Sociology

This course examines the social scientific study of gender, sexuality, and family in Japan from the postwar to the contemporary period from a comparative perspective. 

This course examines the theoretical and practical foundations of games and gamification and the game phenomenon from neural and cognitive perspectives. It covers the history and latest development of game studies; neural and cognitive theories of the game phenomenon; the concept of game; the psychological, social, economic, and educational benefits of game application; the potential harms and risks of gaming activities; the basic principles of game studies. 

This course examines Hong Kong’s history through the narratives of women, a group often made invisible in history writing, as social actors in the fabric of (post-)colonial Hong Kong. From elites’ households to squatter huts, from brothels, textile factories to convents and schools, from public housing estates, government offices to LegCo Chamber, women of different generations and ethnicities have been caregivers, breadwinners, and pioneers, contesting the prescribed gender role and identity in a patriarchal society. By examining their private lives and public voices informed by their (marginalized) positions interweaved in different social and historical contexts, this course seeks to not only explore how they lived, or how their lives are shaped and reshaped by their own unyielding efforts, but also how their stories can make their ways into narratives and representations in the history of Hong Kong. 

This course examines advertising in the changing media environment. It covers the rise of consumerism and materialism, the current advertising industry, advertising and consumer wellbeing, and persuasion through covert and data-driven advertising. It will also address the implications of advertising practices on critical groups such as children and youth and discuss ethics and regulations. This course does not focus on how to create advertisements or develop communications campaigns. Instead, it concentrates on how advertising is placed in a larger economic, regulatory, and social context, with an aim to provide an important foundation for practice.

This course examines the significant presence of people of African descent in Canada that dates back to the 17th century. Migration and immigration will be situated as part of the renewal of Canadian identity while examining the intellectual, historical and political presence of people of African descent.

This course examines the changing structure and behavior of work and occupations in modern society. It will engage with the theoretical debates and empirical research that focus on the organizational development and work and occupations in society more generally. The class will focus on how work and occupations are structured, evolve over time and replicate and reinforce existing inequalities. 

This course examines major concepts in gender studies, including: biological determinism, cultural essentialism, social constructionism, power and inequalities, sexuality, and queering categories of difference. Using a variety of case studies from social media, politics, sport, fashion, film, and music, the course will analyze how sex, gender, age, ethnicity, race, class, politics and social movements intersect to influence our understanding of sex, gender, and culture.

This course examines the cultural dimensions of emotion in everyday life. It will focus on how emotions are experienced, represented and understood in individual and social contexts. Drawing on different media and cultural sites, this course will examine a range of emotional states such as (but not limited to) love, happiness, fear, hate, terror and ideas of hope, trust, belief and faith in the (re)making of individual and social life. It will also consider how emotions are deployed in current social and political debates.