SOC 600s

SOC 696 Sociology of the Life Course (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 014549
In sociology, the life course has been used to understand a wide range of social issues and phenomena, including health, social inequality, crime and deviance, and many others. This course will explore the history of the life course tradition in sociology, its theoretical and conceptual components, and various qualitative and quantitative analytical approaches used in life course research, as well as particular applications of the life course to contemporary issues in sociology.

SOC 697 Practicum in Survey Administration (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 010287
A practicum giving training in the administration of social survey research. Normally this will be in conjunction with the K-W Metropolitan Area Survey (KWMAS), an annual area survey administered by the Department of Sociology. Weekly seminars will combine examination of the scholarly literature on issues in survey research with case materials from the KWMAS. Students will gain practical experience in such issues as dealing with clients, working out a production schedule for the survey, assembling a questionnaire, writing an OHR (ethics) brief, making sampling design decision, and conducting pretest fieldwork. The course requires a paper on some aspect of survey administration.

SOC 700s

SOC 700 Sociological Theory (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003036
A critical overview of selected original writings of major sociological theorists from the 19th and 20th centuries (including, among others, Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Mead, Schutz, Wollstonecraft, Martineau, D. Smith, Giddens, and Habermas). Attention is paid throughout to issues in the philosophy of social science and sociology of knowledge.

SOC 703 Social Theory and Enacted Realities: From the Early Greeks to the Present Time (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 010515
Using a symbolic interactionist/social constructionist frame as the integrating mechanism, this course examines the enduring problem of connecting social theory with human activity. Building on the works of early Greeks (e.g., Protagoras, Plato, Aristotle, Thucydides) and others (e.g., hermeneutic scholars, pragmatists, and contemporary social scientists) who have addressed matters of intersubjectivity and human accomplishment, the emphasis is on articulating theory that is attentive to community life in the making. Focusing on the interlinkages of speech, objects, and activity, particular attention is given to the development of pragmatist thought within rhetoric, poetics, philosophy, history, and the social sciences.

SOC 704 Key Theoretical Debates (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003038
This course examines the conflicting views of six to ten pairs of theorists, from Hegel and Comte to major thinkers in our time. The study of the materials will allow students to become conscious of their personal locations in the history of social thought, and develop coherent theoretical positions of their own.

SOC 705 Theory and Research in Social Organization (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003039
A survey of current theories of social organization, which examines social institutions and their interconnections. Social structure is treated as a predictor of behaviour.

SOC 706 Theory and Research in Social Psychology (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003040
A survey of the field of social psychology. Major theoretical approaches are examined and compared in the context of course readings, discussion and student presentations. Topics address the processes of socialization, communication, attribution, social influence, identity, group structure, cognition, deviance, the life cycle, and social structure and personality.

SOC 707 Canadian Sociological Thought (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003041
An overview of the development of sociological theory in Canada. Focusing on English-language sociology, the course deals with major figures (Dawson, Hughes, Marsh, Porter, Clement) and theories in the discipline (human ecology, Fabianism, functionalism, elite studies). It examines as well scholars and schools of thought in closely related disciplines (Innis, the "new political economy", feminist scholarship) and related developments in Quebecois sociology.

SOC 708 Contemporary Debates in Sociological Theory (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003042
Deals with recent controversies in sociological theory; e.g. Giddens' theories of structuration and the state; critical theory, including the works of Habermas on communicative action; postmodernist theory and varieties of psychoanalytic theory.

SOC 709 Selected Problems in Sociological Theory (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003043
Relation of sociological theory to specific problems of sociological analysis.

SOC 710 Intermediate Social Statistics (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003044
Applied multiple regression/correlation, with emphasis on data processing/computing, model construction and interpretation and underlying statistical assumptions.

SOC 711 Techniques in Longitudinal Analysis (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 013074
This course will cover topics related to the analysis of longitudinal and repeated-measures data in the social sciences, mainly using large multivariate datasets. Topics covered will include popular techniques including analysis of various duration measures, including event history and related models, growth-curve or latent trajectory models, and will also expose participants to newer approaches including sequence analytic methods. Open to all students, this course may be of particular interest to students planning research in connection with the Statistics Canada longitudinal surveys housed in the university's South Western Ontario Research Data Centre.

Prereq: SOC 710

SOC 712 Elements of Social Research (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003045
An examination of techniques used in theoretically oriented research. Sampling. Questionnaire design and construction. Uses of qualitative data and procedures. Data preparation and processing. Multivariate analyses using contingency control. Introduction to scaling and index construction, causal inference, theory building, and the use of computer software.

SOC 713 Design and Data Analysis in Quantitative Research (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003046
Continuation of SOC 712 and 710 at a more advanced level. Philosophical and theoretical issues in quantitative research. Experimental and non-experimental research designs and procedures. Causal modelling and inference. Measurement theory. Latent variables. Longitudinal designs and data analysis. Use of computer software.

Prereq: SOC 710 and 712

SOC 714 Ethnographic Research in the Social Sciences (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003047
Attending to the ways in which group life is (socially) constructed, this course provides (1) greater linkage of theory and method; (2) grounding in the interactionist literature; and (3) experience in data collection and analysis.

SOC 715 Research Design (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003048
This seminar course focuses on effective research design in sociology. It covers a range of topics from selecting research areas/topics and research strategies, to planning feasible projects, writing research proposals and theses.

Prereq: SOC 712

SOC 716 Qualitative Methods (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 013075
This course covers the basic techniques for collecting, interpreting, and analyzing qualitative data. The course will operate on two interrelated dimensions, one focused on understanding the relationship between theory, methods and data, the other focused on practical techniques such as identifying informants, and coding and analyzing data.

SOC 717 Reflexive Research Methodologies: Contemporary Interpretive Traditions (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 012778
Drawing on the intimate intertwining of theory and methodology in such areas as phenomenology, ethnomethodology, hermeneutics and analysis, this course takes a practical approach to the reflexive research strategies these methodologies employ. Students will be encouraged to develop research proposals in line with their exposure to these methodologies.

SOC 719 Selected Problems in Sociological Research (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003049
An examination of selected problems of sociological interest.

1 Crime and Delinquency
2 Longitudinal Survey Analysis

SOC 720 Social Inequality (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003050
This course will deal with class, status and power groups in an industrial society as they strive to maximize their share of wealth, prestige and power. Occupational structures of modern societies will be examined.

SOC 725 Sociology of Health (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 012018
An overview of sociological approaches - theoretical and methodological - to the study of health, illness, and health care. Both the social organization of the health care system and the socio-cultural determinants of health and illness are considered.

SOC 730 Sociology of Religion (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003051
(Cross-listed with RS 730)
The course examines key substantive, theoretical and methodological issues of the sociology of religion through the detailed study of important classical and contemporary works in the field. Representative issues addressed are: the social and psychological nature and function of religious experience, the character of conversion processes, the social and political implications of religious ideologies and organizations, the status of religious beliefs and practices in an age of seeming secularization. Attention will be given to both western and non-western religious traditions as well as to both established and newer forms of religious life.

SOC 735 Environmental Sociology (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003052
Inquiry into the relationship between the natural environment and society. Review of the theoretical and paradigmatic approaches used to study society-environmental interactions, and analysis of issues relating to technology, social change, distributional impacts, politics of environmental reform and factors that contribute to environmental-resource conflict, and policy decisions as they relate to the larger ecological complex.

SOC 740 Sociology of Deviance (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003053
The seminar undertakes a critical examination of the major theoretical perspectives in the sociology of deviance.

SOC 744 Sociology of Crime and Justice (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 013073
An overview of current sociological theories and research in the areas of crime and delinquency, and juvenile and criminal justice. The focus of the course is on recent developments in theory and research that have received widespread attention from sociological criminologists.

SOC 745 Deviance: An Interactionist Perspective (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 009415
Viewing deviance as an emergent social phenomenon, this course considers: the social construction of norms and deviance definitions; the emergence of deviance in the context of social movements and work situations; and the reputations and career contingencies of persons involved in deviant activities.

SOC 750 Sociology of Gender Roles (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003055
An examination of women's and men's changing gender roles with particular emphasis on theoretical explanations of gender relations. Topics discussed include gender roles in the family, politics and the economy, socialization, health care, violence and reproduction.

SOC 751 Theories of Gender Relations (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003056
(Cross-listed with WS 602)
A critical examination of theories concerning the origin of sex inequality and an attempt to identify indicators of changing status of the sexes as well as factors which account for such changes.
Instructor Consent Required

SOC 759 Sociology of Work and Occupations (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003057
The seminar examines extant theoretical perspectives on the study of work. Current theories of work, critical issues in the field, and changes in the roles of occupations in the social structure are examined with the view towards new perceptions of work in our society.

SOC 760 Social Networks (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003058
An examination of the use of the concept "social network" in studying social structure; including the applicability of the concept to social theories, methods of operationalizing and analyzing social networks, and examples of substantive research employing the concept.

SOC 765 Political Sociology (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003059
A critical examination of political and governmental strategies for identifying social problems and managing the conduct of individuals, groups, and populations.

SOC 770 Comparative Social Structure (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 010516
The course is devoted to the comparative study of selected western and non-western societies in relation to their institutions, structures, value systems, changes and interactions.

SOC 774 Family and Kinship (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003060
Family and kinship are viewed as the rudimentary structures of society from which other structures differentiate. They are shown to persist in modern society as a reinforcement structure beneath the specialized institutions.

SOC 776 Sociology of Knowledge (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003061
The seminar undertakes to develop a general theory of the relation of social thought to social action, comparative value systems and the role of the scientist, artist and intellectual in society.

SOC 778 Theorizing Discourses of Health, Illness and Disease in Everyday Life (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 013379
This course will focus on identifying areas of strain or conflict in public health and everyday life in relation to medical, literary, philosophical and everyday discourses of health and sickness. It will examine contested representations of the relations of health and life, healing and cure, pleasure and pain, self-governance and negligence, body and mind, and policy and polity. Core texts will span a wide variety of fields, eras and authors (e.g., Beckett, Benjamin, Descartes, Foucault, Freud, Gadamer, Goffman, Garfinkel, Parsons, Plato).

SOC 780 Theories of Social Change (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003062
A systematic review and analysis of major theories of social change. Theoretical problems are examined within a specific context such as social organization, economic institutions, social stratification, and urban structures.

SOC 781 Global Development Governance (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 014219
(Cross-listed with GGOV 662)
The course explores theoretical perspectives on the global governance of development, with critical attention to how processes of global development shape local environments and their inhabitants, challenge notions of state sovereignty and territory, and engender diverse responses to regimes of control. Cross-disciplinary perspectives will enable students to engage with a wide range of sociological, ethnographic, and political analyses of development through case studies and themes.

SOC 782 Law, Globalization and Women's Empowerment (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 014550
The course will explore the theoretical debates within feminist scholarship surrounding the use of Western liberal legal approaches to prosecute gender violence and improve the socio-economic status of women globally. The course readings will draw from various literatures, including liberal and transnational feminist, postcolonial, and socio-legal and governmentality literatures, to analyse and critically evaluate the concept and deployment of women's empowerment in global contexts.

SOC 783 Security and Regulation (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 014220
An examination of criminological and sociological theory and research on the problem of security and related regulatory agencies. Various forms of regulation will be examined (e.g. discipline, surveillance, control, security detention, security intelligence, risk management) as they apply to particular bodies, mobilities, borders, and private and public spaces.

SOC 784 International Migration: Practice, Theory & Regulation (0.50) LEC,SEM	Course ID: 014803
(Cross-listed with GGOV 644)
This course explores theoretical perspectives on migration and critically examines how states deter or facilitate migration flows, including irregular immigration, refugees and asylum seekers, and low and high-skilled labourers. A multidisciplinary approach allows students to investigate the ubiquitous rise of border controls as a state tool to control migration, and how their implementation intersects with gender, race, class and nationality.

SOC 786 Interdisciplinary Seminar in Aging (0.50) SEM	Course ID: 003066
Faculty members and students from the disciplines of Biology, Sociology, Psychology and Statistics meet to develop an integrated view of aging and death in their biological and social aspects. Topics examined include evolutionary and genetic factors, demography of aging, social attitudes, and human aging patterns.

SOC 789 Graduate Readings in Sociology (0.50) RDG	Course ID: 003068
Selected readings in a specific topic including the preparation of a research paper under the supervision of a faculty member.