This course will focus on the production of gendered selves, femininity and masculinity, sexuality and sexual identities. We will draw from theoretical and empirical work in the sociology of gender and related disciplines, emphasizing the ways in which gender intersects with class, ethnicity, race, religion and other forces of difference in the production of identities.

This course examines the structure and culture of organizations, including the range of management cultures, and how relationships among unions, management, and employees are affected by the social structure and culture of both the employer and the union as organizations.

This course will engage social theories to understand the gendered structure of work and labour. We will discuss gendered work and its intersections with race and ethnicity, im/migration, class, sexual orientation, geography, and time.

This course focuses on the socio-legal origins, regulations,and consequences of sexuality, reproduction, and sexual violence. Possible topics may include historical and contemporary sexual and reproductive regulations, sexual violence, sex offenders, sex work, pornography, trafficking, and hate crimes against sexual minorities.

This course reviews current ways of viewing and researching social inequality. Particular attention will be paid to how foundational work on social inequality connects to contemporary patterns, especially as demonstrated through current research.

This course will explore a particular area within criminology. Topics vary from year to year and are noted on the timetable once confirmed. The contact hours for this course may vary in terms of contact type (L,S,T,P) from year to year, but will be between 24-36 contact hours in total. See the UTM Timetable.

This course will explore a particular area within criminology. Topics vary from year to year and are noted on the timetable once confirmed. The contact hours for this course may vary in terms of contact type (L,S,T,P) from year to year, but will be between 24-36 contact hours in total. See the UTM Timetable.

Punishment cannot be analyzed outside of its historical, cultural, economic, political and social context. This course offers students a critical, multidisciplinary approach to the study of punishment in Canadian society.

How is the worth of an item determined? What do financial crises reveal about social life? How do financial traders make decisions? Economic questions, and facts, are inherently sociological. This course teaches you to connect the economy to society by examining a range of phenomena that are more readily related to the economy,such as financial crises, CEO compensation, Silicon Valley innovation, markets and firms, but also those that are not,such as love, art, doormen, the organs of dead bodies, and nature. This course will emphasize how economic transactions create, legitimate, and transform social relations, how economic behaviour needs to be understood within its social context, and how economic principles permeate aspects of social life that seem to resist or lie outside of the economic realm.

This course will analyze the forces that cause people to leave the country of their birth. We will look at why some countries become predominantly leaving countries, and other immigrant receiving countries. Possible topics include the politics of integration, multiple citizenships, refugee and settlement policies, the development of transnational social spaces and transnational governance structures. Attention will also be given to the dynamics of race, ethnicity, class, and gender in structuring international growth.

This course draws on case law to explore a particular area within law and justice. Topics will vary from year to year.

The city is an important site of human interaction, characterized by crisis and promise. Through the lens of the city, this course will examine the nature of various social problems, including their causes and impacts. In particular, we will consider how criminological scholarship can analyze and inform policy responses to these issues. Course topics will include a diverse array of issues related to criminalization, youth justice, neighbourhood-level inequality, violence, and the criminal justice system.

This course analyzes the social structural forces that produce gender and the ways in which gender affects political and social change. Possible topics include: migration, social movements, social policy and the welfare state, and globalization. We will also pay special attention to the ways in which gender intersects with class, ethnicity, race, religion and other forces of difference.

This research-based course will engage students with the following two questions: Why does genocide happen? How do we construct, present, and maintain our memories of these terrible social phenomena? Students will spend the first part of the course learning about the sociology of genocide. Students will also be exposed to general theories of culture and the social construction of memory, and will be trained in qualitative methods, with a focus on basic field observation and field note writing. Students will take this knowledge and training into the field, using a sociological lens to look at genocide museums and memorials, and the people who visit them. The course will culminate in a final project based on the students' observations and analysis during one of several course field trips. The specific cultural and historical sites for the course will vary from year to year. As part of this course, students may have the option of participating in an international learning experience that will have an additional cost and application process. An interview may be required, with priority going to UTM Sociology and Criminology Majors and Specialists.

This course examines conflicts and controversies in the media. The goal of the course is to analyze power struggles within the realm of the media in order to understand how they both reflect and can reinforce broader social inequalities. Special emphasis is paid to the role of media policies and regulations. Topics include censorship, violence, pornography, marketing, social media and privacy.

This course surveys various qualitative methods sociologists use. Students gain insight into the craft of sociology through reading examples of the different qualitative methods, discussing the theories behind the methods, conducting hands-on research exercises and analyzing qualitative data. The objective of this course is to learn to design and conduct a qualitative research project and to analyze qualitative sociological data. All students in the Sociology and Criminology, Law and Society Specialist programs are required to take this course.

This course examines how the concept of race, and the ideologies that inform it, impacts identity politics for Indigenous peoples. Special attention will be paid to the socio-cultural and legal effects of racialized knowledge production. Topics may include: human genome projects, museums, recognition politics, legal definitions, criminalization, access to resources, stereotypes and personhood.

This course is intended for Sociology Specialists and Majors who wish to explore a specific Sociology topic in depth. To enrol, a student must prepare a proposal form in consultation with a faculty supervisor and submit the approved form to the academic counsellor.

Note: Professors have discretion whether to take on an independent study; they are not required to serve as faculty supervisors.

This course is intended for Sociology Specialists and Majors who wish to explore a specific Sociology topic in depth. To enrol, a student must prepare a proposal form in consultation with a faculty supervisor and submit the approved form to the academic counsellor.

Note: Professors have discretion whether to take on an independent study; they are not required to serve as faculty supervisors.

This course is intended for Criminology, Law and Society Specialists and Majors who wish to explore a specific Criminology, Law and Society topic in depth. To enrol, a student must prepare a proposal form in consultation with a faculty supervisor and submit the approved form to the academic counsellor.

Note: Professors have discretion whether to take on an independent study; they are not required to serve as faculty supervisors.

This course is intended for Criminology, Law and Society Specialists and Majors who wish to explore a specific Criminology, Law and Society topic in depth. To enrol, a student must prepare a proposal form in consultation with a faculty supervisor and submit the approved form to the academic counsellor.

Note: Professors have discretion whether to accept students wishing to pursue an independent studies course; they are not required to serve as faculty supervisors.

This course provides a richly rewarding opportunity for students in their third or fourth year to work in the research project of a professor in return for SOC399H5 course credit. Students enrolled have an opportunity to become involved in original research, learn research methods and share in the excitement and discovery of acquiring new knowledge. Participating faculty members post their project descriptions for the following summer and fall/winter sessions in early February and students are invited to apply in early March. See Experiential and International Opportunities for more details.

This course provides a richly rewarding opportunity for students in their third or fourth year to work in the research project of a professor in return for SOC399Y5 course credit. Students enrolled have an opportunity to become involved in original research, learn research methods and share in the excitement and discovery of acquiring new knowledge. Participating faculty members post their project descriptions for the following summer and fall/winter sessions in early February and students are invited to apply in early March. See Experiential and International Opportunities for more details.

In this seminar course, students learn to communicate insights based in sociological research to a broader audience, beyond the university. Student design and execute projects (essays, creating a podcast or video, and/or public speaking) on sociological topics of their choosing related to law and/or crime. The course also provides students with guidance on how to locate sociological research through library resources and how to incorporate that research into their public sociology projects. Priority may be given to Criminology, Law and Society students.

This course addresses a fundamental question in the social sciences: "Why do people do what they do?" Readings and discussion focus on classic and current sociological approaches to understanding human action, giving attention to topics such as rational calculation, decisions, cultural processes, values, attitudes, identities, perception, interaction, situational influences, and automatic cognitive processing. A recurring theme is the tension between individual and situational explanations of behavior.

This seminar course will focus on possible solutions for issues related to prisons, punishment and surveillance across the globe. Along with this surveillance you have a rise in prisons and other forms of state sponsored punishment.

This lecture course will explore a particular area within Social Policy. Topics vary from year to year and are noted on the timetable once confirmed. The contact hours for this course may vary in terms of contact type (L,S,T,P) from year to year, but will be between 24-36 contact hours in total. See the UTM Timetable.

This course introduces students to theories of surveillance and risk in the digital era. The era of big data has given rise to smart policing, preventative security measures, and data driven solutions which are producing new knowledge about risk. It focuses on how surveillance is shifting institutional risk practices within law and criminal justice systems and how marginalized populations and particular geographical spaces are constructed as security risks.

This seminar examines the social problem of “vigilantism”. It focuses on how the act is defined in terms of scholarly works on punishment and policing, as well as mainstream popular opinion. The course looks at questions such as how vigilantism manifests in different geographic spaces (e.g. the “global north” and the “global south”), in rich and poor areas, and in different historical periods.

This course introduces concepts, theories, and policies of development and underdevelopment. With China as a case, it focuses on social, economic, political, and cultural factors shaping the nature and meaning of social change.