Please note:
To view the Fall 2024 Academic Calendar, go to www.sfu.ca/students/calendar/2024/fall.html.
Sociology Major
Program Requirements
Students complete 120 units, as specified below.
Lower Division Requirements
Students should complete all lower division requirements before completing upper division courses.
Students complete a minimum of 22 units, including all of
Anthropology asks fundamental questions about how people live and interact in different contexts. Engages with contemporary social life around the world, including the relations among people, ideas, and things. Provides analytical tools to help understand the role of culture and society in our lives. Breadth-Social Sciences.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Kathleen Millar |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Tue, 8:30–10:20 a.m.
|
Burnaby |
D103 |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Wed, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D104 |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Wed, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D105 |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Wed, 2:30–4:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D900 |
Elliot Montpellier |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Mon, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
|
Surrey |
OL01 |
Cristina Moretti |
Online |
Explores how sociologists study, describe, and explain social life. Introduces the sociological perspective and applies it to fundamental social process and everyday issues. As we consider phenomena ranging from interactions among individuals to societal and global inequalities, students critically examine social issues to build their understanding of the world. Breadth-Social Sciences.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Baran Fakhri |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Mon, 2:30–4:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
D101 |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Mon, 4:30–6:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D102 |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Mon, 4:30–6:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D103 |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Mon, 4:30–6:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D104 |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Tue, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D105 |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Tue, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D106 |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Tue, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D107 |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Wed, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D108 |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Wed, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D109 |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Wed, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D110 |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Wed, 12:30–2:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D111 |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Wed, 12:30–2:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D112 |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Wed, 2:30–4:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D113 |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Wed, 2:30–4:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D900 |
Baran Fakhri |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Thu, 8:30–10:20 a.m.
|
Surrey |
D901 |
Sessional |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Thu, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
|
Surrey |
D902 |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Thu, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
|
Surrey |
|
D903 |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Thu, 2:30–4:20 p.m.
|
Surrey |
|
D904 |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Thu, 2:30–4:20 p.m.
|
Surrey |
Explores how sociologists and anthropologists investigate social relations and contexts. Students learn to develop research questions and turn them into research projects. Introduces data collection techniques and related ethical issues, the relationship between theory and research, and other fundamental concepts and issues involved in conducting qualitative and quantitative research. Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150. Quantitative.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Bascom Guffin |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Thu, 12:30–2:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
D101 |
Sessional |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Thu, 2:30–4:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
Takes the mystery, but not the magic, out of quantitative research in anthropology and sociology by introducing analytical skills necessary for reading, understanding, and critiquing quantitative research. Students evaluate popular coverage of social research; learn concepts related to statistical significance; conduct basic statistical analysis, including designing graphs and tables. Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150. Quantitative.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Suzanna Crage |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Mon, 12:30–2:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
D101 |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Mon, 2:30–4:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
and one additional 200 division SA course designated (A), (S), or (SA).
Upper Division Requirements
Students complete a minimum of 30 units in upper division SA courses, including
Examines the methods, concepts and statistical procedures central to quantitative sociological research. Emphasizing the meaningful application of statistical analysis to social issues, the course provides intermediate quantitative research skills. Students use statistics software to conduct applicable statistical analyses and interpret results. Prerequisite: SA 255 and SA 257. Quantitative.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Suzanna Crage |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Tue, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
An examination of qualitative field methods, including participant observation, interviewing, archival research, cross-cultural research, life histories, network analysis, mapping, and ethical problems of fieldwork. Prerequisite: SA 255. Writing.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Bascom Guffin |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Wed, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
and five upper division SA electives. Two of these must be designated (S). Two of these must be 400 division courses.
No more than four units of Directed Readings and no more than 15 upper division units transferred from another institution may be used toward completion of this major.
Students must meet theory and methods requirements (see program options for specifics). In our information-based society, many employers and most graduate schools require considerable knowledge of conceptualizing research problems, information gathering, analysis and presentation. Students are strongly urged to balance theory courses with methods courses above the minimum and they may choose to range broadly across the two disciplines or to focus on a special interest. Courses fall broadly into the following groups.
- Courses in Sociology (S)
- Courses in Anthropology (A)
- Courses in Sociology and Anthropology (SA)
Courses in Sociology (S)
An analysis of the social institutions and structure of Canadian society. The focus of the course will vary from semester to semester, but typically it will examine different theoretical approaches to the study of Canada and, from these, develop a framework for the analysis of Canadian social institutions and class structure. Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150 or 201W.
This course examines how the organization of control (formal and informal) affects both individuals and society. It will investigate how control takes form, how it functions, the ideologies supporting it, and the resistance it produces. We will ask the following questions: who are the agents of social control; who or what do they control; and how do they control? Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150 or 201W.
This course may focus variously on one or all of the following: the social origins and functions of art, sociological theories of aesthetics, and contemporary issues in art, such as the fate of art in modern society, popular culture, mass media, ideology in art. Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150 or 201W. Students with credit for SA 416 are not eligible to take this course for further credit.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Gary Teeple |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Tue, Thu, 2:30–4:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
An examination of the relations of power and authority. This course will analyze the interrelations of family, church, class, interest groups, etc., particularly as they influence and are influenced by the state. The relations of law and ideology to the structures of government will form the context for this analysis. The course may also focus on broad theoretical questions of contemporary political interest. Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150 or 201W.
Modernization narratives have placed food and agriculture on the margins of social thought. The current ecological crisis requires us to take a new look at the global agrifood system and its social, political and ecological relations. This course develops analytical perspectives on contemporary issues concerning food, ecology and agrarian change. Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150 or 201W.
Together we will think about how gender influences and suffuses social interaction, in both historical and contemporary contexts: consider how assumptions and expectations about gender shape identity, the things people do, and how they do them; and discuss gender inequality and equality across society. Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150 or 201W.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
OL01 |
Wendy Chan |
Online |
The categories that organize our understandings of sex, gender and sexuality have powerful histories and roles in organizing social relations in western society. Social activists and academics contest the naturalness of these categories, particularly that of the binary opposition between male and female, and related assumptions about sexuality and sexual orientation. This course encompasses a range of perspectives on sex/gender identity, sexuality, and the relationship between the two. These perspectives include feminist, lesbian and gay, and queer and transgender challenges to traditional understandings of sex/gender identity and sexuality. Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150 or 201W.
An introduction to critical perspectives on the social construction of race, nation building and transnational migration, with an emphasis on state policies and the experiences of immigrants. The course will cover a review of colonialism and the construction of racialized labour market. Core topics may include: racialization of space, anti-racist feminist thought, immigration policy, settlement services, multiculturalism, citizenship, racial profiling, diasporas, and refugees. Comparative material will be used to complement the Canadian focus. Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150 or 201W.
Marx’s Capital is a central reference point across the social sciences. It has been maligned and criticized by many, but it has also inspired and guided the activities of numerous political parties, trade unions, social and revolutionary movements, and scholarly fields. Prerequisite: SA 150.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Gary Teeple |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Tue, Thu, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
A sociological examination of sport focuses on the role of this important set of institutions and activities in shaping social relations and understandings about difference and identity. Sport has a long history of naturalizing racial and gender differences in such a way as to reinforce and reflect social inequality more broadly. Racial segregation in sport (at least in formal legal terms) is no longer considered acceptable in western societies or in the Olympic movement at the global level. But the power of sport in reinforcing and naturalizing racial inequality continues while the naturalness and inevitability of sex segregation in sport remains largely unchallenged. This course will explore the relationships between sport and social inequality, sport and nationalism, and sport and the economy. Prerequisite: Minimum of 30 units including SA 150.
Examines the methods, concepts and statistical procedures central to quantitative sociological research. Emphasizing the meaningful application of statistical analysis to social issues, the course provides intermediate quantitative research skills. Students use statistics software to conduct applicable statistical analyses and interpret results. Prerequisite: SA 255 and SA 257. Quantitative.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Suzanna Crage |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Tue, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
Addresses the historical, global dimensions of the social and ecological by examining hegemonies of capitalism from the colonial to the neoliberal era. Explores deepening commodification in the neoliberal "sustainability by algorithms" approach, animated by powerful discourses of crisis, climate change, food security, and development. Considers resistance possibilities. Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150 or 201W.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Yildiz Atasoy |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Mon, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
An examination of uneven development arising from the intersection of European colonialism and capitalism since 1492. This process embodies power relations including commodification, dispossession, capital accumulation, organization of states and cultures, restructuring of social classes and gender relations, and deepening racialization. Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150 or 201W.
Offers specialized instruction on advanced topics pertaining to the social and moral regulation of human subjects in both historical and contemporary contexts. It explores the ideologies, policies and practices of regulation and governance in application to selected social contexts and subjects including, but not confined to, welfare, justice, medicine, the 'psy' sciences, immigration, labour, sexuality, pornography, racialization, gender and family. Students will acquire specialized knowledge about the profound impact of civil and state regulation projects on societies past and present, and about the rich diversity of institutional, cultural and human experience that these social ordering ideologies, policies and practices encompass. Prerequisite: Minimum of 72 units including either SA 101 or 150 or 201W.
Selected Topics in Sociology. Seminar exploring the topic through discussion, and developing original ideas that engage with sociological theory and methods. Course topic varies with the instructor and section. See detailed course outline for more information. Students may repeat this course for further credit under a different topic. Prerequisite: Minimum of 72 units including either SA 101 or SA 150.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
E100 |
Prof-Collins Ifeonu |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Tue, 5:30–9:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
A senior seminar on current perspectives in sociological theory. Emphasis will differ from term to term. Prerequisite: Minimum of 72 units including SA 350, and consent of the instructor.
Directed readings in a selected field of study under the direction of a single faculty member for BA majors in sociology. Variable units: 1, 2. Prerequisite: Minimum of 100 units including SA 150.
Courses in Anthropology (A)
A consideration of key themes in contemporary anthropology. Addresses theoretical and methodological questions by examining the work of contemporary anthropologists conducting research in diverse locations around the world. Prerequisite: SA 101.
Investigates how medical technologies are altering ways we perceive our bodies, frame moral questions about health, and imagine human possibilities. Case studies from around the world are used to examine the social, ethical, and political dilemmas that surface when people interact with biomedical objects under different conditions. Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150 or 201W.
An exploration of games, sports, and practices and their social, cultural, and political meanings. Particular attention will be given to the poetics and aesthetics of athletic pursuits and disciplines grounded in the body, while keeping in mind the variety of individual bodies and personalities competing and practicing. Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Lindsey Freeman |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Mon, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
|
Vancouver |
Examines how language shapes and is shaped by culture, power, and social relations and introduces the major concepts, approaches, and theories used by anthropologists in the investigation of relations between language and cultural forms. Prerequisite: SA 101, 201W, or 150.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Jie Yang |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Tue, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
Introduces sociocultural approaches to labour by examining the relationship between work and life in different parts of the world. Students will be given opportunities to reflect on their own working lives and aspirations for future employment. Topics include precarity, informality, unemployment, wageless life, work and citizenship, and post-work politics. Prerequisite: SA 101 or SA 150 or SA 201W. Students who have taken SA 360 in Spring 2016 are not eligible to take this course for further credit.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Kathleen Millar |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Wed, 9:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
In this intensive seminar, we compare political actions and social movements of indigenous peoples across several countries: analyze development of these movements over time; and discuss factors affecting the timing, reception, intensity and nature of these politics. Students write research papers on topics they develop. Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150 or 201W.
An investigation of the social, cultural, and political issues that contribute to problems of ill-health in resource-poor countries and the major efforts in international public health to address these problems. It explores the application of knowledge about social, and especially gender relations in international health, with particular attention to local perspectives and grassroots initiatives. Institutional frameworks intended to promote health development are examined in historical and contemporary perspective through case studies on topics such as: malaria, population control, maternal health, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis. Prerequisite: 72 units, which must include SA 101 or 150 or 201W. Breadth-Social Sciences.
Selected Topics in Anthropology. Seminar exploring the topic through discussion, and developing original ideas that engage with anthropological theory and methods. Course topic varies with the instructor and section. See detailed course outline for more information. SA 443 may be repeated for credit only when a different topic is taught. Prerequisite: Minimum of 72 units including either SA 101 or SA 150.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Pamela Stern |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Mon, 9:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
A senior seminar on current perspectives in anthropological theory. Emphasis will differ from term to term. Prerequisite: Minimum of 72 units including SA 301, and consent of the instructor.
From intimate dramas of everyday life to multi-media staging of political events, performances of various kinds infuse social/cultural/political relations among people(s), shape understandings of pasts, and evoke visions of futures. We explore contemporary work that engages questions generated by anthropologists, performance studies scholars, and artists. Prerequisite: Minimum 72 units including SA 101 or SA 201W.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
E100 |
Cristina Moretti |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Thu, 5:30–9:20 p.m.
|
Vancouver |
Courses in Sociology and Anthropology (SA)
These courses count as anthropology or sociology credit whenever they are completed.
An introduction to the political economy and culture of capitalism in relation to global problems. Case studies may focus on issues of population, famine, disease, poverty, environmental destruction, social inequality, and nation-state violence. Resistance, rebellion and social movements in response to these problems also will be addressed. Writing/Breadth-Social Sci.
Explores the new social spaces and social practices fostered by new information technology. Special attention will be paid to who is making decisions about what technologies to adopt and how, what social changes are resulting, and who benefits and who loses. A significant portion of activity in this course will involve direct engagement with new information technology.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Elliot Montpellier |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Tue, 11:30 a.m.–2:20 p.m.
|
Vancouver |
An examination of the relations between religion and the social environment. Consideration will be given to classical theoretical debates in the anthropology and sociology of religion. Specific topics vary from year to year, and may include: religion in personhood and communities; religion, gender, ethnicity and social class; secularization and secularism; the role of religion in political mobilizations; interreligious relations; religious freedom and citizenship. Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150 or 201W.
How do environmental challenges, the contradictions of capitalism, and histories of violence shape contemporary life? How do social issues affect our identities, communities, and sense of belonging? Students learn how to wield sociological and anthropological concepts and theories through clear and analytical communication and writing. Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150 or 201W.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Kyle Willmott |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Wed, 9:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
An examination of qualitative field methods, including participant observation, interviewing, archival research, cross-cultural research, life histories, network analysis, mapping, and ethical problems of fieldwork. Prerequisite: SA 255. Writing.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Bascom Guffin |
Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2025: Wed, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
An examination of environmental issues in their social context. Environmental issues are on the leading edge of contemporary public concern and public policy debates. This course will examine such issues as the relationship between social organization and mode of subsistence, the politics of hunger, and the way in which human societies in their particular social, historical, and cultural contexts view and interact with the natural world. Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150 or 201W.
An examination of the ways in which ethnographers seek to understand a world experiencing profound changes in the relationships between governments and the societies they govern. Topics to be considered may include: relations between indigenous peoples and governments; the social and cultural dynamics of public policy making; the articulation of human rights issues. The focus of the course will vary from semester to semester. Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150 or 201W.
Students completing an honours thesis design their projects, read literature relevant to their topic, and complete research ethics if necessary, under the direction of a single faculty member. Prerequisite: 72 units, SA 355 or SA 356W, permission from the SA department, and prior agreement from an SA faculty member who has agreed to supervise the honours project.
Advanced field project in a research setting. Admission dependent on availability of appropriate field placements and departmental supervisory capacity. Prerequisite: Students must successfully complete a Criminal Record Check.
An honours essay to be written under the direction of a member of faculty, a copy of which is to be permanently lodged with the department. Students should submit confirmation of faculty supervisor. Prerequisite: SA 495, permission from the SA department, and prior agreement from an SA faculty member who has agreed to supervise the honours essay.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 | TBD |
Graduation Requirements
In addition to the normal university degree requirements, the Department of Sociology and Anthropology requires a minimum 2.00 SA cumulative grade point average (CGPA) (calculated on all SA courses completed at SFU), and a minimum 2.00 SA CUDGPA (calculated on all upper division SA courses completed at SFU) for graduation with an SA program.
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Degree Requirements
For all bachelor of arts (BA) programs, students complete 120 units, which includes
- at least 60 units that must be completed at Simon Fraser University
- at least 45 upper division units, of which at least 30 upper division units must be completed at Simon Fraser University
- at least 60 units (including 21 upper division units) in Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences courses
- satisfaction of the writing, quantitative, and breadth requirements
- an overall cumulative grade point average (CGPA) and upper division overall CGPA of at least 2.0, and program CGPA and upper division program CGPA of at least 2.0 on the course work used to satisfy the minimum program requirements. FASS departments may define additional GPA requirements for their respective programs.
Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements
Students admitted to Simon Fraser University beginning in the fall 2006 term must meet writing, quantitative and breadth requirements as part of any degree program they may undertake. See Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements for university-wide information.
WQB Graduation Requirements
A grade of C- or better is required to earn W, Q or B credit
Requirement |
Units |
Notes | |
W - Writing |
6 |
Must include at least one upper division course, taken at Simon Fraser University within the student's major subject; two courses (minimum three units each) |
|
Q - Quantitative |
6 |
Q courses may be lower or upper division; two courses (total six units or more) | |
B - Breadth |
18 |
Designated Breadth |
Must be outside the student's major subject, and may be lower or upper division: Two courses (total six units or more) Social Sciences: B-Soc |
6 |
Additional Breadth |
Two courses (total six units or more) outside the student's major subject (may or may not be B-designated courses, and will likely help fulfil individual degree program requirements). Students choosing to complete a joint major, joint honours, double major, two extended minors, an extended minor and a minor, or two minors may satisfy the breadth requirements (designated or not designated) with courses completed in either one or both program areas. |
Residency Requirements and Transfer Credit
- At least half of the program's total units must be earned through Simon Fraser University study.
- At least two thirds of the program's total upper division units must be earned through Simon Fraser University study.