Sociology Courses |
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Note: Enrollment in SOC200H1, SOC202H1, SOC203Y1, SOC204H1, SOC300H1, SOC376H1,
SOC377H1, SOC387H, SOC401Y1 and SOC483Y1 can be restricted as stated in the
course
descriptions below. Ineligible students will be removed even if the course
appears on their
timetable. First Year Seminars The 199Y1 and 199H1 seminars are designed to provide the opportunity to work closely with an instructor in a class of no more than twenty-four students. These interactive seminars are intended to stimulate the students’ curiosity and provide an opportunity to get to know a member of the professorial staff in a seminar environment during the first year of study. Details here. SOC102H1 What causes the emergence, persistence and decline of inequalities based on class, gender, race, ethnicity and country of residence? Variations in artistic, mathematical, athletic and other skills are strikingly evident; this course explores why they are associated with varying rewards, including income, power and prestige. SOC103H1 Operating through economic, educational, political, religious, familial and other institutions, society opens up some opportunities and closes off others, thus helping to make us what we are and influencing what we can become. This course explores how social institutions work and how they structure our lives. SOC101Y1 The basic principles and methods of Sociology applied to the study of human societies; social sources of differing values and conceptions of reality, and the influences of these on the behaviour of individuals, patterns of relations among groups, and social stability and change.
SOC200H1 This course reviews the basic issues that concern all types of data collection methods used by social scientists to test theory. Key topics include selection, sampling, and measurement. The course explores how error affects the data gathered in experiments and non-experimental studies, and in qualitative and quantitative research. The course emphasizes critical thinking about the empirical research presented in everyday life, as well as preparation for more advanced research courses. SOC200H1 is a restricted course. Enrollment is limited to Sociology Majors (see Note 1 above). SOC202H1 Introduction in quantitative social science research – from descriptive statistics to hypothesis testing using various strategies for the analysis of bivariate relationships. Enrollment is limited to Sociology Majors (see Note 1 above). SOC203Y1 Development of sociological theory in the 19th and 20th centuries; history of ideas; formal analysis; relationship between theory and empirical inquiry. Enrollment is limited to Sociology Majors (see Note 1 above). SOC204H1 Introduction to the methods and issues of qualitative research – the theories, methods for data collection and analysis, and the personal and ethical issues relating to qualitative research. Enrolllment is limited to Sociology Majors. SOC205Y1 Complementary perspectives of the city: as an evolving entity historically (urbanization); as a way of life and adaptation, reflecting cultures and subcultures (urbanism); as territorial parts reflecting and contributing to social processes (ecological perspective); as a unit managed by formal and informal parties (structural perspective). SOC207Y1 The nature and meaning of work in relation to changes in the position of the professions, unions and government, of women and minority groups, and in industrial societies more generally. Career choice and strategies, occupational mobility, and individual satisfaction at work. SOC210Y1 Impact of racial, ethnic, and linguistic heterogeneity and of various patterns of immigration on economic, political, and cultural institutions, and on individual identity, self-conceptions, social attitudes, and relations. SOC212Y1 Sociological analysis of deviance (acts or persons that violate the normative structures of society) and social control (societal responses that attempt to reduce, treat, or transform deviance). What is deviance? What are different ways societies respond to deviance? What are the consequences of efforts to regulate, prevent, and punish deviance? SOC213Y1 An introduction to social scientific perspectives and research on the nature, sources, dimensions, and impact of law; conceptual issues and methodological strategies in establishing and interpreting linkages between legal and other social structures and processes. SOC214Y1 An examination of cross-cultural variations and social-historical changes in the organization of family life, followed by a critical look at the key activities in family life today. Emphasis is on gender relations. SOC215Y1 The acquisition and reproduction of personality, culture, and social structure. The social construction of everyday life and secondary socialization is emphasized, with focus on work and family. SOC218Y1 The course will explore the structures and processes of Asian communities in Canada. Historical development of various Asian communities will be explored. Other topics include ethnic economy, ethnic media, ethnic churches, and ethnic voluntary organizations in Asian communities. Experts in related topics are invited to present their research findings. SOC220Y1 An analysis of historical and contemporary empirical patterns of inequality in Canada. The focus is on income, power, ethnic, regional, and gender inequalities. SOC243H1 This course deals with the social causes of illness and disease, the sociology of illness experience, and the sociology of risks to health. The course deals only peripherally with issues related to formal health care provision, health care work, and the structure of health care systems SOC244H1 Examines factors that influence the organizational structure of health care systems, how these organizations develop, how they are maintained, and how they can be change. Topics also include the social forces that influence the relationship between healthcare providers and consumers. SOC246H1 This course deals with population aging, cohort effects, inter-generational relations, historical variation in effects of social environment on aging, how health and family relationships vary with age, and social policies related to aging. The whole life course is considered, but the emphasis on adulthood and old age. SOC247H1 Social gerontology deals with many social aspects of advanced age. Focus is on institutional level analysis of the programs that assist with aging problems. SOC250Y1 This course will examine religious beliefs, practices, and experiences from a historical-sociological and comparative perspective. Classical and contemporary theories will be reviewed and applied to investigate such topics as: the social origins of religions; the formation of religious communities; heresies, schisms and the making of orthodoxies; secularization and fundamentalism; cults and new religious movements; religious regulation of the body and person; and the variable linkages of religion to politics, war, art and science. SOC256H1 Characteristics of very different kinds of societies, from hunters and gatherers to modern postindustrial countries, and how these affect features of individual lives including: life stages, their status, and transitions between them; the variety of possible life courses; rates of birth and death, and their implications for people, their kin, and their societies. SOC257H1 The life course in Canada, in the twentieth century and today, with some comparisons to other first world countries. How lives have changed over the past century; how lives are affected by history and social location; the impact of the life trajectories on health and crime. SOC260Y1 Examination of the forces and factors that drive and shape policy in Canadian society. The policy areas examined may include: education, labour force and employment, employment equity, ethnocultural relations, and the environment. Exploration of the applications of Sociology in the formulation and evaluation of policy choices. SOC263H1 This course focuses on macro-micro connections between qualities of social aggregates (ranging from families to nations) and the subjective experiences of members of those aggregates (ranging from happiness/satisfaction to social isolation and stigma). SOC270H1 This course offers an introduction to the study of processes of social stratification and structures of inequality with an emphasis on comparative, cross-national studies that include Canada as point of reference. SOC278Y1 1) Introduces students to the theoretical foundations of social policy; and 2) examines some of the key social policy issues. The first part of the course will focus on the theoretical bases of the social policy, including class, gender, race, social citizenship, and welfare regimes. We will also try to situate these ideas in historical and societal contexts. The second part will examine some of the key social policy issues, such as health care, housing, immigration, race, and politics of welfare retrenchment. SOC279H1 This course introduces students to the sociological study of collective action. Students will explore how movements in a variety of historical and global contexts endeavor to produce social change. In this process, we will examine political and cultural opportunities and obstacles, organizational dynamics, resources, collective action frames, strategies and tactics. SOC293Y1 SOC294Y1 SOC296Y1 SOC296H1 SOC297H1 SOC298H1 An opportunity to explore a sociological topic in depth. Courses relate to instructor’s area of research, so topics vary from year to year. Consult the Departmental website for current course offerings. SOC299Y1 Credit course for supervised participation in faculty research project. Details here. SOC300H1 Provides students with the opportunity to develop an understanding of the logic of multivariate analysis applying various strategies for the analysis of complex multivariate data. Enrollment priority is given to Sociology Specialists. SOC301Y1 Theories of social inequality, its historical evolution, and the determinants of continuity and change of patterns of social inequality. SOC303H1 Describes the political, social and economic implications of diversity in family structure. Uses empirical studies in the sociological tradition to describe current trends in living arrangements and family relationships. Examines social and economic consequences of the inconsistencies between public definitions and the reality of family life. SOC304H1 Shows how “getting ahead” or becoming “downwardly mobile” are affected by social as well as economic factors. Links the experience of mobility to larger scale social change. SOC306Y1 Examines explanation, theory construction, measurement procedures, and techniques for data collection and analysis within the Sociology of crime and delinquency. SOC309Y1 Explores and discusses specific theories of action. Applies theories to various factors associated with AIDS/HIV. Examines political, scientific, health, social, economic, and cultural environments. This course forces students to examine the hidden theoretical assumptions surrounding AIDS/HIV. SOC310H1 Examine and evaluate sociological theories and research on the causes and correlates of juvenile crime, with a focus on recent theoretical developments and quantitative analyses of juvenile offending (not delinquency). The course highlights the effects of structural conditions, cultural factors, and individual decisions. SOC312Y1 Population processes (birth, death, and migration) and their relationship to social, cultural, and economic change. SOC317Y1 Labour/management relations in industrial societies; impact of technological change on work organizations and labour markets; implications for understanding various topics including social mobility, labour market segmentation, job satisfaction, work/family relations, immigration and race, power in organizations, union and industrial conflict, organizational culture, and the social control of industry. SOC320Y1 Uses of sociological research in guiding social policies and programs. Evaluation research and needs assessment methods are emphasized. Students are required to engage in a research practicum (apprenticeship) at an agency working towards social change or providing social services. SOC325Y1 Evolving contemporary ways of life on the basis of highly specialized knowledge as opposed to tradition has led society into a labyrinth of technology. It involves breaking the bonds with local cultures and ecosystems in order to re-create them around a universal science, technology, economy and ecological footprint. SOC327Y1 Themes include the demand for care-giving, evolving and emerging diseases (genetic, environmental, social, cancer-linked), state’s role in health care, factors affecting caregivers, home health care procedures, how families organize to deal with health problems. SOC330Y1 Comparative study of interethnic relations, including comparisons of ethnic groups and types of ethnic groups and comparisons of their relative position in different institutions, social structures, and societies. Comparisons made with respect to the impact of society on ethnic groups, and ethnic groups in society. SOC336H1 Examines the economic, social, cultural and political impacts of 20th century immigration in Canada, and emerging race and ethnic relations. Topics include immigration policy; population impact; community formation; labour markets; enclave economies; welfare use by immigrants; the criminal justice system; racial conflict; multiculturalism and race; and equity policies. SOC339H1 Examines labour market and employment situation of immigrants, from economic and sociological perspectives, emphasizing recent Canadian experience in comparative context. Topics include immigrant human and social capital, declining immigrant earnings, the knowledge economy, skill-underutilization, racial discrimination, labour market structure, unionization, immigrant entrepreneurship, immigrant offspring, and labour market and immigration policy. SOC341Y1 Classical and recent writings on Jewish ethno-national identity in the modern period; communal organization; forms of Jewish life in the diaspora and its relationship to other ethnic groups and to society at large; contemporary role of the Holocaust and ethnic memory; Jews in Canada; gender in the Jewish community. SOC344Y1 This overview course focuses on trends and issues associated with contemporary international migration flows and migrant settlement. Emphasis is on Canada although attention is also given to other countries. Topics include causes and types of migration, immigration policy, immigrant women, children of immigrants, and health, language and economic issues. SOC348H1 This class will provide a broad overview of major issues and theories in the Sociology of emotions, and more generally considers the role of emotions in a range of sociological theories. There is an emphasis on how emotions are related to social rankings. SOC352H1 This course will introduce students to development and issues related to Canadian health care policy. The course will examine: 1) basic policy making process; 2) policy making process in Canadian context; 3) development of Canadian health care policy; and 4) current health care reform debates and issues. SOC354H1 This course explores emerging issues in health and social policies. Using the framework of social determinants of health, this course examines: 1) the implications of social factors such as socio-economic inequity, gender, race, homelessness, age, and citizenship status on individual health, and 2) policy options to address these issues. SOC355Y1 The structure of social relationships, including both personal networks and the overall organization of whole social settings. The role of social structure in social support, access to scarce resources, power conflict, mobilization, diffusion, and beliefs. SOC356Y1 This course analyzes the interplay between new communication technologies and society. It will consider how technological SOC358H1 Focuses on relationship between urbanization and crime. Urbanization and the size of cities are examined as correlates, and perhaps causes, of crime, delinquency, the development of “deviant service centers”, mental illness, and suicide. Does housing level show a link between housing design, crowding, floor level, etc. and crime, delinquency, depression? SOC360Y1 Examination of cultural process practices through which culture is constituted (ordered) and reproduced. A dominant cultural order is created and reproduced through the process of selective tradition, which is treated as natural and “taken for granted.” The cultural processes involve the interaction of economic, political, ideological and cultural practices. SOC363H1 An overview of the link between social inequality and emotional inequality, focusing on differences in mental health across social groups and the role of stress and coping resources in explaining group differences. SOC364H1 Cities are home to particular populations (the poor, the homeless, racial and ethnic minorities, immigrants, and the young and old) and have distinct risks and protections relevant to health. Patterns of health in cities, historical developments, and emerging literature and methodology are used to uncover how everyday settings influence health. SOC365Y1 Examination of historical and contemporary sources of gender inequity, and the many dimensions of gender difference and inequality today. SOC366H1 Women’s paid and unpaid work and the relationship between the two. Questions about gender gap in earnings, sexual segregation of the labour force, restructuring of paid work, sexual harassment, paid domestic work, and the division of housework and child care. SOC367H1 In this class, we analyze the ways in which race, class, gender and sexuality interact and shape communities, life opportunities, perspectives and politics. We will read contemporary ethnographies concerning work, socialization, and urban life against current sociological theories about inequality and intersectionality, and identity. SOC369Y1 Attention focused on case studies which investigate the social organization of Canadian communities. The case study approach emphasizes theory and methods. The major course requirement is an ethnographic study of a “community.” SOC370Y1 The role and development of labour and the labour movement in Canada, its differential success in various industries and regions, and its impact on other aspects of society. SOC375Y1 Internal structure of formal and informal organizations; bureaucracies; patterns of inter-organizational relations; impact of organizations on social structure and social classes of different societies. SOC376H1 A selective introduction to major thinkers (such as De Beauvoir and Habermas) and approaches in contemporary Sociology. Enrollment priority is given to Sociology Specialists. SOC377H1 A selective introduction to major thinkers (such as Fanon, Blau, and Collins) and approaches in contemporary Sociology. (adjunct to Theories of Private and Public Life). Topics include the structure-agency debate, methodological individualism, and anticolonialism. Enrollment priority is given to Sociology Specialists. SOC380H1 The study of social institutions at the macro and meso- levels, through every day experiences. These broader structures are examined through people’s personal experiences. A related course, SOC388H1, focuses on the structures of social interaction at the micro level. SOC380H1 compliments SOC388H1, but can be taken independently. SOC381Y1 Our society includes many varieties of cultural tastes and practices. How are these related to inequality? How do cultural repertoires shape people’s lives, including school success, careers, romance, marriage and friendship? How is culture produced in art worlds and industries, transmitted more or less successfully and creatively received? SOC382Y1 Many on-going changes - in education, crime, family life, population, and the environment, among others - give rise to troubling social problems. This course uses sociological analysis and the findings of sociological research to examine public discussions and policies proposed to deal with both new and enduring social problems. SOC383H1 Examines the international migration of women in post-industrial economies with emphasis on Canada. Topics include: theories of female migration; the impacts of immigration policies; migration trends and entry status; integration issues pertaining to family, language knowledge, citizenship and economic status; labour market barriers and public policy consideration. SOC385H1 Provides a framework for the empirical analysis and practical solution of problems dealing with human well-being which have contextual dimensions. Topics dealt with cover both built and natural environments, as well as aspects of technology. Each student examines a particular problem in detail. SOC386Y1 Examines explanation, theory construction, measurement procedures, and the logic of quantitative analysis within urban Sociology and social demography. SOC387H1 This course gives students the opportunity to apply their understanding of the research process to the design and implementation of an original research project. Enrollment priority is given to Sociology Specialists. SOC388H1 Explores the structure and interactions of everyday experience. Views our lives as socially ordered and ourselves as agents. Offers experience in qualitative research and using writing experience. SOC390Y1 SOC391H1 SOC392H1 Independent Research courses allow students to pursue a specific topic of interest. These courses are offered at THE 300-level, as full or half courses. Students work independently with a professor in the Department who acts as research supervisor. There are no formal class meetings, lectures, or readings other than what is agreed to with the supervisor. Professors accept supervisory responsibility at their discretion. They are not required to serve as research supervisors. It is recommended that students approach a professor working in the same sub-discipline of sociology. Often students become interested in a topic through a SOC course and approach the instructor of that course for supervision; however, this is not required. SOC393Y1 SOC394Y1 SOC395H1 SOC396H1 SOC397H1 An opportunity to explore a sociological topic in depth. Courses relate to instructor’s area of research, so topics vary from year to year. Consult the Departmental website for current course offerings. SOC398H0 SOC399Y0 An instructor-supervised group project in an off-campus setting. Details here. SOC401Y1 Provides Sociology Specialists with an opportunity to explore a sociological topic in depth. Varies in focus from year to year. Consult the Departmental website for current course offering. Enrollment priority is given to Sociology Specialists. SOC410H1 We will examine questions related to sexuality and the modern West, with a special focus on the social construction of sexual identity, practice, community and desire. To do so, we proceed self consciously with a critical analysis of the modern study of sexuality, and the ways in which sexual science, as a kind of social practice, has affected the construction and regulation of sexual orientation. We also consider how social structures such as capitalism and patriarchy, and social stratification—including race, class, and age—shape the sphere of sexuality and intimate life. SOC420Y1 This course examines how social problems and the contexts in which they occur change historically. Topics discussed include poverty, substance abuse, crime and violence, racial and ethnic relations, sexism and gender inequality, workplace problems, unemployment, family issues, ageism, urban problems, homelessness, war and terrorism, and social problems of the future. SOC422H1 This fourth year course will provide an advanced treatment of selected topics in political Sociology. Specific topics to be covered are the relationship between political systems and cleavage voting, the relationship between social class and attitudes and voting, the post-materialist thesis, social capital and civic participation, gender politics, the various varieties, causes and effects of welfare states, and social movements. The course will have both a Canadian and international focus. SOC451H1 Covers statistical methods currently used in the major sociological journals including multiple linear regression, logistic regression, and the fitting of loglinear models to tables of cross-classified categorical data. Stresses presentation skills and sociological interpretation of results. SOC452H1 Students learn to calculate life tables and total fertility rates, and apply these concepts in computer projections and simulations. SOC483Y1 This course examines the social foundations of thinking and action, with focus on how individuals think and act through shared cognitive embedded in larger social structures. There is an overview of classical and contemporary theories that are instrumental for understanding how culture and cognition work, and a research component to put this understanding in practice. Enrollment priority is given to sociology specialists. SOC490Y1 SOC491H1 SOC492H1 Independent Research courses allow students to pursue a specific topic of interest. These courses are offered at THE 400-level, as full or half courses. Students work independently with a professor in the Department who acts as research supervisor. There are no formal class meetings, lectures, or readings other than what is agreed to with the supervisor. Professors accept supervisory responsibility at their discretion. They are not required to serve as research supervisors. It is recommended that students approach a professor working in the same sub-discipline of sociology. Often students become interested in a topic through a SOC course and approach the instructor of that course for supervision; however, this is not required. SOC494Y1 SOC495Y1 SOC496H1 SOC497H1 SOC498H1 An opportunity to explore a sociological topic in depth. Courses relate to instructor’s area of research, so topics vary from year to year. Visit Department or consult the Departmental website for current course offerings. |