2013-2014 Graduate Courses

Fall 2013

Classes begin on Monday, September 9, 2013 and all will be held on the fifth floor of the Social Science Centre (see SSC 5312 door for exact locations).  A link to each course outline will be added when it becomes available.  Click here for The Book Store textbook lists.

*4400A/9001A - Introduction to Multivariate Statistics

After a review of basic statistics, the course introduces students to popular multivariate techniques such as multiple regression, analysis of variance, path analysis, and logistic regression. The emphasis will be on using these techniques in social science research and on practical applications with the software SPSS.

Instructor: Kate Choi Wednesdays 1:30-4:30 Previous Course Outline

9003A - Quantitative Research Methodology

This course will help students become informed and critical consumers of social research, as well as move students from consumers to producers of social research. The course focuses on the theoretical underpinnings of sociological research methodology, as well as practical aspects of sociological inquiry using quantitative methods, including formulating research questions, concept formation and measurement, and sampling.

Instructor: Andrea Willson Mondays 9:30-12:30 Previous Course Outline

9005A - Contemporary Social Theory

The main theme of this course is the transformation that has occurred in social theory during the post-war era in Europe and North America.  This period has been marked by the disintegration of such predominant institutionalized paradigms in social theory as functionalism and positivism, and their replacement by a plurality of alternative approaches, particularly those inspired by what has come to be known as postmodernism.  The result of this transformation has been a shift away from the scientific and functionalist analysis of social structure or institutions towards the interpretive exploration of such phenomena as language and cultural forms, gender oppression and the body, ethics and 'micro-politics'.  The merits of this 'postmodern turn', and the prospects for future social theory, will constitute the central focus of this course.

Instructor: Michael Gardiner Mondays 1:30 - 4:30 Previous Course Outline

9147A - Social Inequality

The purpose of this course is to advance our understanding of a number of theoretical approaches to inequality. Rather than examining separately different forms of inequality, such as racial or gender inequality, this course examines theoretical approaches that are used to explain these and other forms of inequality in more general terms.

Instructor: Sam Clark Wednesdays 9:30 - 12:30 Previous Course Outline

*4420F/9166A - Race, Class and Colonialism

A look at race and class inequality and the development of capitalism in the Third World.  Topics will include slavery and indentureship; colonisation and decolonisation; race, class, politics and nationalism.

Instructor: Anton Allahar Tuesdays 9:30 - 12:30 Previous Course Outline

9258A - Sociology of the Life Course

A life course perspective focuses on the intersections of individual lives, social change, and social structure. It emphasizes the patterns or trajectories across individual’s lives and the way those patterns are shaped by the broader social structure and historical time. This approach, particularly its emphasis on life dynamics and historical contexts, is often proposed as an alternative to more static conceptualizations that have traditionally dominated many domains of sociology. This course is designed to introduce you both to life course as a field of study and as a way of viewing sociological issues.

Instructor: Kim Shuey Thursdays 1:30-4:30 Previous Course Outline

*4441A/9331A - Population Research Methods

This course introduces students to the field of population studies and the tools used by demographers to study the size, structure, and dynamics of human populations.  It covers the collection, evaluation, and analysis of demographic data; census and vital registration systems; morbidity, disability, mortality, fertility, and migration; life table construction; and population projections.  We will also discuss how demographic methods can be used to study other topics, such as education, health disparities, disability, and prison populations, in order to provide an understanding of how these methods are appied outside the field of traditional demography.  This course is open to students from other disciplines.

Instructor: Rachel Margolis Tuesdays 1:30-4:30 Previous Course Outline

* The Department of Sociology offers joint undergraduate/graduate level courses as a cost cutting measure and in order to ensure adequate class sizes. Past experience indicates that such courses can be successful for both graduate and undergraduate students. Sometimes different requirements are set for undergraduate and graduate students in terms of number of readings, type of paper required, or extent of seminar participation. It may be difficult, however, to conduct a seminar when there are such differences across students. Instead, the course may have the same structure for undergraduate and graduate students, but the two groups of students are evaluated separately on each criterion (e.g., exam, paper, class participation, presentations). In that way, undergraduate students need not fear that they are being compared to graduate students. At the same time, graduate students are expected to achieve higher standards of comprehension and analysis. Normally, a student may not take a graduate level course that he/she has previously taken at the undergraduate level.

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