XII. Course Descriptions
Sociology
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
The Department of Sociology and Anthropology offers three types of courses: sociology courses with the prefix SOC*; anthropology
courses with the prefix ANTH*; and departmental courses with the prefix SOAN*.
Courses will normally be offered in the semesters designated. For information on other semesters these courses will be offered
and the semesters those courses without designations will be offered, please check with the department. In addition to regularly
scheduled courses, students may elect to do independent study. A student who wishes to do a reading course should first consult
the professor with whom he/she wishes to work. Please note: a student is allowed a total of 1.00 credits only for reading
courses.
SOAN courses will be used towards the Sociology specializations.
Please note: The availability of third and fourth year seminar courses will vary. Students must check with the Department
of Sociology and Anthropology to see when seminar courses are available.
| SOC*1100 Sociology S,F,W (3-0) [0.50] |
| An introductory course dealing with the basic concepts and methods of sociology applied to societies, groups and individuals.
Students will gain an understanding of basic social processes such as socialization, social exchange, deviance and conformity,
social change and basic social institutions such as the economy, the polity, the family, religion, education. (Also offered
through Distance Education format.)
|
| SOC*2070 Social Deviance S,F,W (3-0) [0.50] |
| An introduction to some of the basic theories of deviance and social control and their application to selected social problems.
(In spring semester offered through Distance Education format only.)
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
SOC*1100 or SOC*1500 |
| Restriction(s): |
Priority Access course. Enrolment may be restricted to particular programs or specializations. Please see the departmental
website.
|
| SOC*2080 Rural Sociology W (3-0) [0.50] |
| An introduction to the structure and processes of rural society. This course deals with diverse topics such as agrarian movements,
the rise of the agro-industrial complex, the role of the state in agriculture, the question of community, and rural environmental
issues. A comparative perspective is cultivated, although the primary emphasis is on Canadian society.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
1 of ANTH*1150, GEOG*1220, SOC*1100 |
| SOC*2280 Society and Environment U (3-0) [0.50] |
| An introduction to the nature and dimensions of the environmental crisis. The values, interests and social institutions (including
government and industry) that promote pollution or environmentalism will be considered. Issues to be examined may include
global warming, nuclear energy, environmental toxins, species extinction and population growth pressures.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
1 of ANTH*1150, GEOG*1220, SOC*1100 |
| SOC*2760 Homicide S,F,W (3-0) [0.50] |
| This course will review legal definitions of homicide, statistical trends in homicide—both in Canada and internationally—and
theoretical explanations of homicide. The course will also examine the key criminological/ sociological empirical research
studies on the various types of homicide, such as: femicide, familialcide, serial and mass murder. (Offered through Distance
Education format only.)
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
1 of ANTH*1150, FRHD*1010, PHIL*1010, POLS*1400, PSYC*1100, PSYC*1200, SOC*1100, SOC*1500 |
| Restriction(s): |
Priority Access course. Enrolment may be restricted to particular programs or specializations. Please see the departmental
website for more information.
|
| SOC*3130 Politics and Society U (3-0) [0.50] |
| An interpretation of the political process and its relationship to other aspects of the social structure, including such topics
as political parties, movements, factions, citizen participation, power structures and the process of political exchange.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
SOAN*2112, SOAN*2120 |
| SOC*3340 Education, Change and Resistance U (3-0) [0.50] |
| An examination of educational institutions and their relationships to other sectors of society, in particular political and
economic. Topics include the nature and objectives of education, equality of opportunity, measures of educational achievement
and attainment, manifest and hidden curricula, and public policy.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
SOAN*2112, SOAN*2120 |
| SOC*3380 Society and Nature U (3-0) [0.50] |
| The course provides a range of worldviews which address the relations between society and the environment. Material in the
course will include historical perspectives and contemporary perspective, thereby allowing students to understand that worldviews
concerning this crucial relation are dynamic, changing and reflect the diverse, and sometimes competing, perspectives of a
society within particular moments of history.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
GEOG*2210 or SOC*2280 |
| SOC*3410 Individual and Society U (3-0) [0.50] |
| Examining social-psychology from the sociological perspective, this course deals with the relation between social and cultural
structure, on the one hand, and self or personality on the other. Employing symbolic interactionism and affect control theory,
the course shows how social interaction mediated by language is the well-spring of both social cognitions and emotions.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
SOAN*2112, SOAN*2120 |
| SOC*3490 Law and Society S,W (3-0) [0.50] |
| This course examines the social basis of law. Specific topics include the law as an instrument of stability or change, and
the role of law makers, law enforcers and interpreters, including the legal profession, the police, judges and courts. (Also
offered through Distance Education format.)
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
(SOAN*2112 or SOC*2700), SOAN*2120 |
| Restriction(s): |
Priority Access course. Enrolment may be restricted to particular programs or specializations. Please see the departmental
website.
|
| SOC*3710 Young Offenders F,W (3-0) [0.50] |
| This course examines concerns about youth crime in Canada and elsewhere. It examines the history of legislation to control
youth crime, criminal justice processing and practices, public reactions and concerns about youth crime and theoretical models
used to explain youth crime.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
(SOAN*2112 or SOC*2700), SOAN*2120 |
| Restriction(s): |
Registration in Anthropology, Criminal Justice & Public Policy or Sociology (major, minor or area of concentration). |
| SOC*3730 Courts and Society W (3-0) [0.50] |
| This course is an introduction to the social processes involved in the court, particularly the criminal court. Typical concerns
will be the place of courts in society, public opinion and confidence in courts, purposes and principles of sentencing, sentencing
reforms and disparities (e.g., across gender and race), the role of criminal records, juries, the roles of judges, and alternatives
to criminal courts.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
(SOAN*2112 or SOC*2700), SOAN*2120 |
| Restriction(s): |
Registration in Anthropology, Criminal Justice & Public Policy or Sociology (major, minor or area of concentration). |
| SOC*3740 Corrections and Penology F (3-0) [0.50] |
| This course will examine the current state of knowledge regarding the role of corrections and penology. It will examine such
specific issues as public perception and reaction to the criminal justice system's methods of punishment and treatment of
criminal offenders, the effectiveness of sentencing options and policies, including fines, probation, prison sentences and
parole. It will also examine the various theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of courts, corrections and
penology.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
(SOAN*2112 or SOC*2700), SOAN*2120 |
| Restriction(s): |
Registration in Anthropology, Criminal Justice & Public Policy or Sociology (major, minor or area of concentration). |
| SOC*3750 Police in Society F,W (3-0) [0.50] |
| This course will examine the role of police in society. It will examine theories of policing, the history of policing and
such issues as police citizen interaction, relations with visible minorities, methods for controlling police behaviour, and
the effectiveness of the police in carrying out specific policy directives.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
(SOAN*2112 or SOC*2700), SOAN*2120 |
| Restriction(s): |
Registration in Anthropology, Criminal Justice & Public Policy or Sociology (major, minor or area of concentration). |
| SOC*3840 Seminar in Sociology F,W (3-0) [0.50] |
| This course will be offered as a structured seminar on various topics depending upon the interests of the faculty member teaching
the course. Topics will be announced and course outlines will be available at course selection. The availability of third
and fourth year seminar courses will vary. Students must check with the Department of Sociology and Anthropology to see when
seminar courses are available.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
10.00 credits including (1 of SOAN*2112, SOC*2080, SOC*2700), SOAN*2120 |
| SOC*3850 Seminar in Sociology F,W (3-0) [0.50] |
| This course will be offered as a structured seminar on various topics depending upon the interests of the faculty member teaching
the course. Topics will be announced and course outlines will be available at course selection. The availability of third
and fourth year seminar courses will vary. Students must check with the Department of Sociology and Anthropology to see when
seminar courses are available.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
10.00 credits including (1 of SOAN*2112, SOC*2080, SOC*2700), SOAN*2120 |
| SOC*3950 Special Projects in Sociology S,F,W (3-0) [0.50] |
| This special study option/reading course is designed to provide advanced undergraduates with an opportunity to explore independently
the frontiers and foundations of a field of knowledge. Under supervision, the student will study in greater depth topics related
to regular upper-level courses offered in the department which the student has taken or is taking. Permission of the instructor
who will be supervising the study is required.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
10.00 credits |
| Restriction(s): |
Instructor consent required. Please note, a student is allowed a total of 1.00 credits only for reading courses. |
| SOC*4010 Violence and Society W (3-0) [0.50] |
| This course will focus on the changing nature of violence in our society by critically evaluating theory, research and public
policy on the causes and control of violence. The links among structural, institutional and interpersonal violence will be
examined as well as the social construction of violence, particularly why some forms of violence are considered to be more
serious social problems than others.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
15.00 credits including (SOC*2700 or SOC*3310), ( SOAN*3120 or POLS*3650 )
|
| Restriction(s): |
Registration in Anthropology, Criminal Justice & Public Policy or Sociology majors. |
| SOC*4230 Comparative Sociology W (3-0) [0.50] |
| Societies and social institutions in cross-cultural perspectives. The focus of this course will vary but in every instance
will explicitly involve cross-cultural comparisons. (Offered in even-numbered years.)
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
12.50 credits including SOAN*2120, SOC*2080 |
| SOC*4300 Theoretical and Methodological Issues U (3-0) [0.50] |
| This course will provide an opportunity for sociology majors to consider in detail the integration of theoretical and methodological
issues at an advanced level. It is meant to engage students in the latest developments in a particular area of the discipline.
Course topics will be announced and course outlines will be available at course selection time. This course is highly recommended
to students who are considering graduate work in sociology.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
15.00 credits including SOAN*3070, SOAN*3120, SOC*3310 |
| SOC*4410 Women, Work and Public Policy U (3-0) [0.50] |
| In this course students will critically assess the transformation of women's work in contemporary society. A range of topics
pertaining to women’s work will be explored with particular attention paid to the processes through which class, gender, race,
ethnicity, and age shape divisions of work. The course will also focus on theories that have attempted to explain the transformation
of women's work.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
12.50 credits including (1 of ANTH*2160, SOAN*2112, SOC*2700), (SOAN*2120 or WMST*3000)
|
| SOC*4420 Sociology of Food Systems F (3-0) [0.50] |
| This course is directed towards upper level students in sociology and related disciplines who wish to consider the variety
of contentious issues surrounding food in the contemporary world. The course will encourage a sociological approach to food
systems that is both historically informed and comparative in scope.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
12.50 credits including (ANTH*2160 or SOAN*2112), SOC*2080, SOAN*2120 |
| SOC*4430 Alternative Social Possibilities W (3-0) [0.50] |
| This course uses the full range of sociological theory to suggest what alternative ways of organizing society might be possible.
Students will examine different accounts of theories of why outcomes are not equal from functionalist theories of stratification
to theories of class domination and exploitation to economic market accounts to feminist accounts based on patriarchy. This
course will allow students to bring together for themselves a wide range of theories used in other courses and apply them
to how their own ideals might be implemented.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
12.50 credits including (1 of ANTH*3690, SOC*2700, SOC*3310), (POLS*3180 or SOAN*3120)
|
| SOC*4740 Seminar in Sociology F,W (3-0) [0.50] |
| This course will be offered as a structured seminar on various topics depending upon the interests of the faculty member teaching
the course. Topics will be announced and course outlines will be available at course selection. The availability of third
and fourth year seminar courses will vary. Students must check with the Department of Sociology and Anthropology to see when
seminar courses are available.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
12.50 credits including SOC*3310, SOAN*3070, SOAN*3120 |
| SOC*4840 Seminar in Sociology F,W (3-0) [0.50] |
| This course will be offered as a structured seminar on various topics depending upon the interests of the faculty member teaching
the course. Topics will be announced and course outlines will be available at course selection. The availability of third
and fourth year seminar courses will vary. Students must check with the Department of Sociology and Anthropology to see when
seminar courses are available.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
12.50 credits including SOC*3310, SOAN*3070, SOAN*3120 |
| SOC*4880 Special Projects in Sociology S,F,W (3-0) [0.50] |
| This special study/reading course option is designed to provide advanced undergraduates with an opportunity to explore independently
the frontiers and foundations of a field of knowledge. Under supervision, the student will study in greater depth topics related
to regular upper-level courses offered in the department which the student has taken or is taking. Permission of the instructor
who will be supervising the project is required.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
12.50 credits |
| Restriction(s): |
Instructor consent required. Please note, a student is allowed a total of 1.00 credits only for reading courses. |
| SOC*4890 Special Projects in Sociology S,F,W (3-0) [0.50] |
| This special study/reading course option is designed to provide advanced undergraduates with an opportunity to explore independently
the frontiers and foundations of a field of knowledge. Under supervision, the student will study in greater depth topics related
to regular upper-level courses offered in the department which the student has taken or is taking. Permission of the instructor
who will be supervising the project is required.
|
| Prerequisite(s): |
12.50 credits |
| Restriction(s): |
Instructor consent required. Please note, a student is allowed a total of 1.00 credits only for reading courses. |
