Courses
SO1013 Introduction to Sociology I
Credit hours: 3
This course provides a general survey into the terminology, principles, and human experience in social life, as well as an examination of such aspects as the sociological imagination, culture, socialization, social inequality, social institutions, deviance and crime, and other areas related to the structure of contemporary society.
SO1023 Introduction to Sociology II
Credit hours: 3
This course is a continuation of SO1013.
SO2133 Cultural Anthropology
Credit hours: 3
This course looks at similarities and differences among cultures; their social and economic characteristics; their customs, traditions, and beliefs.
SO2143 Life Cycle and Kinship
Credit hours: 3
This course is a continuation of the study of cultural anthropology with a focus on the study of kinship systems, marriage customs, gender roles, and life cycle stages in various cultures around the world.
SO2213 Marriage and Family
Credit hours: 3
This course involves an examination of marriage and family patterns, and family structures, and functions, within North America and elsewhere, in an attempt to understand how these patterns are maintained, adapted, and changed.
SO2313 Population and World Hunger
Credit hours: 3
This course is a social demography course with particular attention to global poverty. Besides learning the basics of population research, the student will wrestle with key global issues of our time.
SO2403 Introduction to Social Work
Credit hours: 3
Explore the history, ethics, and values of social work in Canada. Examine colonization, faith, and anti-oppressive practice while developing skills in ethical decision-making, cultural awareness, and inclusive, client-centered care.
SO3003 Race and Ethnicity in Canada
Credit hours: 3
This course examines the construction of – and differences between – concepts of race and ethnicity, focusing on the social forces that shape discourses of race and ethnicity in Canada, and ethnic relations between Indigenous, settler, and racialized immigrant Canadians.
Prerequisites: SO1013, SO1023
SO3013 Sociological Theory I
Credit hours: 3
This course provides an overview of the classical theorists central to the development of sociology. It examines major sociological concepts, as well as the social milieu from which they originated.
Prerequisites: SO1013, SO1023.
SO3023 Sociological Theory II
Credit hours: 3
This course explores the major paradigms of contemporary sociological theory and the prominent theorists contributing to the development of each.
Prerequisite: SO3013
SO3033 Sociology of Education
Credit hours: 3
This course examines theories and research in the sociology of education, the school as a formal and informal organization, and the effects of education on stratification, social control, race, class, and gender.
Crosslisting: ED3033
Prerequisites: SO1013, SO1023
SO3043 Perspectives on Poverty
Credit hours: 3
This course introduces students to current research and theory on poverty, the interplay between structural and personal causes of poverty, and the personal experience of poverty in Canada. The multiple systems that intersect with poverty, including family, school, health care, and criminal justice, are examined. Previous and current assumptions about this social problem are challenged. While the primary focus will be on Canadian poverty, there is a cursory study of global perspectives.
Prerequisites: SO1013, SO1023
SO3063 Environmental Sociology
Credit hours: 3
In this course, students will analyze environmental problems and their solutions from the sociological perspective. Problems to be examined include climate change, resource sustainability, and pollution. Solutions discussed will include individual action, production, marketing and consumption, technological, and societal/global-level efforts.
Prerequisites: SO1013, SO1023
SO3103 Socialization
Credit hours: 3
This course examines how people learn to conform to human society. The human development process is studied, noting the major theoretical perspectives which attempt to explain the process and the major agents which accomplish human socialization.
Prerequisites: SO1013, SO1023
SO3143 Social Movements
Credit hours: 3
Social movements are integral to societal change and this course provides students with the theoretical insights for analyzing their origins, consequences, decline or renewal, and the connection that they have to such issues as race, gender, and class.
Prerequisite: SO1013, SO1023
SO3153 Globalization and Current Social Issues
Credit hours: 3
Students will examine the growth of – and resistance towards – a global cultural system through increasing transnational information systems, media, consumption, sport, tourism, cosmopolitanism, labour, migration, religion, social movements, politics, and warfare.
Prerequisites: SO1013, SO1023
SO3213 Modern Life and Personal Identity
Credit hours: 3
This course attempts to discover how personal family history and modern Canadian culture shape an understanding of personal identity. This course will familiarize students with larger social trends in the last century in the West and will help them to discover how these trends have influenced family history and them personally.
Crosslisting: PS3253
Prerequisites: SO1013, SO1023
SO3223 Deviant Behaviour
Credit hours: 3
This course looks at various forms of behaviour that are considered deviant in society. A particular emphasis is on how Sociology attempts to explain and understand these behaviours.
Prerequisites: SO1013, SO1023
SO3413 Social Problems
Credit hours: 3
This course seeks to acquaint students with the social problems and issues prevalent within the institutions and societal groupings of the contemporary world, as well as their implications. Students are also acquainted with some proposed solutions.
Prerequisites: SO1013, SO1023
SO3513, 3523 Directed Studies in Sociology
Credit hours: 3
These courses are available for students when their interests and the professors’ expertise allow for a more in-depth tutorial approach. Students must be highly capable and must have completed upper level prerequisite courses in the area of the directed study.
Prerequisite: Permission of the Registrar and of the Instructor
SO3603 Research Methods in the Social Sciences
Credit hours: 3
In this course, students become acquainted with the methods and procedures used in identifying research problems, forming hypotheses, and gathering and analyzing data. Emphasis is placed on students’ abilities to interpret and critically analyze research reports that appear in professional journals and other publications.
Prerequisites: SO1013, SO1023
SO3643 Gender Studies
Credit hours: 3
This course examines gender and gender relations in Canada through a broad range of gender-related topics. The student is introduced to the idea of gender as a social construction and as it thus affects behaviour, beliefs, attitudes, and interpersonal relations.
Crosslisting: PS3643
Prerequisites: SO1013, SO1023
SO3753 Sociology of Sport
Credit hours: 3
Sport has made an enduring impact on the world in which we all live and interact. As a result, it can often be a taken for granted component within our everyday lives. At the same time there is more to sport than just what we see on field, court, or arena. The intent of this course is to apply a sociological lens to the world of sport and athletics through the utilization of academic writing, popular media, as well as with personal experiences and strategic observations. In essence, this course is the study of the structural and cultural relationship of sport to society and vice versa.
Prerequisites: SO1013, SO1023
SO3823 Sociology of Religion
Credit hours: 3
This course examines the major issues and trends in contemporary religion from the perspective of the social sciences. Particular emphasis is placed on the analysis of religion in Canada.
Crosslisting: RS3823
Prerequisites: SO1013, SO1023
SO3833 Sociology of Work
Credit hours: 3
This course examines work in the modern society. While some consideration is given to an historical evolution of work and to its impact on the individual, more emphasis is placed on the social organization of work, work settings, problems in the workplace, and the meaning of work in the lives of individuals.
Prerequisites: SO1013, SO1023
SO3943 Indigenous Peoples
Credit hours: 3
Examines Settler-Indigenous relations in Canada with an emphasis on colonialism, racism, Christian responsibility, Indigeneity, and resiliency.
Crosslisting: HI3943
Prerequisites: SO1013, SO1023
SO4003 Religion and Violence
Credit hours: 3
This course offers an examination of religion and violence in modern society, and it focuses on the following: religious militancy, apocalypticism, cults, mutilation, sacrifice, torture, martyrdom, self-mortification, genocide, terrorism, land disputes, hate crimes, and clergy sexual abuse.
Crosslisting: RS4803
Prerequisites: SO1013, SO1023
SO4043 Criminology
Credit hours: 3
This seminar course utilizes out-of-class readings of primary sources and in-class peer-to-peer discussion, to facilitate the advanced study of criminological theory from the 17th to 21st centuries for students majoring in the social sciences.
Crosslisting: PS4043
Prerequisites: PS1013 and PS1023 OR SO1013 and SO1023 AND no less than six additional credit hours in Psychology and/or Sociology above the 2000 level
SO4123 The Good Society
Credit hours: 3
This course examines some of the best ideas of what constitutes a good society, predominately from Western sociologists and philosophers. Students will grapple with diverse views and ultimately come to their own understanding of the good society.
Prerequisites: SO1013, SO1023
SO4513, 4523 Advanced Directed Studies in Sociology
Credit hours: 3
These courses are available for students when their interests and the professors’ expertise allow for a more in-depth tutorial approach. Students must be highly capable and must have completed upper level prerequisite courses in the area of the directed study.
Prerequisites: Permission of the Registrar and of the Instructor
SO4613 Advanced Research Methods in Sociology
Credit hours: 3
This course provides a brief review of methodology and statistical technique and then synthesizes these areas by applying them to research design. Students learn to design and implement research projects in both quantitative and qualitative methodologies and to develop computer skills necessary for research.
Prerequisites: MT1233, SO3603
SO4653 Family Violence
Credit hours: 3
This seminar examines intimate partner violence, child abuse, and elder abuse through a sociological lens. Investigates the types and causes of, as well as solutions to, family violence with a special focus on its relationship to religious institutions.
Crosslisting: PS4653
Prerequisite: SO1013, SO1023
SO4703 Death and Grieving
Credit hours: 3
This course examines the human response of grief when faced with the loss of a loved one. Issues regarding attachment theory, normal grief, complicated grief, as well as the means for alleviating pain associated with loss are considered.
Crosslisting: PS4703
Prerequisites: SO1013, SO1023, plus six additional credit hours in Sociology
SO4833 Evangelicalism in Canada
Credit hours: 3
This course begins with the necessary task of defining evangelicalism. It then examines evangelicalism in contemporary Canada, primarily through the use of social theory and survey research. The beliefs, practices, attitudes, and demographics of evangelicals are discussed, as well as the organizations that support the evangelical subculture.
Crosslisting: RS4833
Prerequisite: SO3823
SO4853 Internship in Sociology
Credit hours: 3
The Sociology Internship involves at least eight hours of on-site/hands-on work per week over a semester, and in a placement area related to social services, demographics, education, corrections, polling, or research, for instance. In addition, students are required to review the literature in their area of placement, to take thorough field notes of their experience, to write a research paper, to fulfill the professional requirements of the placement role, and to meet regularly with the professor. This internship is open to third or fourth year Sociology students in good standing by permission of the Registrar and of the instructor. Admission is contingent on availability of placements.
Prerequisites: SO3013, SO3023, SO3603
SO4996 Thesis
Credit hours: 6
Certain exceptional students, upon request prior to the completion of their third year, may be granted permission to write a thesis as a part of their Honours degree requirements.
