The course is organized around two sets of activities: 1) workshops oriented to the development of knowledge and skills directly applicable to the process of thesis research, covering such topics as ethical decision-making in social research, practical problems in collecting and analysing research material, writing in social research and 2) student presentations of thesis proposals, progress reports, and final results.
Components of the course may also include professional and academic skills such as drafting funding proposals, effective bibliographic sourcing, and writing and presenting research to various audiences.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
● recognize the fundamental elements necessary to produce a methodologically sound sociological research project,
● identify the factors impacting research validity and reliability in the type of research methodology chosen whether qualitative, quantitative, or mixed,
● understand how a research hypothesis, thesis, or question may (or may not) be generated from a particular social setting,
● understand what is involved in the research ethics application process,
● practice graduate studies application and grant writing,
● write a book review, towards publication,
● draft a research proposal and present it.
Attaining these outcomes requires meeting the following expectations:
● honouring all course policies,
● regular class attendance, and
● completing assigned work with integrity and on time.
You will also practice self-evaluating your own work and reflecting on your learning needs, on a weekly basis.
Racialization, Racism, and Colonialism explores the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological understandings most relevant to the sociological study of “race,” racialization, racism, and colonialism. We give particular attention to critical decolonial thinking on race. We examine the process of racialization, through which “being white” becomes the normative standard of “just being human.” We contextualize how the creation of whiteness as an identity-based entitlement has led to social division and oppression. We draw on the experiences of diverse groups of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Colour (BIPoC) in Canadian and global contexts. We begin with the premise that BIPoC share a common history in terms of dispossession, discrimination, and oppression, but also pursue a range of different struggles and dreams in relation to their lands and nation-states. We explore racialization of bodies in contemporary culture to probe a series of assumptions and theories about race, racism, and colonialism in both academic and popular thought.
By the end of the course, you will:
● Understand major concepts and ideas presented in key theories on race, racialization, racism, and colonialism.
● Grasp how social, political, economic, intellectual, and biographical factors can influence global issues.
● Comprehend how concepts and perspectives on this subject build on and can help us to understand current events or circumstances.
By the end of the semester, you will be able to cultivate critical reading and writing strategies and apply the knowledge acquired in the course in grasping the world around us.
