SMF Course Descriptions

Sexuality, Marriage, and Familty Studies (2009-2010)

This course provides a broad interdisciplinary overview of theories and research on human sexuality.

As with all profound and meaningful human activities, sexuality has the potential to involve harm, manipulation, and abuse. This course will offer a theoretical and empirical examination of the dark side of human sexuality. Topics may include prostitution, pornography, sexual violence and abuse, incest, AIDS and STDs, paraphilias, and hate crimes.

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

This course examines parent-child relationships from a broad interdisciplinary perspective. Topics may include voluntary childlessness, the transition to parenthood, single parenting, stepparenting, gay and lesbian parenting, and care of aging parents.

This broad survey course introduces theoretical and practical issues of sex, couples, and family counselling and therapy.

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.

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 the formation and maintenance of close relationships will be examined. Topics such as attraction, commitment, love, trust, 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 dark side of close relationships, with a focus on topics such as conflict and conflict resolution, family violence, poverty, separation and divorce, illness, and death and bereavement.

This course will examine the clinical treatment of couples, marriages, and families by adopting a structural frame of reference and using a family life cycle perspective. The objective is to develop a useful model for intervention in marriages and families.

This course will examine the treatment of sexual problems from counselling, therapy, and clinical perspectives. Research and methodological issues in the field of sex therapy will be discussed from theoretical and applied perspectives.

A study of social relationships and structures that support sexual identities and generate issues related to sexual behaviour, attitudes, and values at the individual and group level.

This course introduces students to special topics in the history of sexuality such as homosexuality, family, or erotica and pornography.

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

A specialized course in sexuality topics. See the SMF Director for current offerings.

A specialized course in couples, marriage, and family topics. See the SMF Director for current offerings.

A specialized course that approaches topics of sexuality, marriage, and family from a humanities perspective. These integrated courses take a theoretical approach to the subject matter. See the SMF Director for current offerings.

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

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

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

This course involves an assigned unpaid apprenticeship in a human sexuality or family studies setting combined with regular seminar meetings. The practicum will require no more than eight 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 an assigned unpaid apprenticeship in a human sexuality or family studies setting combined with regular seminar meetings. Paid or volunteer positions that are obtained outside the context of this course are not eligible for credit in this course.

Under supervision of a faculty member, students normally will review literature, present an oral research proposal, analyze data, write a scholarly research paper, and deliver a seminar presentation based on the paper.

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

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.

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