Courses Taught in the Department of Sociology
Graduate Program
Sex and Gender in Social Theory, SOCI 6180, half year course
In this course, we critically, theoretically and analytically engage with sex/ gender/ sexuality, largely from a sociological perspective. We will read key, older works and newer advancements in scholarship. Among other things, we discuss ‘gender relations,’ ‘the sex/gender system,’ ‘gender hierarchies,’ ‘gender as a social structure’; theorize the relationship between sex and gender; analyze and deconstruct the gender binary; engage with queer theory and trans scholarship; and theorize and imagine intersections , i.e. among gender, sexuality, race, class, and citizenship. We read scholarship that falls into, roughly, Western feminist thought and that which purposely disturbs this canon.
Qualitative Methods of Research, SOCI 6060, half year course
This course has been designed with a very practice objective: to educate students on how to think about qualitative research and how to analyze qualitative data. We focus on the face-to-face interview and only two analysis strategies in detail, those of narrative and discourse analysis. This "Qualitative Methods" course is not about breadth - we do not spend a great deal of time on other methods of collecting data (e.g. ethnography, visual sociology) though we will engage in a limited discussion of them. Instead, the course offers a concentrated focus on the "doing" of a specific kind of qualitative research, the collection and analysis of interview data. Our goal is to develop analytical skills needed to complete MA or PhD level research involving interview data in the hopes we can avoid a common reaction to data once collected - "what do I with it?!"
Survey Research Methods, SOCI 6120, half year course
This course provides students with a complete introduction to the theory and practice of survey research. The focus is on the historical development, design, and tools of this quantitative method. The course provides students with the skills to conduct their own survey.
Gender and Critical Social Policy Analysis, SOCI 6684, half year course
In this course, students are invited to think critically, analytically, and thoughtfully about social policy through the theoretical application of a gender lens. We primarily focus on the post-war inception of the welfare state and corresponding social policy and programs in Canada and how they have undergone transformations as a result of political, economic, and social forces. Social policy and its restructuring are analyzed as an outcome of multiple and often competing discourses and tensions surrounding ideas about gender, class, and race/ethnicity that materialize at local and community levels and all levels of government.
Undergraduate Program
Families and Social Change, SOCI 3660, full year course
In this course, students are encouraged to think critically and thoughtfully about “the family” and families and how they have changed over time. We explore: 1) the family as an institution and/or ideological construct and; 2) the relational experiences, interactive behaviours, and processes of everyday living that individuals experience as family life. In addition, we engage in critical analysis of the relational challenges that can materialize within families and how these challenges are also debated and discussed in broader political and policy discourses. Throughout this course, we adopt a sociological perspective that assumes that our ideas about family are shaped by race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, ability, and citizenship. We primarily focus on families in industrial Western societies (e.g. Canada) but will learn how families are diverse and varied through historical analysis and cross-cultural comparisons.
Families and Intimate Relations, SOCI 4345, half year course
This course engages students in a deeper understanding of the meaning and experiences of families and intimate or close relations. We explore the transformation of intimate relations, the dynamics of intimate relations within diverse households, and some contemporary challenges for families and intimate relations. Overall, we primarily concentrate on family relations and intimacy relating to couplehood, whether couplehood includes straight or queer couples and couples with or without children.
Feminist Perspectives on Families, Gender, and the State, SOCI 4685, full year course
The course is designed to offer a survey of several feminisms in relation to the study of individuals, gender relations, families and the state. Specifically, students are invited to use varied feminist perspectives to think critically and thoughtfully about the intersecting relationships between the sociological institutions of the family and welfare state, and the gendered and other interactional dynamics imbedded in them.
