Courses

2024-2025 Academic Year

SOAN 1502
Questioning Society 0.5 unit
An introduction to the study of social and cultural life including basic concepts and terminology of sociology and anthropology. Students will be introduced to core theoretical and methodological tools used by social researchers. Topics may include human diversity, identity, group behaviour, social roles and processes, social inequality and social justice. Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 1101, 1102 or 1103 may not take this course for credit.

SOAN 2500
Introduction to Social Theory 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): SOAN 1502
An introduction to the key figures and major ideas in the allied disciplines of sociology and anthropology. Students will examine the historical development of theorizing in these disciplines and survey themes from their beginnings to the present. Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 2400 may not take this course for credit.

SOAN 2520
Family, Marriage and Kinship 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): SOAN 1502 or permission of the instructor
An examination of the major elements in the complex relationship between families, kinship and society. This course understands families as diverse social entities that are supported and shaped by economic factors, socio-political changes, racial inequality, as well as gender ideologies and, sexual practices including queer genders and sexualities. Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 2221 or 2222 may not take this course for credit.

SOAN 2530/POLS 2530
Canadian Social Policy 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): 5.0 units of university credit including SOAN 1502 or 0.5 unit of POLS, or permission of the instructor
An introduction to current debates and practices around social policy in Canada. The course critically analyses competing ideas about the role of government in meeting a range of social needs, and examines policy impacts in areas such as: social services, income security, child welfare, health care, post-secondary education, and housing. Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 2218 may not take this course for credit.

SOAN 2531
Making a Living 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): SOAN 1502 or permission of the instructor
An exploration of the organization and experience of paid and unpaid work, its place in social life, and its impacts on the wellbeing of individuals, communities, and society. Topics may include: workplace transformation; meaning of work; professional, emotional and precarious labour; gendered work; employment and inequality; work and social justice. Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 2202 may not take this course for credit.

SOAN 2540
Power, Inequality & Social Justice 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): SOAN 1502 or permission of the instructor
A critical examination of the origins and expressions of inequalities in class, status, and power. Students will study the consequences of these inequalities through a range of contemporary social issues, with particular attention to systemic and structural inequality. Possible paths toward greater social justice are also discussed. Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 3308 may not take this course for credit.

SOAN 2550
Diversity & Identity 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): SOAN 1502 or permission of the instructor
An examination of race, class, and gender as entities that intersect and interact with one another. The course addresses intersections, interconnections, tensions, and harmonies of race, class, gender and sexualities, including queer sexualities, as systems of privilege and oppression. Students will explore how these dynamics advantage and disadvantage people.

SOAN 2560
Becoming Social: Self and Society 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): SOAN 1502 or permission of the instructor
An analysis of the processes through which we learn culture throughout our lives, and prepare for normative and alternative expectations or choices. Topics may include comparative theoretical approaches; social differentiations (e.g. class, ethnicity); the influence of family, school, peers and the media; occupational socialization; parenthood and processes of resocialization. Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 3340 or 3341 may not take this course for credit.

SOAN 2570/WOMS 2570
Gender & Society 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): SOAN 1502 or permission of the instructor
An introduction to the feminist study of gender, including heterosexual and queer forms, examining changes in gender relations, gender inequalities and the social construction of gender. Different social institutions will be analyzed. Topics such as gender relations in work, family, politics, education, media, and socialization will be covered. Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 2265 may not take this course for credit.

SOAN 2580
Deviance 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): SOAN 1502 or permission of the instructor
An examination of the ways in which deviance is defined; the process by which people become involved in deviant behaviour; and the consequences for persons who are defined as deviant. Social treatment of non-conforming and non-criminal behaviours and conditions such as mental illness and alcoholism will also be considered. Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 2300 or 3330 may not take this course for credit.

SOAN 3371/WOMS 3371
Women, Resistance and Empowerment 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): 5.0 units of university credit including SOAN 1502 or WOMS 1112 and 0.5 unit of another women’s studies or departmental women-emphasis course at the 2000 level or above or permission of the instructor
The purpose of this course is to provide students with an opportunity to discuss and evaluate women’s experiences of resistance and empowerment in their everyday lives. Particular emphasis will be placed on the interrelationships among work, family and community, and the extent to which they are sites of resistance and empowerment for women.

SOAN 3401/WOMS 3401
Ecofeminism and Ecological Justice 0.5 unit
Prerequisites: 5.0 units of university credit including SOAN 1502 or WOMS 1112 and 0.5 unit of another women’s studies or departmental women-emphasis course at the 2000 level or above, or permission of the instructor.
This course examines environmentalism from an intersectional feminist perspective. We study the socio-cultural and political dynamics that frame our relationship to the environment, and survey sustainability practices, activism, and policy from local and global perspectives, exploring feminist and liberation ecologies across borders.

SOAN 3501
Social Theory & Issues 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): SOAN 2500
A seminar course that examines some of the major contemporary theoretical debates, issues, and perspectives in sociology and anthropology. Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 4416 may not take this course for credit.

SOAN 3511
Qualitative Approaches 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): SOAN 1502 and 1.0 additional unit of SOAN or PSYC 3301
An introduction to the methods, techniques, and processes involved in conducting qualitative research. Topics include: research ethics; research design; data-gathering techniques such as interviewing, participant observation, and focus groups; and data analysis.

SOAN 3512
Quantitative Approaches 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): SOAN 1502 and 1.0 additional unit of SOAN
An applied, project-based approach to quantitative social research methodologies. Topics include: survey design; sample selection; levels of measurement; and statistical data analysis including descriptive statistics, measures of association, and tests of statistical significance. Students will develop analytical skills through application of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 3314 may not take this course for credit.

SOAN 3532
Conflict, Power & Violence 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): 5.0 units of university credit, which must include SOAN 1502 or permission of the instructor
A critical and comparative examination of the presumption that violence is inherent to the human condition. Grounded in social research and theory about power, violence and conflict, this course explores these social dynamics through specific social issues and phenomena. Evidence-based thinking about conflict, power and violence will be emphasized. Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 3370 may not take this course for credit.

SOAN 3533
Critical Perspectives on Globalization 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): 5.0 units of university credit, which must include SOAN 1502 or permission of the instructor
An exploration of the interlinked socio-cultural, political, and economic dynamics of globalization and the institutions and interests that shape the model of globalization that dominates today. Drawing on contemporary human issues, critical theory, and engaged methods, this course examines movements that offer resistance and point to alternative models of globalization. Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 2203 or 3302 may not take this course for credit.

SOAN 3541
Resistance, Rebellion, and Revolution 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): 5.0 units of university credit, which must include SOAN 1502 or permission of the instructor
A critical examination of social movements as vehicles for social change and incubators of social innovation. Drawing on critical theory, engaged methods, and contemporary and historical examples, this course explores how, why and with what consequences social movements emerge, struggle to advance the cause that animates them, and decline.

SOAN 3542
Sustainable Communities and Social Change 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): 5.0 units of university credit, which must include SOAN 1502 or permission of the instructor
A selective examination of communities, broadly defined. Topics such as the relevance of community, sustainable development, citizen participation, intentional communities, community conflict, ecological community, virtual communities and the local impacts of globalization may be covered. Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 3320 may not take this course for credit.

SOAN 3551/FSGN 3551
Aging 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): 5.0 units of university credit, which must include SOAN 1502 or permission of the instructor
An examination of aging as a social process with both micro (individual) and macro (societal) dimensions and how these interact. Topics may include: the social meaning of age and aging; family in later life; gender and aging; retirement; health; social policy; and the implications of population aging for society. Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 2219/FSGN 2219 may not take this course for credit.

SOAN 3552
Health & Illness 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): 5.0 units of university credit, which must include SOAN 1502 or permission of the instructor
An introduction to the sociological study of health and illness. Students will learn about the social determinants of health, cultural beliefs about health and illness, the subjective experience of illness, and how social and economic structures affect individual health, health policy, and the state of the health-care system.

SOAN 3543/POLS 3543
Environmental Politics and Social Justice 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): 5.0 units of university credit, which must include SOAN 1502 or 1.0 unit of POLS, or permission of the instructor
An investigation of the relationships between environmental concerns and state and non-state actors at the local, national, and international levels. Topics include: Indigenous land rights; connections between multinational corporations and settler-colonial governments; public policies; the ramifications of climate change; impacts on marginalized communities; and resistance movements.

SOAN 3554
Race & Racism 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): 5.0 units of university credit, which must include SOAN 1502 or permission or the instructor
A critical examination of race as a category of social identity and racism as a system of structured inequality. Particular attention will be paid to racism as a phenomenon at the intersection of oppression and exploitation. Topics include the origins or modern racism, eugenics, scientific racism, genocide, and racial capitalism.

SOAN 3561
Schooling 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): 5.0 units of university credit, which must include SOAN 1502 or permission of the instructor
A theoretical and empirical examination of schooling, its relations to other social institutions, and economic activity in Canada. Topics may include school organization and curriculum, sociocultural factors in student achievement, teachers’ work, public attitudes toward education, and policy discussions. A social justice paradigm will be emphasized in the course. Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 3350/EDUC 5425 may not take this course for credit.

SOAN 3572/WOMS 3572
Sex and Sexualities 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): 5.0 units of university credit, which must include SOAN 1502 or WOMS 1114, or permission of the instructor
A critical evaluation of the current social and political issues in sexuality studies, with a focus on contemporary issues around sexualities, including formation of sexual identities, communities, sexual practices and politics, sexualities and social control, questions of diversity, and the historical and global nature of ideas and controversies around sexualities.

SOAN 3581
Crime 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): 5.0 units of university credit, which must include SOAN 1502 or permission of the instructor
An examination of the nature and impact of crime in Canada by exploring a range of issues related to criminology. Topics may include the historical foundations of crime, theoretical and methodological considerations, progression into criminal careers, various typologies of offenders and victims, and critical analyses of crime policy. Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 3332 may not take this course for credit.

SOAN 3582
Law and Society 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): 5.0 units of university credit, which must include SOAN 1502 or permission of the instructor
An examination of the origin, development, interpretation and enforcement of the rule of law in Canada. Topics may include the law-making process, the relationship between law and social change, and the operation of the Canadian criminal justice system. A social justice approach is taken throughout this course. Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 3333 may not take this course for credit.

SOAN 3591
Selected Topics in SOAN 0.5 unit
SOAN 3592
Selected Topics in SOAN 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): SOAN 1502 and 1.0 additional unit of SOAN
An in-depth examination of a specific topic in sociology/anthropology either building on a lower-level course or focusing on a topic not currently covered in other course offerings.

SOAN 3651
Indigenous Peoples in a Settler State: Canadian Context 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): 5.0 units of university credit, which must include SOAN 1502 or permission of the instructor
A critical examination of indigenous peoples’ experiences of European imperialism and colonization in the Canadian context. This course focuses on issues arising from colonization such as genocide, ethnocide, and the territorial displacement of indigenous peoples and their effects on indigenous peoples’ lifeways and their struggles for resurgence and self-determination. Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 3311 or 3312 may not take this course for credit.

SOAN 3652
Indigenous Peoples in a Settler State: Atlantic Canada 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): 5.0 units of university credit, which must include SOAN 1502 or permission of the instructor
An exploration of indigenous peoples’ experiences with imperialism and colonization in Atlantic Canada. Focal areas include imposition of the settler state on Mi’kmaq and other indigenous cultures and ongoing struggles for self-determination. The impact of court decisions on issues like treaty implementation and resource use will also be discussed. Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 3311 or 3312 may not take this course for credit.

SOAN 4590
Senior Seminar 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): SOAN 3511/3512 and 3501 (SOAN 3501 may be taken concurrently with 4590)
A seminar for advanced students. Students will examine topics in theory and methodology focusing on the ways empirical research is informed by theory, and on the challenges facing empirical researchers in both academic and applied settings. Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 4490 may not take this course for credit.

SOAN 4591
Reading Course in Sociology & Anthropology 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): permission of the department
Students enrolled in this course will do readings in a chosen area of sociology, under the supervision of one of the members of the department. The area chosen is to be worked out between the students and faculty member concerned.

SOAN 4593
Directed Study 0.5 unit
SOAN 4594
Directed Study 0.5 unit
Prerequisite(s): permission of the department
An open content course permitting the student to do sociological and/or anthropological research on a substantive area of interest. Research proposals require approval of the instructor.

SOAN 4599
Thesis 1.0 unit
Prerequisite(s): admission to the honours program
Students will complete a research project under the supervision of a faculty advisor. The outcome of this work will normally be an oral presentation and a written thesis. Note: Students who have received credit for SOAN 4499 may not take this course for credit.

Academic Note: This web-based calendar information is applicable for the 2024-2025 academic year which runs from September 01, 2024 to August 31, 2025.

For information on previous years, please consult the University Academic Calendars web page.