural representations of disability differ from experiential accounts. These representations are analyzed from an international perspective, with a focus on how disability has been represented in Canadian social policy, the media, helping professions, and the education system. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

In this course we investigate drug and alcohol addiction as an epidemic social problem from several key perspectives. Social theories are used to explore subcultures of addiction, race and racism, addiction’s impact on women, and how addiction is understood and experienced in Canada. Credit will be granted for only one of SOCI 315 or SOCI 395 (2018, 2019). Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

This course examines the Canadian history of drug prohibition and moral/social control, including racism and moral panics around drugs, and the various debates around decriminalization/legalization. Issues include the legalization of cannabis, the fentanyl crisis, and regulated drugs like tobacco and alcohol. Credit will be granted for only one of SOCI 317 or SOCI 398 (2022-2023). Cross listed as PSCI 317. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

This course considers a broad array of issues and controversies pertaining to the study of media effects. Topics covered include the development of propaganda theory, the social significance of advertising, and debates concerning the influence of media content on behaviour and popular understandings of social reality. Attention is given to both traditional and holistic approaches to media effects in terms of the strengths and limitations of each. Credit will be granted for only one of SOCI 331 or SOCI 325. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

This course examines how the contemporary situation of First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples of Canada is related to historical interactions among Indigenous and Settler societies. This will include consideration of how concerns of cultural identity, class, and gender are complicated by Canada’s colonial legacy as developed with the aid of recent post-colonial/ sociological theory. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

This course critically examines structural and sociocultural factors that operate to produce and/or reproduce powerlessness among Black people in the Diaspora. Attention will also be given to the contributions of Blacks to society, Black resistance, self-determination, and self-reliance. The course will discuss globalization, racism, and transnationalism as factors in the contemporary Black experience. Credit will be granted for only one of SOCI 337 or SOCI 395(2016-2017). Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

This course explores the rapidly shifting contexts within which individuals and groups from diverse cultural backgrounds interact, often forming new social and political identities in the process. Questions of identity are considered at the levels of individual subjectivity, localized community, national identity, and de-localized networks. Contemporary aspects of intercultural relations are viewed considering enduring political processes and related social upheavals rooted in colonialism, nationalism and the global spread of capitalist markets. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

Students gain an understanding of the diversity of Islam and Muslims in Canada. The course examines how Muslims negotiate their religious identities in Canadian civic society. Students engage critically with different theoretical models shaping conceptions of identity and consider their relevance to public policy debates. They course uses Muslim and non-Muslim authors representing diverse points of view that have an impact on questions of immigration, multiculturalism, and religious pluralism. Offered online. Cross-listed as RELS 375. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

This course sets out to explore the intersection between ice hockey and Canada’s socio-cultural identity. The course will have students immerse themselves in contemporary literature to understand the social, cultural, political and economic nuances of hockey in the Canadian context. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

A required course for all senior honours students. Six credits.

Is friendship only personal and private, or does it have broader public, social, and political significance? This seminar addresses contemporary scholarship on the sociology of friendship as well as classic accounts of friendship by philosophers and social theorists. Through studying beliefs and practices of friendship we will address themes such as the self and personhood, gifts and exchange, trust and intimacy, sexuality and gender, social capital and networks, and the relation of friends to strangers and enemies. Prerequisite: 12 credits SOCI. Three credits.

This course considers such matters as the distinction between science and other ways of knowing, the relationship between technological innovation and scientific knowledge, the role played by technology in relation to social change and cultural identity, the social shaping of technology, forms of governance in contemporary ‘information societies’, and questions of human and non-human agency. Prerequisite: 12 credits SOCI. Three credits.