Study Your Passion
Gender & Social Justice offers a range of flexible degree options.
Students can pursue a joint-major or single-major three-year General Bachelor of Arts degree or a four-year Honours degree in Gender Studies and Social Justice. Students can also get a minor in Gender Studies and Social Justice.
We make it easy to combine your passions with a joint major. Joint major programs are designed to allow students to pursue a fairly specialized education in two different fields or disciplines. Gender and Social Justice students, for example, have joined their major with Sociology, Psychology, Business Administration, International Development Studies, English, History, Canadian Studies, Indigenous Studies, Anthropology, and more.
Some of our students are enrolled in our new Co-op Option, which allows you to graduate with 12 months of paid job experience through the four-year co-op stream (available in Peterborough) working with community centres, social services, government agencies, schools, or businesses.
Apply your course learning, make connections and earn academic credit through a community-
based research project, working with organizations like the Elizabeth Fry Society or the Ontario Public Research Interest Group
Students can now specialize in three specific areas by including a cluster of courses in their degree. Our three specializations are as follows:
Critical Race Studies
Learn to think critically about how race and racism permeate and influence our laws, policies, culture, and justice. This specialization is a learning pathway for students to advance their understanding of social justice by focusing on structures of race and racialization and the intersections with questions of power and privilege. Gain the knowledge and skills needed to examine how race impacts our lives and the life chances different people are afforded.
Feminist Studies
From reproductive rights to wage gaps, the world needs people who can think critically about patriarchal structures and gender equity, and advocate for women and marginalized groups. This specialization helps students gain a deeper understanding of the facets of feminism, establishing the skills and expertise needed to become an activist and leader in a broad spectrum of careers — from policy and psychology to advocacy and academia.
Sexuality Studies
Deepen your understanding of the regulation, oppression, and expression of sexuality and its role in shaping societies around the world and throughout history. This specialization gives students a rich, multidisciplinary lens through which to understand the theoretical, cultural, social, and empirical aspects of all spectrums of sexuality.