The Department of Sociology and Anthropology offers programs of study leading to the degrees of MA and PhD in Sociology in the following fields:

• Environment, Food, and Communities (MA, PhD) This field reflects sociological interests in understanding societal-ecological interactions more broadly. The specific focus may include environmental/natural resources/food systems and/or environmental justice/community sustainability. Students specializing in this field will be encouraged to draw on established methodologies in the field, including the comparative and historical approach. Attention will be given to the ways in which structure/power/culture and class/gender/race and ethnicity play out in at least one of the substantive topics comprising this field.
• Work and Organization (MA, PhD) This field reflects sociological interests in changing patterns of work and employment in comparative contexts, labour markets, gender and work, industrial and organizational change, economic restructuring and work, organizations and protest, education for work, and the regulation of work. These trends are located in the broader processes of globalization, economic restructuring and fundamental shifts in public policy. Students specializing in this field will be encouraged to focus on the dialectical relationship between the configurations of gender, class, race and ethnicity, and the transformation and re-organization of work.
• Crime and Social Control (MA, PhD) This field reflects sociological interests into how crime is defined, measured, explained and reacted to by society. Within this field students will be exposed to scholarly material on a broad range of topics including: cyberbullying, victimization, homelessness, intimate partner violence, drug policy, school violence, feminist criminology, critical criminology, restorative justice, sociology of risk, policing, the social construction of crime, inmate re-integration, youth justice, wrongful convictions, and life course criminology.
• Identities and Social Inclusion (MA, PhD) This field reflects sociological interests in the study of intergroup relations, with special emphasis on struggles over influence and power. Students specializing in this field will acquire a deeper understanding of the complex intersection as well as the overlap of forms of identity and group mobilization based on ethnic, linguistic, regional, class, gender, racial and other forms of social division. The field also provides students with the opportunity to study Indigenous issues and policies related to multiculturalism, equity and local or regional autonomy.

See the Department website for additional information.

Administrative Staff

Chair
Vivian Shalla (608 MacKinnon, Ext. 56527)
vshalla@uoguelph.ca
Graduate Program Coordinator
Ryan Broll (MCKN 612, Ext. 53554)
rbroll@uoguelph.ca
Graduate Program Assistant
Renee Tavascia (147 Macdonald Institute, Ext. 56973)
soangrad@uoguelph.ca

Graduate Faculty

This list may include Regular Graduate Faculty, Associated Graduate Faculty and/or Graduate Faculty from other universities.

MA Program

Admission Requirements

Applicants must possess an Honours BA (4 years) degree or its equivalent with at least a B+ average in the final two years of undergraduate studies. Students who do not meet departmental requirements, e.g., students whose undergraduate degree does not include basic courses in Sociology, may be admitted provisionally and required to complete appropriate make-up courses from offerings in the undergraduate program.

Application Procedure

Graduate students are admitted each Fall semester (approximately 10 - 15 students). Students are admitted into the program in the Fall semester only. The program is offered on a full-time basis only. The on-line application and application information can be found at http://www.uoguelph.ca/graduatestudies/apply/. Program offices should be consulted for admission deadlines.

Program Requirements

The MA program permits students to become actively involved in research, teaching and professional practice. The objective of the program is to offer opportunities for advanced studies and research in Sociology.

Students enrol in one of two study options:

1. course work and major paper option, or
2. thesis option.

Students begin their studies in the Fall semester.

Thesis

Students must complete a minimum of 2.0 credits and write a thesis. All students are required to master basic theory and methodological skills. This is fulfilled through the successful completion of the courses SOC*6140 Qualitative Research Methods and SOC*6070 Sociological Theory in the Fall semester and SOC*6130 Quantitative Research Methods in the Winter semester.

All students are required to pass SOC*6700 Pro-seminar. This is a two semester course (Fall and Winter) and is graded as SAT/UNSAT. This course is intended to introduce students to the department, the university, and the profession of Sociology.

Course Work and Major Research Paper

Students must complete a minimum of 4.0 credits (including SOC*6660 Major Paper) and write a major paper. All students are required to master basic theory and methodological skills. This is fulfilled through the successful completion of the courses SOC*6140 Qualitative Research Methods and SOC*6070 Sociological Theory in the Fall semester and SOC*6130 Quantitative Research Methods in the Winter semester.

All students are required to pass SOC*6700 Pro-seminar. This is a two semester course (Fall and Winter) and is graded as SAT/UNSAT. This course is intended to introduce students to the department, the university, and the profession of Sociology.

PhD Program

The doctoral program comprises four fields within the discipline of Sociology that build on current faculty strengths. These fields are:

1. Environment, Food and Communities;
2. Work and Organization;
3. Crime and Social Control; and
4. Identities and Social Inclusion.

Admission Requirements

Normally, only applicants with a recognized MA degree in Sociology and with high academic standing (80% or higher) in their graduate-level studies will be admitted into the program.

Students are expected to have successfully completed Master’s-level courses in sociological theory as well as Master’s-level qualitative and quantitative methodology courses in Sociology. It is also expected that students will have taken courses across the breadth of Sociology.

Admission Procedure

Graduate students are admitted into the program in the Fall semester only. The program is offered on a full-time basis only. Program offices should be consulted for admission deadlines. The on-line application and application information can be found at http://www.uoguelph.ca/graduatestudies/apply/.

Program Requirements

All students in the PhD program are required to successfully complete at least four courses during the first two semesters of study, including SOC*6750 PhD Professional Seminar, SOC*6800 Advanced Topics in Sociological Theory, and SOC*6200 Advanced Issues in Mixed Research Methodologies. Students must also successfully complete a qualifying exam and a research proposal, and produce and orally defend a dissertation on a topic that has been approved by the advisory committee.

Collaborative Specializations

International Development Studies

The Department of Sociology and Anthropology participates in the MA and PhD collaborative specialization in International Development Studies (IDS). Please consult the International Development Studies International Development Studies listing for a detailed description of the MA and PhD collaborative specialization and the special additional requirements for each of the participating departments.

Courses