Social Justice and Community Studies (SJCS)

SJCS 1211  Social Power Relations    
3 credit hours  
Students are introduced to social justice perspectives on social inequality, power relations, and resistance. Students examine theoretical concepts of power relations and topics that challenge dominant notions about society. The biases and assumptions that inform the study of power relations across gender, race, class, sexuality, Indigeneity, ability and citizenship are also considered.

SJCS 1800 – 1825 Special Topics in Social Justice & Community Studies
6 credit hours
Course content varies from year to year.

SJCS 1826 – 1849 Special Topics in Social Justice & Community Studies
3 credit hours
Course content varies from year to year.

SJCS 2000  Canadian Society and Social Justice    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: SJCS 1211
Students examine social justice perspectives on Canadian society and state policies past and present. Possible questions include: What does it mean to be Canadian? What are the encounters involved in how the Canadian nation and identity come to be?
SJCS 2100  Community Organizing    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: SJCS 1211 (formerly SOCI 1211), and SJCS 2000, or permission of instructor.
Students examine the significance, dynamics, and strategies of critical participation and awareness in community organizing efforts. Students are introduced to analytical perspectives, practical principles, and examples in social justice organizing at the local, national, and global levels.
SJCS 2220  Race, Racism, Colonialism    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: SJCS 1211 (formerly SOCI 1211), or permission of instructor
Students critically examine the history, social production, and ongoing impacts of race, racism and colonialism.
Note: Formerly SJCS 3220, students with credits for SJCS 3220 are not eligible to take SJCS 2220.

SJCS 2800 - 2825 Special Topics in Social Justice & Community Studies
6 credit hours
Prerequisite: SJCS 1211
The subject matter of these courses will be announced from time to time. Courses cover various aspects of Social Justice & Community Studies and will be multi-disciplinary in nature. The topics to be examined are determined by the instructor and/or Department.

SJCS 2826 - 2849 Special Topics in Social Justice & Community Studies
3 credit hours
Prerequisite: SJCS 1211
The subject matter of these courses will be announced from time to time. Courses cover various aspects of Social Justice & Community Studies and will be multi-disciplinary in nature. The topics to be examined are determined by the instructor and/or Department.

SJCS 3216  Unpacking Whiteness    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: SJCS 1211 or permission of the instructor
Students use interdisciplinary, intersectional, and critical approaches to explore the socio-historical construction, practices, policing, and power of white racial privilege, and white supremacy. Students also consider potential solutions to these problems.
SJCS 3217  Capitalism & Social Justice    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: SJCS 1211 or permission of instructor
Students critically examine living histories of, and resistance and alternatives to, capitalism as a political and economic system centred in private ownership and profit accumulation, the exploitation of labour and other “resources,” and intersections with empire, colonialism, and slavery.
SJCS 3218  Racialization and Social Control    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: SJCS 1211 (formerly SOCI 1211), and SJCS 2220 or permission of the instructor.
Students examine key theoretical texts and empirical studies on the construction, policing, and regulation of the Other institutionally, individually, and systemically. Topics include eugenics and temperance movements, prison regulation, racial profiling, policing of Indigenous and Black communities, and the casting out of Muslims from Western law and politics.
SJCS 3408  Urban Social Justice    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: SJCS 1211 or permission of the instructor
Students are introduced to the interdisciplinary study of the city, and urban social relations and communities, with particular attention paid to how these are shaped through unequal power relations, and in historically specific ways.
SJCS 3409  Climate Disaster and Social Justice    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: SJCS 1211 or permission of instructor
Students study the basic science of climate change, learn the history of climate activism, connect environmental harm and capitalism, and reflect on what this means for our near future. The focus of the course is on Black and Indigenous disproportionate community impacts, land care, and resistance to the “resourcification” of the earth.
SJCS 3508  Corporate and State Crime    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: SJCS 1211 (formerly SOCI 1211) or permission of the instructor
Students examine corporate and state crime and social harm, the principal factors in the definition and commission of such crimes, and the ways in which governments and legal systems respond to the problems.
SJCS 3608  Forms of Servitude    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: SJCS 1211 (formerly SOCI 1211), and SJCS 2220, or permission of the instructor
Students explore different forms of servitude at the intersections of imperialism, racialization, globalization, labour, and citizenship. Students analyze a combination of texts that largely focus on Canadian contexts, but also include texts set in other countries. Possible topics could include chattel slavery, indentured labour, and migrant labour.

SJCS 3800 - 3825 Special Topics in Social Justice & Community Studies
6 credit hours
Prerequisite: SJCS 1211
Students examine a selection of mid-level topics directly related to social justice and community studies.

SJCS 3826 - 3849 Special Topics in Social Justice & Community Studies
3 credit hours
Prerequisite: SJCS 1211
Students examine a selection of mid-level topics directly related to social justice and community studies.

SJCS 3876 - 3899 Directed Readings in Social Justice and Community Studies
3 credit hours
Prerequisite: Declared minor or major in SJCS
Directed Reading courses permit upper- year students to pursue independent research topics that are not part of the regular Social Justice & Community Studies curriculum. Students must obtain permission from the Department Chairperson to undertake a third-year Directed Readings course.

SJCS 4370  Multiculturalism: Theory and Practice    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: SJCS 2000 and SJCS 2100 or permission of instructor
Students critically examine the historical and social frameworks for Canadian approaches to multiculturalism, and then put into practice what they learned by working with a community organization.
SJCS 4432  Gender and Law    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: SJCS 2000 or permission of the instructor
Students examine and analyze how the social construction of femininity, masculinity and non-binary gender intersect with other dimensions of identity and power to shape law.
SJCS 4500  Honours Thesis    
6 credit hours  
Prerequisite: Enrolment in SJCS honours program and
identification of a faculty thesis advisor
SJCS 4570  Indigenous-Settler Relations    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: SJCS 2000 or SJCS 2220 or SJCS/SOCI/CRIM 3220 or permission of instructor
Students examine the history and contemporary forms of settler colonialism, with a particular focus on contemporary Indigenous-Settler relations.
SJCS 4739  Transnational Community Organizing    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: SJCS 2000 and SJCS 2100 or permission from the instructor
Student critically examine practical applications of concepts, theories, methods, and strategies of social justice organizing at the transnational level. This advanced course brings forth social justice organizing at the macro and micro levels while exploring the tensions and negotiations of organizing efforts, including through student work with a community organization.
SJCS 4740  Intersectionality: Theory, Methods and Praxis    
3 credit hours  
Prerequisite: SJCS 2000 and SJCS 2100, or permission of the instructor
Students develop the concept of intersectionality in relation to how structures of power and domination − patriarchy, colonialism, and capitalism − are interconnected and interacting. Students are instructed how to engage responsibly with intersectionality as a paradigm, an analytic tool, and a theoretical framework.

SJCS 4800 - 4825 Special Topics in Social Justice & Community Studies
6 credit hours
Prerequisite: SJCS 1211, SJCS 2000 or permission of the instructor
Students examine a selection of upper-level topics directly related to social justice and community studies.

SJCS 4826 - 4849 Special Topics in Social Justice & Community Studies
3 credit hours
Prerequisite: SJCS 1211, SJCS 2000 or permission of the instructor
Students examine a selection of upper-level topics directly related to social justice and community studies.

SJCS 4876 - 4899 Directed Readings in Social Justice and Community Studies
3 credit hours
Prerequisite: Declared minor or major in SJCS
Directed Reading courses permit upper- year students to pursue independent research topics that are not part of the regular Social Justice & Community Studies curriculum. Students must obtain permission from the Department Chairperson to undertake a fourth-year Directed Readings course.