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(2017-2022) or 298. Cross-listed as AQUA 202. Prerequisites: AQUA 101 and 102, or 100, completed or concurrent or permission of the instructor. Three credits.

This course explores human health as an entangled process shaped by biological, social, political, ecological, and historical forces. Drawing from Indigenous knowledges and decolonial thought, we will consider how health is not only a matter of justice—but of relation: a reflection of how we live with the land, each other, and the systems that hold us. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. 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. Offered 2026-2027.

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. Offered 2026-2027.

In this course, we trace how modern systems of power—capitalism, colonialism, white supremacy, and heteropatriarchy—came into being and consider how their logics continue to shape the polycrisis we are now living through. Beginning with feudalism and the witch hunts, we explore how bodies deemed “deviant” became sites of discipline and extraction—economically, politically, sexually, and spiritually. Prerequisite: SOCI 251. 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.

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 to better understand our present. 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.

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. Offered 2026-2027.

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. Offered 2026-2027.

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. Offered 2026-2027 (online format).

A required course for all senior honours students. Six 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.