Courses | Social Development Studies | University of Waterloo

Social Development Studies (SDS) is a University of Waterloo faculty of arts major with courses reflecting four social science perspectives. These include a wide array of interdisciplinary topics (SDS), introductory social work content (SOCWK), and specific areas of both psychology (PSYCH) and sociology (SOC).

The following department-consent courses are not listed below as they require a separate application to enroll:
See the notes section for more important information.
Explore the Undergraduate Calendar for current course descriptions and requisites.

Click on the links below to quickly view the relevant sections.

SDS: Social Development Studies	SOCWK: Social Work (undergrad/introductory)
PSYCH: Psychology*	SOC: Sociology*

*Only specific PSYCH and SOC courses count for SDS plans, see list below and compare against the associated plan checklist.

*Table reflects most commonly scheduled courses, but timing and course outlines are subject to change. Please confirm any questions with the SDS department.

Outline Legend:

W = Winter term (Jan - Apr), S = Spring term (May - Aug), F = Fall term (Sept - Dec)
01, 02, 03 = on-campus sections
- e.g. W24 01 = Winter 2024, on-campus section 1
081, 082, 083 = online sections.
- e.g. F23 081 = Fall 2023, online section 1

Social Development Studies (SDS)

Code	Title	Modality	Recent Outline	Commonly Offered*
SDS 131R	Political Ideologies and Social Development	On-Campus Online	W24: 01&02 W24: 081, 082	Fall and Winter Every Term
SDS 150R	Lifespan Processes	On-Campus Online	W24 01, 02 W24 081	Fall and Winter Every Term
SDS 205R	History of Education in Canada (cross-listed with HIST 225)	On-Campus	W24 01	Fall or Winter, every other year
SDS 210R	Children's Rights in Canada (cross-listed with LS 273)	Online	W24 081	Possible any term
SDS 215R	Education and Social Development from a Global Perspective	On-Campus	W24 01	Fall or Winter
SDS 220R	Changing Concepts of Childhood	Online	F23 081	Possible any term
SDS 231R	Introduction to Social Policy Processes	On-Campus		Fall or Winter
SDS 240R	Art and Society	On-Campus		Fall or Winter, every 2-3 years
SDS 242R	Religious Diversity and Social Development (cross-listed with RS 242R)	On-Campus	F23 01	Fall or Winter
SDS 245R	Dying and Bereavement	On-Campus	New F24	TBD
SDS 250R	Social Statistics	On-Campus Online	W24 01 W24 081	Winter Every Term
SDS 251R	Social Research	On-Campus Online	F23 01&02 W24 081	Fall Every Term
SDS 260R	Ecology, Society, and Justice: Social Development and the Environment	On-Campus	W24 01	Fall or Winter, every other year
SDS 310R	Disability and Society	On-Campus		Fall or Winter, every other year
SDS 311R	Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Public Policy (cross-listed with LS 373)	On-Campus	W24 01	Fall or Winter
SDS 312R	Homelessness and Public Policy	On-Campus	W24 01	Fall or Winter
SDS 322R	Community Engagement and Social Development	On-Campus		Fall or Winter, every other year
SDS 331R	Social Inequality, Social Justice, and Social Action	On-Campus Online	N/A W24 081	Fall or Winter Every term
SDS 350R	Adult Life Crises and Events	Online	W24 081	Winter or Spring
SDS 353R	The Evolution of Family Law in Canadian Society (cross-listed with LS 374)	On-Campus	F23 01	Fall or Winter
SDS 354R	Values and Contemporary Families	On-Campus	F23 01	Fall or Winter
SDS 355R	Resilience and Social Support	On-Campus Online	F23 01 S23 081	Fall or Winter
SDS 357R	Family Violence	Online	W24 081	Winter
SDS 358R	Child Maltreatment: Identification and Prevention	Online	F23 081	Fall
SDS 367R	Aging and Social Development	On-Campus	F23 01	Fall or Winter
SDS 400R	Comparative Social Policy	Online	F23 081	Possible any term
SDS 405R	Cosmopolitanism and Social Development	Online	F23 081	Fall or Winter
SDS 410R	Queer and Trans Studies (held with GSJ 472)	On-Campus	F23 01	Fall or Winter, every other year
SDS 411R	Decolonization and Social Action	On-Campus	N/A	Fall or Winter
SDS 415R	Gender Relations within Educational Institutions	On-Campus		Fall or Winter
SDS 420R	Critical Encounter with Human Nature	On-Campus		Fall or Winter
SDS 421R	(Re)framing Indigenous-Settler Relations	On-Campus	F23 01	Fall or Winter
SDS 425R	Educational Equity in Canada	Online	W24 081	Possible any term
SDS 435R	Restorative Approaches to Education	On-Campus	W24 01	Fall or Winter
SDS 440R	Approaches to Well-Being (formerly Optimal Living)	On-Campus	W24 01	Fall or Winter
SDS 441R	Popular Culture and Social Change in the Radical Imagination	On-Campus	W24 01	Fall or Winter
SDS 449R	Prejudice and Discrimination	On-Campus	W24 01	Fall or Winter
SDS 451R	Community Based Research for Social Development	On-Campus	N/A	Fall or Winter, every other year

Social Work (SOCWK)

Code	Title	Modality	Recent Outline	Term (subject to change)
SOCWK 120R	Introduction to Social Work	On-Campus Online	W24 01 W24 081	Fall and Winter Every Term
SOCWK 220R	Social Work with Individuals - Theory and Practice 1	On-Campus Online	F23 01 W24 081	Fall Winter and Spring
SOCWK 221R	Social Work with Groups	On-Campus Online	W24 01 F23 081	Fall or Winter Spring, Fall or Winter
SOCWK 222R	Community Organization	On-Campus Online	N/A W24 81	Fall or Winter Spring, Fall or Winter
SOCWK 300R	Canadian Social Welfare Policy	On-Campus Online	N/A W24 81	Fall or Winter Spring, Fall or Winter
SOCWK 301R	Understanding Diversity in Canada	On-Campus Online	N/A W24 081	Fall or Winter Spring, Fall or Winter
SOCWK 321R	Social Work with Families	On-Campus Online	W24 01 F23 081	Fall or Winter Spring, Fall or Winter
SOCWK 356R	Developmental Disabilities and the Family	On-Campus		Fall or Winter, every other year
SOCWK 365R	Social Work in Health Care	On-Campus		Fall or Winter, every other year

Psychology (PSYCH)

Questions on non-Renison Psychology courses? Contact the Psychology Department
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Code	Title	Modality	Recent Outline	Term (subject to change)
PSYCH 101R or 101	Introductory Psychology	101R: On-Campus 101:On-Campus, Online	F23 01&02 081 - contact PSYCH	101R: Fall 101: Every term, modality varies
PSYCH 212R or 212	Educational Psychology	212R: On-Campus 212: On-Campus, Online	F23 01 081 - contact PSYCH	212R: Fall or Winter 212: Fall or Winter
PSYCH 213R	Exceptional Children	On-Campus	W24 01	Fall or Winter
PSYCH 226R	Positive Psychology	On-Campus	W24 01	Fall or Winter
PSYCH 253R or 253	Social Psychology	253R: On-Campus 253: On-Campus, Online	F23 01 081 - contact PSYCH	253R: Winter 253: Fall or Winter, modality varies
PSYCH 257R or 257	Psychopathology	257R: Not scheduled 257: On-Campus, Online	081 - contact PSYCH	257R: Not scheduled 257: Every term, modality varies
PSYCH 312R or 312	Learning Disabilities	312R: On-Campus 312: Online	W24 01 081 - contact PSYCH	312R: Fall or Winter 312: Fall or Winter
PSYCH 334R	Theories of Individual Psychology	On-Campus	F23 01, 02	Fall or Winter
PSYCH 352R	Culture and Psychology (previously 349R)	On-Campus	F23 01	Fall or Winter
PSYCH 354R or 354	Interpersonal Relationships	354R: Online 354: On-Campus	S23 081 01+ - contact PSYCH	354R: Spring 354: Fall or Winter
PSYCH 356R or 356	Personality	356R: Online 356: On-Campus	W24 081, 082+083 01+ - contact PSYCH	356R: Winter 356: Fall or Winter
PSYCH 444R	Psychological Interventions	Online	W24 081	Winter
PSYCH 448R	Close Relationships	On-Campus	F23 01	Fall or Winter

Sociology (SOC)

Questions on non-Renison Sociology courses? Contact the Sociology Department
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Code	Title	Modality	Recent Outline	Term (subject to change)
SOC 101R or 101	Introduction to Sociology	101R: On-Campus 101: On-Campus, Online	F23 01&02 081 - contact SOC	101R: Fall 101: Every term, modality varies
SOC 204R	Sociology of Adolescence	Online	W24 081	Fall or Winter
SOC 207R	Sociology of Education (cross-listed with SOC 207)	Online	F23 081	Fall or Winter
SOC 223R	Deviance: Perspectives and Processes (cross-listed with LS 223, SOC 223)	On-Campus		Fall or Winter
SOC 224R	Poverty in Canada and its Social Consequences	On-Campus	F23 01	Fall or Winter

Notes

Final grades for all courses that count within the major (SDS, SOCWK, some PSYCH and SOC) will contribute to a student's SDS plan average (with the exception of no PSYCH 101/101R and SOC 101/101R for the SDS minor).
Social Work courses at the undergraduate level (SOCWK) are not the same courses for Renison's Bachelor of Social Work program (SWREN). The latter are only accessible to current BSW students.
Some courses require their own application to be enrolled in because they are not standard lectures or seminars: SDS/SOCWK/PSYCH/SOC 398R, 399R, 490R, SDS 495R, SDS 496R, and SDS 499A/B.
Courses with "/" are cross-listed; this is only one course but has 2 or more codes, where either code counts for the credit.
Courses with "R" in the code are housed at Renison and offered either on-campus or online.
Special Topics courses (e.g. SDS 450R) highlight unique content not covered in other SDS courses and topics may change term to term. Students can take SDS 450R up to three time if the topics are different. SDS 450R (among others) is listed in most SDS specializations, but currently only "Comparative and International Education" is an approved topic (towards the Education specialization). If you have questions contact your academic advisor.
Review our Enrolment FAQs page for scheduling tips.