Course Information

 

Course selection needs to be approved by the Graduate Chair. Please review course requirements for your program and Departmental course forms. Additional course information can be found here.

If you are enrolled in a graduate specialization please ensure you meet the course requirements specific to your specialization.

Fall 2022

Classes begin on September 12.

Course Instructor Day/Time
9002A Sociological Perspectives David Calnitsky Mon 9:30 - 12:30 SSC5220
9373A Migration Teresa Abada Mon 1:30 - 4:30 SSC5235
9003A Research Design Rachel Margolis Tue 9:30 - 12:30 SSC5235
9177A The Social Context of Racial Inequality Patrick Denice Wed 9:30 - 12:30 SSC5235
9258A Inequality over the Life Course (online) Kim Shuey Wed 1:30 - 4:30 SSC5235
9001A Introduction to Multivariate Statistics Yoko Yoshida Thurs 2:30 - 5:30 SSC1032

Winter 2023

Classes begin on January 9.

Course Instructor Day/Time
9021B Qualitative Research Methods Anabel Quan-Haase Mon 9:30 - 12:30 SSC5235
9331B Death, Fertility and Migration Anna Zajacova Mon 1:30 - 4:30 SSC5235
9154B Professionals and their Work Sean Waite Tue 9:30 - 12:30 SSC5235
9268B Social Inequalities in Health Andrea Willson Tue 1:30 - 4:30 SSC5235
9007B Advanced Multivariate Statistics Anders Holm Wed 9:30 - 12:30 SSC5235
9005B Contemporary Social Theory (ONLINE) Michael Gardiner Wed 1:30 - 4:30 SSC5235
MA Sociological Research Practicum Kim Shuey Thurs 2:30-5:30 SSC5220
9001 Introduction to Multivariate Statistics     Course Outline   Back to Fall Schedule  

The course will provide an introduction to statistical concepts and techniques used in social science research.   It is designed to provide you insights about how quantitative data is collected and how these data are then analyzed for information. This is an applied course where the focus will be on (1) the application of statistical techniques to answer empirical questions and (2) the interpretation of quantitative evidence. 

9002 Sociological Perspectives     Course Outline     Back to Fall schedule

An in-depth examination of classical sociological ideas including those of Marx, Weber and Durkheim. Specific attention will be devoted to the original writings of the classical thinkers.

9003 Research Design     Course Outline      Back to Fall schedule

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 and qualitative methods, including formulating research questions, concept formation and measurement, and sampling.    

9005 Contemporary Social Theory    Course Outline     Back to Winter schedule

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.

9007 Advanced Multivariate Statistical Analysis    Course Outline     Back to Winter schedule

In this course we will cover the most common statistical techniques in the practice of sociology - linear regression, logistic regression, and survival analysis (event history analysis).  We will discuss the uses of these techniques and the assumptions that we make when using them.  Throughout the course, we will discuss how to develop an answerable research question, how to choose the best modeling strategy for that question, and how to interpret the results of quantitative analysis in light of relevant hypotheses.  There will also be an applied portion of the class held in the computer lab, where we will talk through basic issues that come up when working with data, such as missing data; saving data, code, and output; and making tables.  The last portion of the course will focus on writing about multivariate analysis - communicating questions, methods, and results clearly.

9009 Evidence-Based Policy Making   Course Outline    Back to Winter schedule

This course will be taught in three stages. First we will explore the issues involved in creating evidence that can be used in policy making. The second stage of the course will investigate how evidence is turned into policy including an examination of faulty and functional exemplars. Finally the course will look at how we can develop evaluations of policy. The course will be a combination of lecture, dialogue and student engagement as presenters. Each section of the course will carry an assignment and a final paper will be required that explores one or all the three three elements in the evidence based policy process.

9021 Qualitative Research Methods    Course Outline     Back to Winter schedule

This course introduces students to epistemological issues that distinguish qualitative from quantitative methods and provides an overview of several of the main types of qualitative research methods. It also considers ethical issues and data analysis and management challenges that are associated with qualitative research.

9130 Criminological Theory and Research     Course Outline     Back to Winter schedule

This seminar will review and discuss major criminological theories and related empirical research. The course will look at empirical patterns associated with crime, violence and deviance; at the explanations offered for these patterns; and at the sociology of the criminal justice system.

9147 Social Inequality     Course Outline      Back to Fall schedule

This graduate seminar course explores the extent, causes, and consequences of social inequality in Canada and abroad. We start the course with a discussion on recent trends in income inequality and some foundational stratification theory (Marx, Weber and Durkheim). We then move on to specialized topics, such as: the socioeconomic impact of COVID-19; black lives matter and the criminal justice system; race, residential segregation, and discrimination; colonization and the Indigenous peoples in Canada; residential segregation; poverty; the gender wage gap; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender+ (LGBTQ2+) labour market inequality; beauty premiums; disability discrimination; and intersectional disadvantage. 

9151 Post-Work      Course outline     Back to Winter schedule

This course has a dual aim. The first is to chart radical transformations in the nature of work, especially in the Global North, over the last forty years, including: the globalization of capital and attendant ‘offshoring’ of jobs; intensifying occupational and existential ‘precarity’; the effects of rapid automation and computerization; the growing ubiquity of so-called ‘immaterial’ and ‘affective’ labour; and the oft-hidden ‘auto-exploitation’ of labouring subjects, via the omnipresence of neoliberal mechanisms of financialization, value-capture, and marketization. Our second goal is to ascertain socioeconomic trends and potentialities in the development of 21st-century capitalism that indicate the emergence of a very different, post-capitalist society, marked by such things as dramatically-reduced labour time (or even the end of ‘work’ as currently understood); a baseline measure of material and symbolic-cultural abundance for all; and the radically democratic organization and management of both polis and economy.

9154 Professionals and their Work      Course outline     Back to Winter Schedule
Examines the nature of professions and professional work in Canadian society and elsewhere in the world. Attention will be paid to the structure of professional work, and workers' experiences within professions, as well as inequalities within and across professions within and across historical contexts.

9177 The Social Context of Racial Inequality     Course Outline     Back to Fall schedule

This course provides an in-depth overview of sociological understandings of race and ethnicity, with a particular focus on the institutional underpinnings of racial and ethnic inequality in the United States and Canada. The core question we seek to address is: What are the sociological origins of racial inequality? To answer this, we begin by investigating how sociologists understand racial and ethnic distinctions. What comprises a racial or ethnic group? We then shift our attention to patterns of racial and ethnic inequality, focusing on the major institutions through which racial inequality is generated: the housing market, the labor market, schools, and the criminal justice system.

9258 Inequality over the Life Course     Course Outline     Back to Fall schedule

This class is designed to introduce you to the Life Course Perspective as a lens for viewing and understanding social inequality. A Life Course Perspective focuses on the intersection of individual lives, social structure and inequality, and social change.  It emphasizes inequalities in experiences across individual lives and the way those patterns are shaped by broader social inequalities, history and change.  This approach can be combined with other theoretical frames and applied to a wide range of substantive questions related to health, work, family, education, migration, political attitudes, and criminal careers and course readings provide some examples of these applications.  A main goal of this course is to apply aspects of a Life Course Perspective to your own substantive interests to gain greater understanding of social inequality.    

9268 Social Inequalities in Health     Course Outline     Back to Winter schedule

In this seminar, we will examine how a sociological perspective can assist us in understanding inequality in health. Health in adulthood is the result of lifelong experiences that begin at conception, and therefore we will focus on the mechanisms that maintain and magnify disparities in physical and mental health over the life course. The study of health inequality is multidisciplinary, cross-fertilization has occurred across disciplines, and the literature is vast; therefore this course focuses on an introduction to the major sociological conceptual frameworks and empirical research from Canada and the U.S. examining social inequalities in health.

9331 Death, Fertility and Migration: Demographic Analysis of Social Change     Course Outline     Back to Winter schedule

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 applied outside the field of traditional demography.  This course is open to students from other disciplines.

9373 Migration     Course Outline     Back to Fall schedule

Determinants and consequences of internal and international migration are studied.  Theory and methods, as well as demographic and socio-economic issues related to both types of migration, are discussed.

9375 Immigration Policy Development & Evaluation Strategies     Course Outline      Back to Fall schedule

This course will provide an overview of Canadian immigration policies, and the many changes that have occurred to these policies in recent history. Students will learn about the admission system for permanent residents, and the many different types of temporary statuses that individuals use to enter Canada. We will also investigate how these policies were developed, and some of the techniques and strategies that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of Canada’s immigration system.

Prerequisite: An undergraduate statistics course and an understanding of basic linear and non-linear regression models. 

MA Sociological Research Practicum     Course Outline    Back to Winter schedule

This research writing seminar will guide students in the three-term research paper MA stream through the various stages of completing research and writing research papers. Topics of focus will include formulating research questions and hypotheses, locating and selecting data and literature sources, conducting and writing reviews of the literature, and writing about one's findings. Upon successful completion, students will have met the requirements of the MA Sociological Research Practicum Milestone.