Current Courses

Course Name

Time & Day

Course Description

WSGS-2016 - A1 Intro Women's & Gender Studies 

M, W

9:00 - 10:20 AM

This is the introductory course to the interdisciplinary field of Women's Studies and Gender Studies. The basis of femininity, masculinity and women's inequality are examined in the context of wider social relations, including the historical subject, literary voice and the women's movement. WSGS-2016-A2 - Must be taken at the same time as this course. 6ch hours.

CRIM-2403. Criminalizing Women in Canada (WSGS)

M, W, F

1:30-2:20 PM

This course critically examines, using a feminist lens, how gender informs women’s experi-ences with crime and the criminal justice system in Canada. Topics to be covered include: intersections of race, class and gender, regulating women, incarceration, dominant ideological constructions of the “female offenders,” and recent popular culture representations of women and crime. Prerequisite: CRIM 1013 & CRIM 1023.

CRIM-2503. Diversity, Crime & Justice in Canada (WSGS)

M, W, F

11:30 AM-12:20 PM

This course examines the intersection of (in)equality, crime and social (in)justice in Canada through a criminology of difference and diversity. Through theoretical and practical material, the course explores how people experience crime and criminal (in)justice through multiple sites of diversity, such as age, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, social class, religion, etc. Prerequisite: CRIM 1013 & CRIM 1023

CRIM-3163. Perspectives on Missing Persons (WSGS)

T

6:30-9:20 PM

This course investigates and theorizes issues relating to missing and murdered persons. Drawing from diverse fields including criminal justice, feminist/ criminology, sociology, forensic anthropology, critical victimology, and Indigenous studies, the course evaluates established and emerging policies and practices regarding documentation, investigation, prosecution, prevention, and commemoration of missing persons cases. The course critically analyzes colonialism, gender and violence as factors that place particular communities at risk.

ECON-2303. Gender in the Global South: A Political Economy Perspective (HMRT 2233) (SOCI 2623) (WSGS)

M, W, F

11:30 AM-12:20 PM

This course will critically examine the role of women in the global South. It will concentrate largely on the changes in these roles and their correspondence with the transition from traditional to new forms of economic organization, production, and power.

ENGL-2583. Women Writers I (WSGS)

T, Th

2:30-3:50 PM

An investigation of women’s writing in English before 1800, through poetry, (auto)biography, spiritual memoir, fiction, drama, and theory written by women. (Pre-1800)

ENGL-2593. Women Writers II (WSGS)

M, W, F

11:30 AM-12:20 PM

An investigation of women’s writing in English after 1800, through poetry, (auto)biography, fiction, drama, film, and theory written by women. (Post-1800)

GERO-2113. The Sociology of Aging (SOCI-2523) (HMRT) (RELG) (PSYC) (WSGS)

T, Th

5:30-6:50 PM

This course explores cultural and social-structural determinants of aging through sociological theory. Students critically examine the social construction of old age as a social status through perceptions, descriptions, discussions and interactions with others, and how these relations are 'negotiated' by the older people themselves. Other topics include ageism and how various social institutions influence the experience of aging. Prerequisite: GERO 1013 OR GERO 1023, OR permission from the instructor.

GERO-3093. Images of Aging in Film (WSGS)

M

4:00-6:50 PM

This course explores popular views of the elderly using motion pictures, specifically the impact of stereotypes on older people's expectations for later life. Students should be able to look at films more critically and identify images communicated through the media. Prerequisite: GERO 1013 OR GERO 1023 OR permission from instructor.

SOCI -2013-A Sociological Research Methods (NATI) (WSGS)

T, Th

2:30-3:50 PM

This course explores how sociologists gather evidence about social patterns and evaluate theoretical explanations of social life. Students learn to turn concepts such as inequality, institutions, culture, and health into measurable indicators, select methods like qualitative interviews, focus groups, ethnography, surveys, and secondary data analysis, and evaluate claims based on validity, reliability, sampling, and reasoning. The focus is on connecting sociological theory with methods, understanding the strengths and limitations of different approaches, and designing ethics-based studies to investigate social processes.

SOCI-2313. Deviance (WSGS) (CRIM)

T, Th

8:30-9:50 AM

This course reviews theory and research with a focus on the social basis of deviance, deviance construction, and the consequences of social reactions to selected forms of deviance.

SOCI-2416. Inequality in Society (WSGS)

M, W

2:30-3:50 PM

This course explores existing patterns of social inequality and debates concerning the possibility and desirability of greater equality. Taking a theoretical and historical focus, this course examines the changing nature of inequality in contemporary Canadian society in the context of globalization. Throughout, we develop our understanding of how different forms of in-equality - particularly social class, gender and race - intersect. One section of the course may have a service-learning requirement, where students engage in volunteer work in the community, and then reflect upon their experiences through reading, writing, and discussion.

SOCI-2633. Sociology of the Family (WSGS)

W, F

9:00-10:20 AM

A critical analysis of various conceptual frameworks in family research, and a cross-cultural analysis of marriage and the family, both past and present. Particular attention will be paid to the current developments in marriage arrangements, changes in the meaning of marriage and the family, as well as the future of the family.

SOCI-2653. Sociology of Health (WSGS)

W

2:30-5:20 PM

This course explores health from a sociological perspective. The course focuses on the social determinants of health, inequalities in health and illness, health care provision, and the social construction of health and health practices.

SOCI-3583. Research for Social Change (WSGS)

T, Th

10:00-11:20 AM

This seminar course encourages students to explore how research can inform social justice and social change. Examining specific debates from the fields of feminist research, Indigenous methodologies, and critical race theory, students will gain new understandings in the various ways research can both reproduce and challenge operations of power and privilege. This course offers students the opportunity to engage in debates around these methodologies as they consider how to do research for social change.

Course Name

Time & Day

Course Description

WSGS-2016 - A2 Intro Women's & Gender Studies

M, W

9:00 AM - 10:20 AM

This is the introductory course to the interdisciplinary field of Women's Studies and Gender Studies. The basis of femininity, masculinity and women's inequality are examined in the context of wider social relations, including the historical subject, literary voice and the women's movement. 6ch hours.

CRIM-2943. Victimology (WSGS)

T, Th

1:00-2:20 PM

This course will examine this specialized field of criminology which is related to the study of victims of crime and factors connected to the victim. A historical perspective on the study of victimology, theories related to the explanation of victimization, the modern evolution of victim rights, and the development of victim services will be examined. Specific victim groups, provincial and federal legislation related to victims, the United Nations Charter of Victims Rights will be addressed, as well as the delivery of services to victims involved in the criminal justice system. Prerequisites: CRIM 1013 and CRIM 1023.

ENGL-3163. Queer Medias and Mediating Queer (WSGS)

T, Th 1:00-2:20 PM

This course explores intersections between the terms queer and media: representations of queer(nes)s in contemporary media, theories about how sexual identity emerges through complex forms of social mediation, and how queer countercultures have mediated (or intervened into) forces of hetero-normativity. Media forms include public monuments, DIY zines, comic strips, indie films, television, AIDS education pamphlets, novels, poetry, theatre, as well as critical theory. (Post-1800)

HIST-3883. Women and Gender in Modern Canada (WSGS)

M, W, F

12:30-1:20 PM

This discussion-based course examines gender and women’s history in Canada from c. 1850 to c. 1980. It addresses traditional historical topics in the field (industrialization, the Great Depression, World War Two, etc.) as well as emerging topics such as sport, consumerism, and student culture. Our approach will be both chronological and thematic.

PSYC-4323. Seminar in Romantic Relationships (WSGS)

T, Th

11:30 AM-12:50 PM

This course focuses on the lifecycle of romantic relationships – from initial attraction and the development of an attachment, to growth and maintenance of the relationship, to conflict and even dissolution. A social psychology perspective will be adopted, with an emphasis on understanding the basic processes involved in interpersonal relations. Classes will be heavily oriented toward discussing, presenting, and evaluating research in the field. Prerequisites: PSYC 2023 and 2413, or permission of the instructor.

RELG-3653. Women and Christianity (WSGS)

M, W

2:30-3:50 PM

Women’s rights, gender sensitivities, and feminist movements both inside and outside the churches have inspired lively and complex debates within contemporary Christian theologies. By deconstructing, revising and rebuilding basic issues in theology on the basis of women’s experiences and gender analysis, a substantial range of feminist theologies has emerged. This course will explore theological themes and interests central to the diversity of feminist theologies.

SOCI -2013-B Sociological Research Methods (NATI) (WSGS)

T, Th

2:30-3:50 PM

This course explores how sociologists gather evidence about social patterns and evaluate theoretical explanations of social life. Students learn to turn concepts such as inequality, institutions, culture, and health into measurable indicators, select methods like qualitative interviews, focus groups, ethnography, surveys, and secondary data analysis, and evaluate claims based on validity, reliability, sampling, and reasoning. The focus is on connecting sociological theory with methods, understanding the strengths and limitations of different approaches, and designing ethics-based studies to investigate social processes.

SOCI-2423. Social Problems I

T, Th

11:30 AM-12:50 PM

The various perspectives used by sociologists to examine social problems will be described and evaluated. Concrete social problems will be examined to illustrate the use of these perspectives.

SOCI-2613. Sociology of Gender (WSGS)

M, W

4:00-5:20 PM

This course focuses on particular aspects of the social processes that shape, and are shaped by female and male social roles such as gender and power, gender and social structures of work, and feminist social movements.

SOCI-3243. Sociology of Men and Masculinities (WSGS)

Th

4:00-6:50 PM

In this course, students will examine the social production of masculinities in North America and the impacts of these gender expressions on the lives of boys and men, and girls and women. Students will be introduced to theoretical perspectives used to understand the lives of men and boys, while examining topics such as fathering, the social construction of men’s bodies, the ways the media (re)produces notions of masculinity, and sports masculinities.

SOCI-3553. Sociology of the Body (WSGS)

T, Th

2:30-3:50 PM

This course explores the interaction between society and the body. It begins with an examination of classical and contemporary theories of the body, and then explores special issues with regard to the development of the civilized body, as well as gender, sexuality, marginalization, deviancy, chronic illness and disability.

SOCI-3913. Sociology of Disease (WSGS)

M, W

2:30-3:50 PM

This course will explore the social construction of disease in modern medicine. We will examine the process of medicalization, focusing on the classification of human experience into disease categories; medical authority to diagnose and treat disease; the ways in which disease categories validate or invalidate experiences of illness; and the effects of being labeled as diseased. These topics will be explored through sociological analyses of specific diseases, including diseases that are contested and stigmatized.