Courses

This course is an introduction to the sociology of education as an analysis of the role of education in society. In particular, the course will explore societal trends affecting the institutions and practices of education; interpretative paradigms and related research studies; group dynamics in education; religious, social, and economic factors and issues in Canadian education.

An examination of the sociological, cultural, and philosophical dynamics of sport and the way that sport has become a significant socializing agent of society and culture. Sport issues and controversies are explored in depth to assist the human kinetics practitioner in applying critical thinking and critical decision-making in the realm of sport and physical activity.

Provides the student with an in-depth study of the social and political concepts of community. Attention is focused on how recognition of community brings into play the tension between individual and collective/group rights. Course lectures, reading assignments, and in class discussion provide an overview of the following topics: interpretation/hermeneutics of community, roots of community theory, myth of community, quest for community, Christian community, recognition of minority communities in politics, problems associated with the concept of community, recognition of group rights, the liberal-communitarian debate over community, and problems associated with communitarian theory.

Students are invited into using the discipline of sociology as a mode of inquiry. Through concepts like the sociological imagination, students experience the social world around them by interacting with the norms, values and beliefs of local and global cultures.

An examination of the basic philosophies and social influences which underlie the helping professions and a brief review of the history of professional human services workers. This course must be completed successfully before a student completes a field placement.

This course introduces students to the concept of race and ethnicity and to the major theories that the discipline employs as a means of understanding race and ethnic relations.

An introduction to Gender Studies, an interdisciplinary field that asks critical questions about the meanings of sex and gender in society. Students will examine key issues, questions and debates in Gender Studies, both historical and contemporary, and will analyze the multiple ways that sex and gender have interacted with and continue to intersect with race, class, nationality and other social identities, including religious ones.

This course gives students the opportunity to examine and interpret how the socio-cultural context affects the way people speak in that setting. Topics in focus include regional and social dialects, multilingualism, language attitudes and their impact on national and personal identity, linguistic politeness, the maintenance, shift, loss, and spread of languages, and the impact of modern technology. Applications to gender and education are explored in depth.

This course is a sociological examination of families in society. The emphasis is on the structural and cultural aspects of family life. Topics include: theories and methods for understanding families; formation of intimate relationships; mate selection processes, marriage, and parenting; families over the life course; gender issues; and transitions in families.