Sociology and Legal Studies at the University of Waterloo is a stimulating and expanding department, and consists of sociologists and socio-legal scholars engaging in innovative teaching styles and research programs.
Sociology is the study of social life and the social, economic, and political dynamics and dimensions of social relations and social change.
Legal studies is the study of law which is central to everything we do - how we carry on business, how we treat the environment, how we shape our governments and how we deal with other people.
This website gives an overview of the teaching and research in sociology and legal studies at the University of Waterloo.
Undergraduate
Major in Sociology or Legal Studies at UWaterloo for your Undergraduate degree and explore key topics like social justice, inequality and legal systems.
Graduate
Research topics in social, political, economic, and cultural relations by completing a Graduate degree at UWaterloo in Sociology or Legal Studies.
Meet our people
Discover the people that make up the Sociology and Legal Studies department and the research projects they are currently involved in.
News
Professor Janice Aurini Undertakes New Research on Post-Secondary Student Transfers
In a new partnership with the Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer (ONCAT), Dr. Aurini and her research team are investigating post-transfer experiences of university and college transfer students. This multi-year qualitative research study will capture university and college students' post-transfer experiences and how they may vary by pathway (e.g., vertical, lateral, reverse, and swirler) and region. This project incorporates a longitudinal design to capture student transfer as a multi-faceted social process.
Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC), Associate OR Full Professor Positions
Located in the heart of Waterloo Region, the University of Waterloo is at the forefront of innovation and home to world-class research and inspired teaching. The University is seeking exceptional scholars and researchers for up to six Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) opportunities, dependent on funding, across all six faculties (Arts, Engineering, Environment, Health, Mathematics, or Science).
New Book Co-authored by Associate Prof. Jennifer L. Schulenberg
Dr Schulenberg has co-authored (with Laura Huey and Jacek Koziarski) Policing Mental Health: Public Safety and Crime Prevention in Canada (Springer, 2022). Drawing on the results of two ethnographies on police practice, this book addresses the important question of why mental illness has become ‘police property’ and for decades the de facto response to a health and social problem.