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Department of Sociology and Anthropology | Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Simon Fraser University Calendar | Spring 2025

Social Policy Issues

Post Baccalaureate Diploma

This program, for those with a bachelor’s degree, may be completed through a combination of courses offered through distance education, at the Burnaby and the downtown campuses. The program applies recent developments in social theory and research methods to the investigation of social programs and social policy issues. Courses examine substantive social policy issues. The program provides critical perspectives to understand processes by which social problems are defined, understood, and acted upon.

Acceptance of general Simon Fraser University admission does not automatically guarantee program admission. Students must apply for entry directly to the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.

Program Requirements

Students must successfully complete an approved program comprised of 30 units of upper division courses. At least 16 are to be chosen from the set of core courses described below.

Core Courses

Students complete a total of 16 units, including

SA 340 - Social Issues and Social Policy Analysis (SA) (4)

and at least three of

SA 316 - Tourism and Social Policy (S) (4)
SA 331 - Politics of the Family (S) (4)
SA 335 - Gender Relations and Social Issues (S) (4)
SA 337 - Sexuality and Society (S) (4)
SA 345 - Race, Immigration and the Canadian State (S) (4)
SA 363 - Racial Capitalism, Settler Colonialism, and Uneven Development (S) (4)
SA 386 - The Ethnography of Politics (SA) (4)
SA 418 - Global Health: Humanitarian Encounters (A) (4)

Optional Courses

Students complete a total of 16 units, chosen from

LBST 301W - Labour, Social Media, and the News (3)
LBST 310 - The Politics of Labour (3)
POL 321 - The Canadian Federal System (4)
SA 300 - Canadian Social Structure (S) (4)
SA 304 - Social Control (S) (4)
SA 318 - Technologies of Health and Expectation (A) (4)
SA 321 - Social Movements (S) (4)
SA 325 - Political Sociology (S) (4)
SA 362 - The Commodification of Everything: Colonialism, Capitalism, and Sustainability (S) (4)
SA 364 - Urban Communities and Cultures (A) (4)
SA 371 - The Environment and Society (SA) (4)

To fulfil the optional course requirement, students may instead complete additional core courses, or upon the program steering committee’s recommendation, select a course not included among listed options, but with appropriate content.