MRPE Elective Course Options
Fall 2022
| Course Code | Course Title & Outline | Department | Instructor | Scheduled |
| ANT 9217A | Anthropology and Embodiment | Anthropology | Pamela Block | W 1:30-3:30 |
| ECON 9609A | *Applied Economics | Economics | David Rivers | T & TH 1:00-2:30 |
| GEO 9107A | Environment and Health | Geography | Isaac Luginaah | T 1:00-4:00 |
| GEO 9114A | Urban Studies | Geography | Jason Gilliland | TBA |
| GEO 9121A | Digital Environments | Geography | Agnieszka Leszczynski | W 1:00-3:00 |
| HIS 9877A | Digital Research Methods | History | William Turkel | Asynchronous |
| PSY 9632A | *Systematic and Scoping Review Methods | Psychology | Blair Evans | W 1:00-4:00 |
| SOC 9177A | **The Social Context of Racial Inequality | Sociology | Patrick Denice | W 9:30-12:30 |
| SOC 9258A | **Inequality over the Life Course | Sociology | Kim Shuey | W 1:30-4:30 |
Winter 2023
| Course Code | Course Title & Outline | Department | Instructor | Scheduled |
| ANT 9225B | Faces and Phases of Nations and Nationalisms | Anthropology | Randa Farah | M 1:30-4:30 |
| ANT 9228B | Language and Power | Anthropology | Tania Granadillo | T 9:30-12:30 |
| GEO 9110B | Introduction to GIS | Geography | Jed Long | M & T 10:30-12:30 |
| GEO 9177B | *Urban Geography of the Developing World | Geography | Godwin Arku | M 1:00-3:00 |
| GEO 9120B | *Energy and Environment Justics | Geography | Carol Hunsberger | TH 1:00-3:00 |
| POL 9755B | *Globalization and Urban Politics | Political Science | Martin Horak | TH 1:30-3:30 |
| PSY 9552B | *Regression and Factor Analysis | Psychology | Paul Tremblay | W 9:00-12:00 |
| PSY 9556B | *Longitudinal Methods | Psychology | Paul Tremblay | T 9:00-12:00 |
| SOC 9154B | **Professionals and their Work | Sociology | Sean Waite | T 9:30-12:30 |
| SOC 9268B | **Social Inequalities in Health | Sociology | Andrea Willson | T 1:30-4:30 |
| SOC 9331B | **Death, Fertility and Migration: Deomographic Analysis of Social Change | Sociology | Anna Zajacova | M 1:30-4:30 |
Courses are subject to change, depending the core course schedule.
*Courses require department and instructor approval or prerequisite. Please contact Leha Huffman at mrpe@uwo.ca for further information on enrollment procedures.
**Courses are limited to 3 MRPE students. ***Courses are limited to 5 MRPE students. Pleaes contact Leha Huffman at mrpe@uwo.ca for enrollment.
Course Outlines will be posted as they come available.
Please note that delivery mode of courses may change due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Course Descriptions
Fall 2022
ANT 9217A - Anthropology and Embodiment
In this course we will use anthropology as a lens to analyze, evaluate and interpret embodiment and bodymind. In the style of an emerging topics course -- weekly readings will be designed to reflect the particular interests of course participants. Possible topics might include: Surveillance and management of bodies in life and death (prisons, hospitals and graveyards etc.); Sex, Gender, and Sexuality; Pregnancy; Performance/Athleticism; Race; Disability; Food Access (choices, barriers); Obesity vs. Fat Pride; Body modification (tattoos, adornment, orthotics, prostheses, assistive technologies), and more. This is a course that welcomes the exploration of borders and boundaries of embodiment as emerging within students' own diverse research interests.
ECON 9609A - Applied Economics
The focus of this course is on causality, identification, econometrics, counterfactual analysis and numerical methods as tools to understand empirical work in Economics. This class will focus on how to think about the application of these concepts and on the use of these computational methods. The Roy model will be used to introduce counterfactual analysis and different methods available to generate these counterfactuals. Discussion will focus on estimation, identification, discrete choice, treatment effects, and structural models. Students will be introduced to the computational methods available and how to implement these methods as opposed to just learning about them and their properties.
GEO 9107A - Environment and Health
The conceptual frameworks for environmental health research and policy analysis. Appraisal of methods of deriving and substantiating evidence in environment and health research. Approaches to environmental health policy formulation and the uses of evidence in the environmental health policy arena.
GEO 9114A - Urban Studies
An examination of social and physical characteristics of the function and evolution of cities at multiple scales and perspectives. A critical examination of everyday urban issues, theories, conceptual frameworks and research methods in geography, and cognate disciplines.
GEO 9121A - Digital Environments
This seminar explores the various ways in which digital assemblages materialize across and produce social, ecological, and urban environments. Drawing on an interdisciplinary range of works, we will engage with a variety of digital infrastructures including networks, clouds, and platforms, while also thinking through the kinds of phenomena and practices that are ‘infrastructured’ by other kinds of digital materialities, such as data and algorithms. Throughout, an emphasis is given to the spatial and social implications of digital infrastructures.
HIS 9877B - Digital Research Methods
Historical research now crucially involves the acquisition and use of digital sources. In History 9877A, students will learn to find, harvest, manage, excerpt, cluster and analyze digital materials throughout the research process, from initial exploratory forays through the production of an electronic article or monograph which is ready to submit for publication.
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PSY 9632A - Systematic and Scoping Review Methods
This course will prepare students to understand review methods and use systematic and scoping reviews to identify and synthesize available literature involving a given topic. Students will progress through the steps for conducting a review in a workshop-based environment focused on planning and implementing a review of their own; ranging from research question formulation to article screening and coding.
SOC 9177A - The Social Context of Racial Inequality
This course provides an in-depth overview of sociological understandings of race and ethnicity, with a particular focus on the institutional underpinnings of racial and ethnic inequality in the United States and Canada. The core question we seek to address is: What are the sociological origins of racial inequality? To answer this, we begin by investigating how sociologists understand racial and ethnic distinctions. What comprises a racial or ethnic group? We then shift our attention to patterns of racial and ethnic inequality, focusing on the major institutions through which racial inequality is generated: the housing market, the labor market, schools, and the criminal justice system.
SOC 9258A - Inequality over the Life Course
This class is designed to introduce you to the Life Course Perspective as a lens for viewing and understanding social inequality. A Life Course Perspective focuses on the intersection of individual lives, social structure and inequality, and social change. It emphasizes inequalities in experiences across individual lives and the way those patterns are shaped by broader social inequalities, history and change. This approach can be combined with other theoretical frames and applied to a wide range of substantive questions related to health, work, family, education, migration, political attitudes, and criminal careers and course readings provide some examples of these applications. A main goal of this course is to apply aspects of a Life Course Perspective to your own substantive interests to gain greater understanding of social inequality.
Winter 2023
ANT 9225B - Faces and Phases of Nations and Nationalisms
In this course, we glance at the history that gave rise to nations and nationalisms, and we review some of the relevant theories, as well as indigenous and national struggles within existing states, post-colonial states, and post-colonial theories and will draw on diverse case studies that highlight the conundrums of nations and nationalisms.
ANT 9228B - Language and Power
This course examines linkages between linguistic practices and relations of power, drawing primarily on tools and methodologies of Linguistic Anthropology and Discourse Analysis. Topics such as racism, disability, migration will be addressed.
GEO 9110B - Introduction to GIS
Introduction to fundamental concepts, techniques and applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This is an entry-level course for students who wish to apply GIS to their own research. Students gain hands-on experience using the ArcGIS software and develop problem-solving skills.
GEO 9117B - Urban Geography of the Developing World
An examination of physical, economic, and social characteristics of cities in the developing world in global and historical context. A critical examination of planning ideologies, principles, and recent global processes that have shaped and continues to shape the character of cities in developing countries as well as their outcomes.
GEO 9120B - Energy and Environment Justice
This seminar course explores environmental and social impacts of energy production, equity issues related to energy access, and political and economic forces shaping energy decisions. Theories of justice drawn from philosophy, political ecology and social movements are applied to Canadian and international cases. While energy is the course theme, the underlying questions apply to many areas of environment, development and health: How are ‘national’ interests defined and weighed against ‘local’ interests? What is the relationship between economic gain and quality of life? How can political decisions account for the needs of future generations? And how can we mediate between diverse values and priorities in society?
POL 9755A - Globalization and Urban Politics
Cities have long been the engines of social and economic change. Today, as the geographical epicenters of globalization, large urban areas are growing and developing in ways that challenge the abilities of local governments to deal with emerging social and economic issues. How social and economic change affects city politics at the local level is the central theme of this course. How are urban societies and economies affected by globalization, and what can local governments do about it? How can local governments respond when they lack the powers and resources to do so on their own? How can rapidly growing, changing cities keep up with the need for new infrastructure? Can urban politics help to overcome social and economic divisions, or does it make them worse? These are the kinds of questions that we will be discussing.
PSY 9552B - Regression and Factor Analysis
This course covers various regression-based procedures that fall within the general linear model as well as an introduction to generalized linear model methods such as logistic, multinomial, ordinal and poisson regression. Within multiple linear regression, we cover moderation and non-experimental design in depth including concepts of causality and methods of statistical control. We consider limitations of traditional mediation designs and improved methods. The course includes demonstrations of the parallels between regression methods and both ANOVA and ANCOVA, and also introduces multilevel modeling.
PSY 9556B - Longitudinal Methods
This advanced course focuses on various techniques within the domain of structural equation modeling and multilevel modeling to analyze repeated-measures, particularly longitudinal data. Topics within the SEM domain will include longitudinal measurement models, basic panel models with autoregressive and cross-lagged processes, latent growth curve models, growth mixture models (to investigate prototypical trajectories), longitudinal mediation models and multiple group models. Within the MLM domain, topics will include models for multiple repeated observations (e.g., diary data, ecological momentary assessment) and time-variant and time-invariant covariates.
Examines the nature of professions and professional work in Canadian society and elsewhere in the world. Attention will be paid to the structure of professional work, and workers' experiences within professions, as well as inequalities within and across professions within and across historical contexts.
SOC 9268B - Social Inequalities in Health
In this seminar, we will examine how a sociological perspective can assist us in understanding inequality in health. Health in adulthood is the result of lifelong experiences that begin at conception, and therefore we will focus on the mechanisms that maintain and magnify disparities in physical and mental health over the life course. The study of health inequality is multidisciplinary, cross-fertilization has occurred across disciplines, and the literature is vast; therefore this course focuses on an introduction to the major sociological conceptual frameworks and empirical research from Canada and the U.S. examining social inequalities in health.
SOC 9331B - Death, Fertility and Migration: Demographic Analysis of Social Change
This course introduces students to the field of population studies and the tools used by demographers to study the size, structure, and dynamics of human populations. It covers the collection, evaluation, and analysis of demographic data; census and vital registration systems; morbidity, disability, mortality, fertility, and migration; life table construction; and population projections. We will also discuss how demographic methods can be used to study other topics, such as education, health disparities, disability, and prison populations, in order to provide an understanding of how these methods are applied outside the field of traditional demography.
