·          The University Computing Centre provides a complex of the most modern computer equipment, and instructional assistance in its use. The Department of Sociology shares a semi-public computer room and also has its own computer lab for Sociology graduate students.

·          The Stauffer Library contains a well-developed collection of nineteenth and twentieth century Canadian books, newspapers, periodicals and government documents. It subscribes electronically to all major journals.

·          The United Nations Documents Library contains the reports of many international bodies.

·          The Law Library and the Health Sciences Library have substantial collections pertinent to the sociological study of these areas.

·          Resources in Women's Studies include library holdings of over 5,000 volumes. The Ban Righ Foundation provides weekly programs and serves as a resource centre for women.

·          Students in Sociology can draw upon the resources of the many professional Faculties and Schools which are at Queen's including Law, Medicine, Education, Kinesiology and Health Studies, Policy Studies, Environmental Studies, Urban and Regional Planning, Public Administration, Business, and the Industrial Relations Centre.

·          These cooperative relationships, together with a provision that enables students to take courses in other departments within the Faculty of Arts and Science, provide the opportunity for interdisciplinary scholarly work. The Department houses an interdisciplinary group that is supported by a SSHRC-funded project on surveillance and Information and Communication Technology.

Applicants are accepted under the general regulations of the School of Graduate Studies.

The doctoral program comprises course work in sociological theory and methods; in one of the department's specialization: socio-legal studies, communication and information technology, feminist sociology or critical sociological theory; an oral qualifying exam, a written qualifying exam and a thesis.

Coursework

Doctoral candidates will take a minimum of 4 one-term courses in their first year. SOCY-901 (equivalent to 2 one-term courses) is normally compulsory.  However, if the Coordinator of Graduate Studies decides that the student's earlier work corresponds to materials covered in SOCY-901, alternative courses will be substituted (see below).

Students with an M.A. from Queen's who have already taken SOCY-901, or those determined to have taken its equivalent, will be required to take other graduate courses in theory and methods offered by the department at the time; or to take appropriate courses in theory and/or methods as Directed Special Readings; or (with the approval of the Graduate Coordinator and the supervisor) appropriate courses in other departments. 

In addition, at least one course in the student's area of specialization must be taken. 

With the recommendation of the supervisor and the Graduate Coordinator, one course may be taken outside the Department. In addition to the preceding requirements, SOCY-900*, Professional and Pedagogical Skills, is a compulsory course (graded pass/fail).

Qualifying Examinations and Thesis Proposal Exam

By the end of the third term each student, in consultation with the Coordinator of Graduate Studies, must choose a supervisor and two other faculty members from the department to make up the Supervisory Committee for the Ph.D. dissertation. The faculty members on the supervisory committee will monitor the student's progress. Supervisory Committees will normally include faculties who have specialist knowledge of Theory and of Methods relevant to the thesis.

By the end of the fifth term students must submit to their supervisors a written dissertation proposal. This proposal will be assessed in the context of a more general qualifying examination. The Qualification Examination Committee will consist of the student's supervisor and at least one of the other members of the supervisory committee, an internal/external examiner, the Head or delegate, and a Chair appointed by the Head.

This examination will be in two parts. The first is a three hour written examination focusing upon the relevant theoretical, methodological and substantive areas germane to the student's program. The second is an oral examination, approximately two hours in length, one week later, which focuses on the thesis proposal. Both parts of the exam will test the student's understanding of the discipline, the viability, scope and coherence of the thesis proposal and the preparedness of the candidate to undertake the proposed research.

Dissertation

General procedures concerning the doctoral dissertation required of all candidates for the Ph.D. are defined in this Calendar (Thesis). The writing and final defence of the dissertation before an Examining Committee will proceed according to the regulations of the School of Graduate Studies.

Language Requirements

Students will be encouraged to gain a facility in a language other than English that pertains particularly to their own scholarly and career interests.