Course Descriptions - Undergraduate Calendar 2023-2024

This course provides an overview of couple, marital, and family relationships from a broad, interdisciplinary perspective.

This course explores the contributions of Italian women artists, writers, and intellectuals from the Medieval times through the Renaissance to the Baroque period. The focus will be on the institutions of marriage and of the family.

This course explores the contributions of Italian women artists, writers, and intellectuals from the Enlightenment until contemporary times. The focus will be on the expression of sexual identities, the nature of relationships, and the influence of family ties.

This course introduces students to special topics in sexualities, relationships, and/or families.

This course provides a broad interdisciplinary overview of theories and research on human sexuality. Topics may include human anatomy, sexual health, sexual response cycle, sexual orientation, gender, sex work, sexual practices, fetishes and paraphilias, and attraction/intimacy/love.

As with all profound and meaningful human activities, sexuality has the potential to involve harm, manipulation, and abuse. This course offers a theoretical and empirical examination of the dark side of human sexuality. Topics may include sex work, pornography, sexual violence and abuse, incest, compulsive sexual behaviour, and paraphilias.

This course examines caregiver/parent-child relationships from a broad interdisciplinary perspective over the lifespan. Topics may include the transition to parenthood, parenting practices and their intersection with child/adult development, social and cultural influences on families with children, same-sex parenting, gender variance/fluidity and family relationships, family relations after parental separation, and care of aging parents.

This course provides an overview of various theoretical and therapeutic practices in relational and sex therapy, and serves as an introduction to social justice, anti-oppressive, and inclusionary therapeutic practices. In doing so, the intersections of social locations such as class, culture, dis/ability, gender, and race within various social contexts are critically analyzed.

This course examines the dynamics of intimate relationships in the context of the modern, Western construct of dating. Topics explored may include long-distance relationships, polyamorous relationships, online dating, hook-up culture, shifting romantic and family formation dynamics, modern communications and technology, and the role of pop culture in dating trends.

This course reviews the process of navigating relationships and sexuality as persons age. Topics may include physical/biological changes, desire, youth-focused culture, relationship dissolution, dating, and technologies.

This course offers a theoretical and empirical examination of sexuality from a health perspective. Approaches to counselling, prevention, and treatment will be discussed. Topics may include sexually transmitted infections (STI) and pregnancy prevention, pregnancy and post-partum health, healthy romantic and sexual relationships, chronic and long-term illnesses, and sexual cancers.

This course examines the social construction of the erotic, in particular how culture, politics, religion, literature, economics, medicine, or technology interact to regulate the definition and performance of sexuality across cultures. Topics may include the sexual body (e.g., beauty and desire), the regulation of sex (e.g., taboos, laws, religion), and other cultural constructions of sexuality (e.g., sexual education).

This course examines how sexuality is depicted in, shaped by, and contested in popular culture. It introduces different theories in the study of popular culture and sexuality through a range of historical and contemporary texts and practices.

This course offers a theoretical and empirical examination of the pleasurable and recreational aspects of human sexuality. Topics may include optimal sexuality, romantic passion, sexual techniques, sex toys, BDSM, and sexual role-playing. A range of pleasure discourses and practices (beyond those focused on the genitalia) are addressed.

This course will present a concentrated history of the major trends and patterns within the representation of human sexuality and sexual health in 20th- and 21st-century comics art. Students will be introduced to the unique and powerful role that comics have played in representing sexuality and sexual well-being through exposure to various artists and scholars on the subject. Students will explore key concepts through close readings of relevant texts, and through the application of key theoretical materials, modeling the kind of analytical work that students will then produce themselves in both discussion and written assignments.

This course introduces students to the philosophy and methods of social science and humanities research, including an examination of issues and approaches to conducting research in the areas of sexuality, couples, and families.

The goal of this introductory statistics course is to help students understand the logic and appropriate application of commonly used descriptive and inferential statistics, with examples drawn from various disciplines relevant to sexuality, marriage, and family studies.

In the typical health care model most of the attention is focused on the patient and their well-being, often ignoring the health, financial, and emotional impact on those who provide unpaid informal care and support - family and friends. Through the reading of memoirs, students with an interest in aging, health care, and the therapeutic professions will grapple with the profound impact that caregiving during illness has on carers and relationships across the spectrum - from young carers, to intimate partners, to adult children caring for aging parents, and beyond. Discussions will be grounded in the social, legal, and policy contexts.

There is a persistent tension in our society about where the responsibility for children lies: with the family or the society. This course examines various topics in Canadian social and family policy that affect children's development and family well-being. Topics may include the legislative provisions in areas such as parenting supports, income security, family law, youth justice, caregiving, and the distinct framework for Indigenous families. Students will use foundational concepts and theories to examine the strengths and limitations of policy to address the needs of families.

This course is an examination and analysis of the theories and methods of communication as applied within the processes of individual, relational, and family consultation and counselling.

This course examines the development and experience of sexuality in a relational context from infancy to old age. Emphasis will be placed on sexual interaction and communication in adult relationships, but the effects of relationships on sexual experiences during infancy, childhood, adolescence, and old age may also be examined.

This course will provide a detailed examination of selected issues and controversies in the area of human sexuality. Topics may include the role of sex education in schools, nature vs. nurture, censorship, and surrogate motherhood.

The interpersonal dynamics involved in intimate relationships will be examined. Topics such as attraction, commitment, love, trust, dissolution, and communication will be examined from various theoretical and empirical perspectives.

Families and close relationships are among the most important and valued human experiences, but they can also be the source of much conflict and pain. This course will examine the role that conflict plays in close relationships, with a focus on topics such as emotions, power, third-party interventions, breakdown of relationships, conflict styles, and conflict resolution.

Modern and postmodern therapeutic approaches to working clinically within relational contexts (e.g., family, romantic, other relationship configurations) are taken up. This course emphasizes cultural sensitivity, social justice, and anti-oppressive practices in therapeutic settings. Students will apply theory to practice and explore the ethical implications associated with doing clinical work.

This course examines therapeutic approaches and clinical issues when working with sexuality related problems. Research and theoretical issues in the field of sex therapy will be discussed and applied to clinical contexts. The applied focus enables students to connect clinical theory and ethical issues to practice.

A study of social relationships and systems that support sexual identities and relationship structures which generate ethical issues related to attitudes, values, and behaviours at both the individual and group level. This course may address sexual and relationship ethics on local, national, and transnational scales focusing on how issues of ethics and morality have been socially constructed.

This course introduces students to the history of Western sexuality, beginning with the ancient world and focusing primarily on the Middle Ages and the transition to modernity.

This seminar introduces students to the history of sexuality. The course focuses on the 19th and 20th centuries.

Relationship breakdown is a social phenomenon that can have legal consequences. This course provides students with a socio-legal foundation in current family law. Topics may include the court system, the litigation process, property division, spousal and child support, child co-parenting, child protection, high conflict families, and alternative dispute resolution processes. Students will learn about the strengths and limitation of the law to address relationship breakdown and develop transferable skills for careers in policy, social work, mediation, family justice, education, and community service organizations.

A specialized course in topics related to human sexuality. Topics cover the application of theory and research in any area related to human sexuality.

A specialized course in topics that cover the application of theory and research in any area related to couples, relationships, and families.

This seminar invites students to integrate their knowledge in the domains of sexuality, relationships, and families and make connections among theories, research, and practices. The capstone focus provides students the opportunity for critical self-reflection on their university experience.

An independent, in-depth study based on empirical research and/or extensive reading of a topic in the area of sexuality, relationships, and/or families. The project must be approved by the academic supervisor of the course prior to enrolment.

This course involves an assigned unpaid apprenticeship in a human services setting combined with regular seminar meetings. The practicum will require 15 hours per week. Paid or volunteer positions that are obtained outside the context of this course are not eligible for credit in this course.

This course involves the continuation of the SMF 490 practicum placement along with weekly seminar meetings that focus on integration of theory and practice.

This seminar allows students to integrate their knowledge in the domain of sexuality studies. Topics reflect current issues from a theoretical and research perspective.

This seminar allows students to integrate their knowledge in the domains of couples, marriages, and family studies. Topics reflect current issues from a theoretical and research perspective.

Under supervision of a faculty member, students normally will review literature, design a study, present a research proposal, analyze data, write a scholarly research paper, and deliver an oral presentation based on the paper (e.g., at the SMF Research Symposium).

Continuation of SMF 499A.