An exploration of the origins, content, interpretation, and significance of the Qur'an, with a particular emphasis on its relationship to the scriptural tradition of the Abrahamic faiths. No knowledge of Arabic is required.

Comparative study of the Madhyamaka and Yogacara traditions, and doctrines such as emptiness (sunyata), Buddha-nature (tathagatagarbha), cognitive-representation only (vijnaptimatrata), the three natures (trisvabhava).

Buddhism is a response to what is fundamentally an ethical problem - the perennial problem of the best kind of life for us to lead. Gotama was driven to seek the solution to this problem and the associated ethical issues it raises. This course discusses the aspects of sila, ethics and psychology, nirvana; ethics in Mahayana; Buddhism, utilitarianism, and Aristotle.

The course examines the development of Islam in the contexts of Asian religions and cultures, and the portrayal of the Muslim world in Asian popular culture.

An examination of Hinduism in its contemporary diasporic and transnational modes in South Asia. Attention is also paid to the development of Hinduism in the context of colonialism.

Philosophical, anthropological, historical, and linguistic discussions about language use in a variety of religious contexts. The course examines the function of language through an analysis of its use in both oral and written form.

The course cultivates an appreciation of the global perspective of religions in the contemporary world and how religious frameworks of interpretation interact with modern social and political realities. It provides a viewpoint of religion through ideas and issues related to globalization, syncretism, and modernity.

Intensive study of selected topics discussed in RLGA01H3 (World Religions I) that will vary with each offering of the course.

Intensive study of selected topics discussed in RLGA02H3 (World Religions II) that will vary with each offering of the course.

A student-initiated research project to be approved by the Department and supervised by one of the faculty members.

A seminar in which students have the opportunity, under the supervision of a member of the Religion faculty, to develop and present independent research projects focused around a set of texts, topics, and/or problems relevant to the study of religion.

Sociology focuses on explaining social patterns and how they impact individual lives. This course teaches students how to think sociologically, using empirical research methods and theories to make sense of society. Students will learn about the causes and consequences of inequalities, the ways in which our social worlds are constructed rather than natural, and the role of institutions in shaping our lives. A selection of subfields within the discipline will also be introduced, which may include culture, gender, sexualities, race and ethnicity, education, religion, families, crime, law, health, mass media, social change, and globalization.

This course introduces the logic of sociological research and surveys the major quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Students learn to evaluate the validity of research findings, develop research questions and select appropriate research designs.

This course examines gender as a sociological category that organizes and, at the same time, is organized by, micro and macro forces. By examining how gender intersects with race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, age, and other dimensions, we analyze the constitution and evolution of gendered ideology and practice.

This course offers a sociological perspective on a familiar experience: attending school. It examines the stated and hidden purposes of schooling; explores how learning in schools is organized; evaluates the drop-out problem; the determinants of educational success and failure; and, it looks at connections between school and work.

This course will engage evidence-based sociological findings that are often related to how individuals make decisions in everyday life. Special attention will be paid to how empirical findings in sociology are used as evidence in different social contexts and decision making processes. The course should enable students to make direct connections between the insights of sociology and their own lives.

An examination of power in its social context. Specific attention is devoted to how and under what conditions power is exercised, reproduced and transformed, as well as the social relations of domination, oppression, resistance and solidarity. Selected topics may include: nations, states, parties, institutions, citizenship, and social movements.

This course introduces the basic concepts and assumptions of quantitative reasoning, with a focus on using modern data science techniques and real-world data to answer key questions in sociology. It examines how numbers, counting, and statistics produce expertise, authority, and the social categories through which we define social reality. This course avoids advanced mathematical concepts and proofs.

This course offers a sociological account of economic phenomena. The central focus is to examine how economic activities are shaped, facilitated, or even impeded by cultural values and social relations, and show that economic life cannot be fully understood outside of its social context. The course will focus on economic activities of production, consumption, and exchange in a wide range of settings including labor and financial markets, corporations, household and intimate economies, informal and illegal economies, and markets of human goods.

This course builds on SOCA03Y3 through a deep engagement with 4-5 significant new publications in Sociology, typically books by department faculty and visiting scholars. By developing reading and writing skills through a variety of assignments, and participating in classroom visits with the researchers who produced the publications, students will learn to "think like a sociologist." Possible topics covered include culture, gender, health, immigration/race/ethnicity, political sociology, social networks, theory, sociology of crime and law, and work/stratification/markets.

This course examines a group of theorists whose work provided key intellectual resources for articulating the basic concepts and tasks of sociology. Central topics include: the consequences of the division of labour, sources and dynamics of class conflict in commercial societies, the social effects of industrial production, the causes and directions of social progress, the foundations of feminism, linkages between belief systems and social structures, and the promises and pathologies of democratic societies.

This course studies a group of writers who in the early 20th century were pivotal in theoretically grounding sociology as a scientific discipline. Central topics include: the types and sources of social authority; the genesis and ethos of capitalism; the moral consequences of the division of labour; the nature of social facts; the origins of collective moral values; the relationship between social theory and social reform; the nature of social problems and the personal experience of being perceived as a social problem; the formal features of association; the social function of conflict; the social and personal consequences of urbanization.

A theoretical and empirical examination of the processes of urbanization and suburbanization. Considers classic and contemporary approaches to the ecology and social organization of the pre-industrial, industrial, corporate and postmodern cities.

A sociological examination of the ways in which individuals and groups have been differentiated and ranked historically and cross-culturally. Systems of differentiation and devaluation examined may include gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, citizenship/legal status, and ability/disability.

This course explores the family as a social institution, which shapes and at the same time is shaped by, the society in North America. Specific attention will be paid to family patterns in relation to class, gender, and racial/ethnic stratifications. Selected focuses include: socialization; courtship; heterosexual, gay and lesbian relations; gender division of labour; immigrant families; childbearing and childrearing; divorce; domestic violence; elderly care.

This course explores how deviance and normality is constructed and contested in everyday life. The course revolves around the themes of sexuality, gender, poverty, race and intoxication. Particular attention will be paid to the role of official knowledge in policing social norms.

The course draws on a geographically varied set of case studies to consider both the historical development and contemporary state of the sociological field of race, racialization and ethnic relations.

Economic activity drives human society. This course explores the nature of work, how it is changing, and the impact of changes on the transition from youth to adult life. It also examines racism in the workplace, female labour force participation, and why we call some jobs 'professions', but not others.

An introduction to various ways that sociologists think about and study culture. Topics will include the cultural aspects of a wide range of social phenomena - including inequality, gender, economics, religion, and organizations. We will also discuss sociological approaches to studying the production, content, and audiences of the arts and media.

This course examines the character, authority, and processes of law in contemporary liberal democracies.