Equity Studies

Equity studies is a disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and multi-disciplinary approach to social justice and inequality. Ranging across the local, regional, national, and global, this focus area explores inequalities between and among humans that are based on socially produced categories of geography, religion, race, gender, disability, age, class, and sexuality. It also includes issues related to inter-species equality, environmental justice, and intergenerational equality.

After completing the foundations course Equality in Context (MAIS 635), you may focus on a specific topic, including inequality linked to:

• a group identity (for example, gender, disability, or species)
• social movement activism
• policy or practice analysis (human rights, Canadian Charter of Rights)
• an event (for example war, famine)
• environmental justice

You may also choose to focus on a specific effect of inequality (for example, homelessness, food security, poverty, joblessness).

This focus area will be of interest to those wishing to engage in research and scholarship:

• in the voluntary, public, or private sectors
• at the local, regional, or international levels
• in relation to:
  • family
  • religion
  • education
  • politics
  • healthcare
  • social work
  • police work
  • the armed forces
  • government
  • policy development
  • the legal system
• in other areas involving interaction with humans, other species, or the environment, including environmental, intergenerational, and inter-species justice

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Foundational courses

Group study

• MAIS 635: Equality in Context

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Equity Studies electives

Group study

• EDST 630: Transformative Learning for Social Change
• EDST 632: Global Education
• EDST 645: Curriculum: Provoking Inquiry
• ENVS 689: The Political Ecology of Global Environment Change
• GLST 652: Democracy and Justice in the Context of Global Capitalism
• GOVN 540: Global Governance and Law
• MAIS 604: Planning and Action for Community Change
• MAIS 612: Gender, Leadership and Management
• MAIS 628: Gender and Sexuality
• MAIS 644: Adult Education, Community Leadership, and the Crisis of Democracy
• MAIS 658: Doing Disability Differently
• MAIS 663: Critical Race Theory in Global Context
• MAIS 665: Cultural Studies: Reflections, Democratic Possibilities, and Futures
• MDDE 651: Gender Issues in Distance Education
• POLI 550: Women, Equality, and Representation
• PSYC 576: Assistive Technology
• PSYC 589: Learning Disabilities: Issues and Interventions

Individualized study

• GLST 611: Social Movements
• HIST 632: Gender, Race, Racism, and the History of Classical Scholarship
• LGST 551: Introduction to Legislative Drafting
• MAIS 514: The Theory and Practice of Trade Unions
• MAIS 638: What I Tell You May Not Be True: Autobiography, Discourse Analysis, and Post-Colonialism
• MAIS 640: Grounded Theory, Exploration, and Beyond
• MAIS 650: Canadian and International Labour Education
• SOCI 537: Deciphering Our Social Worlds
• SOCI 539: Sociology of War and Organized Violence
• WGST 522: Violence against Women - A Global Perspective
• WGST 547: Rethinking Science and Technology: Gender, Theory, and Practice

Previous reading course topics

• International Political Economy: The Politics of Globalization (Shrivastava)
• Global Development Strategies (Shrivastava)
• Africa in the World (Joe Kelly)