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Sociology
間眅埶AV Requirements
In addition to these requirements, the department also requires a written statement about current interests and prospective research. How well the applicant’s proposed research coincides with the research and teaching interests of the faculty is an important admission consideration. PhD applicants must submit a work sample from earlier or ongoing graduate studies.
間眅埶AV applications are normally considered once each year at the end of January. The program commences in September. Contact the graduate program chair or secretary for further information.
Areas of Study
The department offers the following areas of study.
- anthropology and sociology of medicine, health and society (particularly politics of knowledge production, disability, mental health, AIDS)
- Canadian society (ethnic relations, demographic issues, social inequality, political economy)
- critical pedagogy
- development studies (especially the Third World, including studies of tourism and international health)
- environmental issues
- minority indigenous peoples (particularly Canadian Native peoples)
- political sociology (with emphasis on political economy, ethnic relations and social movements)
- social and cultural anthropology (with emphasis on the anthropology of contemporary life)
- social policy issues (aging, family, gender relations, government administration of native peoples)
- sociological and anthropological studies of law and legal systems
- sociological theory, anthropological theory, and the philosophy of the social sciences (European intellectual history, holistic, comparative, historical and post colonial perspectives)
- sociology of agriculture, and science, technology and society
- sociology of sexuality and moral panic, and social problems and deviance
Graduate Seminar
All full-time graduate students must attend and actively participate in the graduate seminar during their first two program terms. In subsequent terms, attendance and enrolment is voluntary. Special arrangements will be made for part-time students to fulfil this requirement.
Language Requirement
Although French or a foreign language is desirable, there is no prescribed language requirement but, where a language other than English is necessary for field work or reading, proficiency is required.
Program Requirements
Students complete the following courses and the doctor of philosophy (PhD) qualifying examinations (by registering in SA 897).
Students complete a total of 39 units, including all of
Orientation to university, professional development, and cohort building. Required course for the first year MA and PhD students in Sociology and Anthropology.
Presentations by faculty members, senior graduate students, and guest speakers. Required course for first year MA and PhD students in Sociology and Anthropology.
Examines the classical tradition of sociological thought, represented in the writings of a range of early leading theorists such as Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, Georg Simmel and/or George Herbert Mead. Will also include a review of the writings and influence of thinkers such as Montesquieu, Rousseau, Descartes, Spinoza, Bacon, Hobbes, and/or Locke. Required course for MA and PhD students in Sociology. Students from other departments and faculties may enrol with permission of instructor. Offered each fall term.
Examines at least two perspectives from the body of social theory that has developed since World War II. Perspectives to be discussed may include but are not limited to: symbolic interactionism, feminism, structuralism, post-structuralism, post-marxism, post-modernism, post-cololnialism, queer theory and neo-functionalism. Required course for MA and PhD students in Sociology. Students from other departments and faculties may enrol with permission of instructor. Offered each spring term. Prerequisite: SA 849 or permission of instructor.
Examines contemporary approaches to qualitative methodology in Sociology and Anthropology including epistemological and ethical debates surrounding the practice of qualitative methodology in diverse contexts. Students will investigate qualitative research methods applicable to their graduate research projects. Required course for MA and PhD students in Sociology and Anthropology. Students from other departments and faculties may enrol with permission of instructor.
Guides students through the process of designing a prospectus for MA or PhD thesis research. Required course for MA and PhD students in Sociology and Anthropology. Students from other departments and faculties may enrol with permission of instructor. Offered each summer term. Prerequisite: SA 856 or permission of instructor.
Course objective is to provide a framework and process for students and supervisors to work within to facilitate students' satisfactory preparation for qualifying examinations; and to complete qualifying examinations required for admission to doctoral candidate standing. Prerequisite: All PhD course requirements, with the exception of SA 857 must be completed before student may enrol in SA 897.
and one of
Examines the use of quantitative methods and statistical analysis in social research. Students will develop the knowledge base and skills necessary to understand and critically evaluate contemporary sociological literature that utilizes advanced quantitative methods. Lab sessions offer students the opportunity to apply a variety of statistical techniques. Prerequisite: An upper division undergraduate course in quantitative methods which covers statistical analysis (including probability and significance, hypothesis testing, and univariate and bivariate techniques), or permission of the instructor.
Examines contemporary approaches to qualitative methodology in Sociology and Anthropology including epistemological and ethical debates surrounding the practice of qualitative methodology in diverse contexts. Students will investigate qualitative research methods applicable to their graduate research projects. Required course for MA and PhD students in Sociology and Anthropology. Students from other departments and faculties may enrol with permission of instructor.
Students may also choose a graduate course or graduate directed readings course in another 間眅埶AV department, or from another university that is part of the Western Dean's Agreement.*
Required courses, including qualifying examinations, and preparation and defence of the thesis prospectus, are normally completed within the first six terms of enrolment.
Course requirements are the same whether the student has completed an MA in this department, or completed a comparable MA program at another university. However, the department's graduate program committee may make special arrangements so that required courses in theory and methodology are not repeated.
* supervisory committee and departmental graduate program committee approval required for these courses and/or extra-departmental courses
Qualifying Exam, Defence
At the conclusion of SA 897, students must complete a written qualifying examination. After successfully completing the qualifying exam, and prior to commencing work on the thesis, students defend a written prospectus that the student has prepared during SA 857. This oral defence is public.
Thesis
After the program requirements, qualifying exam and written prospectus defence is complete, the thesis is written and finally defended in an oral examination.
Academic Requirements within the Graduate General Regulations
All graduate students must satisfy the academic requirements that are specified in the (residence, course work, academic progress, supervision, research competence requirement, completion time, and degree completion), as well as the specific requirements for the program in which they are enrolled, as shown above.
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