Sociology Department

This course introduces students to the origins and development of sociological thinking and research, beginning with the foundations of the discipline in the 19th century. Students are then introduced to the concepts and methods within sociology. The objective is to explore the extent and limits of our capacity to change the social world by reference to sociological research in both a Canadian and global context. Credit will be granted for only one of SOCI 101 or SOCI 100. Three credits.

This course builds on the foundations of sociological theory, methods and historic considerations established in SOCI 101. Students will explore a range of topics dealing with various aspects of social inequality, culture, integration, and ideological conflict in both a Canadian and global context. Together with SOCI 101, this course provides the prerequisite for all other sociology courses. Credit will be granted for only one of SOCI 102 or SOCI 100. Prerequisite: SOCI 101. Three credits.

This course addresses how various philosophic assumptions shape the aims and practices of research in sociology. It provides students with empirical research design principles and an introduction to methods of collecting and recording data, assessing reliability and validity, and conducting data analysis. Different research strategies are introduced. The ethical implications of research will be discussed. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

The “tragedy of the commons” has been a reoccurring concept when discussing ocean resources. In this course students will encounter how social scientists study and understand the use of the resources in the oceans’ commons. The course will explore theoretical paradigms, governance, social class, gender, race, fishing, aquaculture, and oil and gas. Students will gain a foundational understanding in social science approaches to issues relating to the aquatic resources. Credit will be granted for only one of SOCI 205, AQUA 202, AQUA 200, 297(2017-2022) or 298. Cross-listed as AQUA 202. Prerequisites: AQUA 101 and 102, or 100, completed or concurrent or permission of the instructor. Three credits.

This course explores human health as an entangled process shaped by biological, social, political, ecological, and historical forces. Drawing from Indigenous knowledges and decolonial thought, we will consider how health is not only a matter of justice—but of relation: a reflection of how we live with the land, each other, and the systems that hold us. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

This course analyzes the marriage and family life from a sociological perspective. It provides an overview of social changes over the past century, such as the falling birth rate, the rise in cohabitation and the legalization of same-sex marriage. Topics include marriage and fertility trends, the rise of intensive parenting and the dual earner family, the normalization of separation and divorce, the social cost of family violence, and how technology is influencing parenting. Cross-listed as WMGS 221. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits. Offered 2026-2027.

An introduction to the sociological study of religion. Topics include social factors that influence religion at individual and communal levels; religion as agent of social cohesion and social conflict; religion and power structures; the impact of pluralism and globalization on religion today. Cross-listed as RELS 215. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits. Offered 2026-2027.

This course provides students with a sociological interpretation of education in Canada. Students will investigate the relationship between education opportunity and conditions of inequality, socialization, social participation in education, and the contextualized within the historical development of Canadian educational institutions. Credit will be granted for only one of SOCI 231 or SOCI 230. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits. Offered 2026-2027.

In this course, we trace how modern systems of power—capitalism, colonialism, white supremacy, and heteropatriarchy—came into being and consider how their logics continue to shape the polycrisis we are now living through. Beginning with feudalism and the witch hunts, we explore how bodies deemed “deviant” became sites of discipline and extraction—economically, politically, sexually, and spiritually. Prerequisite: SOCI 251. Three credits.

The topic for 2026-2027 is Foundations of Social Policy. This course examines the foundations, evolution, and contemporary challenges of social policy. Students explore how governments define social problems, allocate resources, and design interventions aimed at promoting well-being, equality, and social justice. Cross-listed as PGOV 297. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102 or PGOV 101, 102. Three credits.

Explores the development and diversity of sociology’s foundational perspectives through the study of selected original works by such authors as Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

This seminar course on contemporary theory varies from year to year. While a survey approach to contemporary theory may be part of the course, it is probable that the professor will choose specific interests for in-depth analysis. Potential perspectives include feminist theory, anti-racist theory, postmodernism, and neo-Marxist theory. Prerequisite: SOCI 101, 102, 301. Three credits.

This course examines various directions feminists have taken in studying women’s experiences and the construction of gender. Students will learn how these theoretical approaches have influenced feminist research and critical practice. The course will include early feminist thought as well as contemporary feminist theory. Cross-listed as WMGS 303. Prerequisite: WMGS 100. Three credits. Not offered 2026-2027.

The course introduces students to the qualitative research methods used by sociologists. The course introduces the philosophical, theoretical, and ethical aspects of qualitative research as well as qualitative approaches to data collection, data analysis, presentation of results, and methods of evaluating qualitative research. The various aspects of qualitative research are illustrated with classical and contemporary studies. Prerequisite: SOCI 202. Three credits.

The state is a central concept within the social sciences and one of the most significant sources of power in the modern world. Despite this, states today appear increasingly in crisis, with their very legitimacy questioned. In this course, we will explore the development of the modern state to better understand our present. Cross-listed as PSCI 318. Credit will be granted for only one of SOCI 309 or SOCI 297 offered in 2020-2021. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

An introduction to the field of disability studies, this course examines the ways in which disabled people and disability issues are defined and treated in contemporary society. Social and political conceptions of disability are contrasted with medical and individualistic definitions of disability with the aim of developing a critique of taken-for-granted conceptions of normal bodies, minds, and senses. Community-based contributions and responses to disability knowledge are emphasized and common ideas and assumptions about disability are situated historically to illustrate changing relations to disability over time, and to the role of disability knowledge in social change. The experience of disability will be stressed. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits. Offered 2026-2027.

This course employs sociological theories, methods, and an intersectional lens to examine disability as a social and political construct. Students will analyze representations of disability in law, policy, media, education, and care, situating these portrayals within broader movements for equity and justice. The course explores how dominant cultural narratives contribute to the marginalization of disabled people, and contrasts these with lived experiences that challenge and resist such portrayals. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

Beginning with the understanding that disability is a social phenomenon, this course provides students with the tools to analyze such cultural conceptions as normalcy-abnormalcy, ability-inability, independence-dependence. Students will examine cultural representations of disability that marginalize and oppress disabled people, and explore the ways in which cultural representations of disability differ from experiential accounts. These representations are analyzed from an international perspective, with a focus on how disability has been represented in Canadian social policy, the media, helping professions, and the education system. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

In this course we investigate drug and alcohol addiction as an epidemic social problem from several key perspectives. Social theories are used to explore subcultures of addiction, race and racism, addiction’s impact on women, and how addiction is understood and experienced in Canada. Credit will be granted for only one of SOCI 315 or SOCI 395 (2018, 2019). Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits. Offered 2026-2027.

This course introduces students to the use of quantitative analysis in political science. While studying the logic of statistical inference, students will learn practical skills, including survey questionnaire design, dataset management, and data presentation. By the end of the course students will be able to critically assess quantitative research and apply quantitative tools to pursue their own research questions. Cross-listed as PGOV 303 and PSCI 399. Prerequisite: SOCI 202 Three credits.

This course is grounded in a decolonial framework and is guided by Indigenous teachings from the Global South as well as local Mi’kmaq concepts such as, etuaptumumk (two-eyed seeing), netukulimk (laws of conservation) and m’sit no’kmaq (all our relations) to understand the social, ecological, political and economic intersections of the climate crisis. The course invites students to consider multiple ways of knowing, as well as the limits of what can be known about climate change and our uncertain future. We will explore structural dimensions of climate change including settler colonialism, capitalism, patriarchy and modernity. There is a land-based learning component, as well as other group work included as part of the course requirements. Credit will be granted for only one of SOCI 329 or SOCI 397(2022-2022). Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

This course examines the structure and operation of the Canadian criminal justice system, including policing, court systems, correctional institutions, philosophies, and practices. This includes exploring the relationship between law and social order; the justice system as a means of social control; and the experiences of Indigenous and visible minorities in the Canadian justice system. Credit will be granted for only one of SOCI 351, SOCI 350 or SOCI 374(2019-2021). Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

This course emphasizes linkages between food production and consumption in the changing global political economy. The social organisation of food production and consumption will be assessed from the standpoint of comparative research on global food chains and recent insights surrounding the social construction of food risks and benefits. Case studies will change on an annual basis but will always involve some consideration of the interrelations between countries from the ‘North’ and the ‘South’. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits. Not offered 2026-2027.

Students gain an understanding of the diversity of Islam and Muslims in Canada. The course examines how Muslims negotiate their religious identities in Canadian civic society. Students engage critically with different theoretical models shaping conceptions of identity and consider their relevance to public policy debates. They course uses Muslim and non-Muslim authors representing diverse points of view that have an impact on questions of immigration, multiculturalism, and religious pluralism. Offered online. Cross-listed as RELS 375. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits. Offered 2026-2027 (online format).

This seminar will assist honours students in their third year and their thesis planning and provide an environment in which to learn with senior students working on their thesis. Students will choose an advisor with whom they will develop a proposal, collect materials, and consider methodological and ethical issues relevant to their research. Students are expected to attend colloquia, guest lectures and public talks relevant to the discipline. Highly recommended for students considering honours. Contact sociology@stfx.ca. Three credits. Note: 400-level courses require at least 12 credits in sociology below the 400 level as a prerequisite, or the permission of the instructor. SOCI 101, 102 counts as six of these credits.

The topic for 2026-2027 is Prisons, Power, and Violence. This course centers the experiences of current and formerly incarcerated people to examine how our understandings of penology and carcerality are reproduced and maintained through various forms of state sanctioned violence(s). By [re] conceptualizing our understanding(s) of punishment and justice, students will explore how our prison system is underpinned by colonial logic, racial violence, and other forms of oppression. This course calls into question the role and function of prisons in [Canadian] society. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

The topic for 2026-2027 is Spaces and Places of Mental Health Care. This course critically examines how mental health care is practiced and contested across institutional and community settings, focusing on the spaces and places where care occurs. Through critical social theory and ethnographic research, students will explore how social stratification along axes of class, race, gender, sexual identity, disability, and migration shapes care realities, relationships, and experiences. The course also considers the historical, economic, and cultural contexts that influence mental health care. Students will investigate how mental health is constructed and governed, and how individuals and communities use agency and resistance to challenge dominant structures and advocate for more inclusive care. Prerequisites: SOCI 101, 102. Three credits.

A required course for all senior honours students. Six credits.

This course considers such matters as the distinction between science and other ways of knowing, the relationship between technological innovation and scientific knowledge, the role played by technology in relation to social change and cultural identity, the social shaping of technology, forms of governance in contemporary ‘information societies’, and questions of human and non-human agency. Prerequisite: 12 credits SOCI. Three credits.

A forum in which Sociology honours students gain scholarly experience by presenting and discussing their research; and taking part in colloquia, guest lectures, and public talks relevant to sociology. Required for honours students in their senior year. Contact sociology@stfx.ca. No credit.

The topic for 2026-2027 is Therapeutic Culture and the Wellness Industry. This course introduces you to the scholarship on therapeutic culture, a concept sociologists use for the rise and influence of the language of therapy, emotions, and psychology in everyday life. We will analyze the origins, expressions, and implications of therapeutic culture in a range of contexts, such as personal relationships, workplaces, schools, social movements, and politics. In each case, we will consider the intersections of therapy culture with selfhood, power, and social inequality. Prerequisite: 12 credits SOCI or permission of the instructor. Three credits.