Honours Program in Sociology
The Honours Program in Sociology offers dedicated undergraduate students the opportunity to conduct independent research under the supervision of a tenure/tenurable faculty member in Sociology who has expertise in the student's chosen research area. You will submit the results of your research in the form of an Honours thesis or project. When you successfully complete the Honours Program you will be well positioned to apply to academic graduate schools as many universities prefer an Honours degree with a thesis component. Honours program also provides you with research, writing and analytical skills that may be useful in further studies and/or employment.
Application ProcessAs a first step, it is recommended that students meet with potential supervisors among the Sociology faculty well in advance of the application deadline to discuss possible Honours projects. Potential supervisors must be tenure/tenurable Sociology faculty members. Please refer to handbook.The Department of Sociology & Anthropology will advertise and conduct an informational workshop for students in March. At this workshop the Departmental Honours programs and the application process will be described.
Students can obtain the latest Honours Package in March, from the Department of Sociology & Anthropology's main office. The Honours Package contains the Honours Program in Sociology Handbook. and the Application for Admission to the Honours Program in Sociology.
To apply to the Honours Program, students are required to complete and submit an application package by the May 01 deadline (normally in the year before the last year of their program).
Completed packages must be submitted to the Department of Sociology & Anthropology's main office including a copy of the current MRU Academic Transcript.
Eligibility and Continuation in the Honours ProgramFor graduation with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Sociology, students should follow the calendar rules for the year they were officially admitted into the B.A. in Sociology Program.
All Sociology students must meet the general graduation requirements for the Bachelor of Arts with Honours. These requirements are indicated in the General Graduation Requirements of their academic calendar year of admission to the Bachelor of Arts Sociology. Sociology Honours students must complete the course work and grade point average graduation requirements as defined in their academic calendar.
Please note: A student who has graduated with a Bachelor of Arts may not enter Honours in the same discipline in which he or she has received the Bachelor of Arts degree.
Specific Sociology Honours Graduation Course Requirements:
Students admitted prior to 2017-18 will use archived calendars available here.
Students admitted in 2017-18 will use archived calendar available here.
To review specific calendar year requirements, please meet with the Sociology Advisor.
Specific Sociology GPA Requirements for Eligibility:
To be admitted into the Sociology Honours Program, a student must present a minimum Grade Point Average of 3.30 in the last 10 courses completed.
Specific Sociology GPA Requirements for Continuance:
To continue in the Honours program, a student is required to maintain a GPA of 3.3 in each semester. Should a student fail to maintain a term GPA of 3.30, that student will revert to the Majors stream for a BA in Sociology.
Application Review Proces
By May 15, tenure/tenurable Sociology faculty members will review applications to decide which students will be accepted into the Sociology Honours Program. Students who do not meet the set admission criteria will be informed by the Chair that their application to the Honours Program was unsuccessful.
At this meeting, both the academic standing and the proposed thesis topic will be considered, with emphasis placed on the fit between the relevant research experience and interests of the supervisor and the proposed project. Each tenure/tenurable faculty member can supervise a maximum of 2 students in the Honours Program each academic year.
By June 01, the Chair will provide the official letters of acceptance to students, who will then be required to register in the Honours courses.
Honours CoursesHonours students are required to take both Honours courses in Sociology: SLGY 5110 Honours Research I, and SLGY 5120 Honours Seminar II.
Students in SLGY 5110 will complete a thesis proposal, and other related work. Students in SLGY 5120 will continue to work on their Honours project by analyzing and discussing the sociological significance of their findings and complete the writing of their thesis and present their findings.
The assigned supervisor is the primary person responsible for guiding the content, setting the assessment criteria (subject to Sociology specific requirements) and submitting grades in SLGY 5110 and SLGY 5120, including the thesis and the oral presentation of the thesis.
The Honours Writing ProcessThe supervisor is responsible in guiding and instructing her/his student/s in the research process.
The supervisor will advise the student on the establishment of a realistic timeline for the completion of the various steps involved in their thesis research.
After initial discussion, your supervisor and you may choose to invite a Reader or an Adjunct to contribute his or her expertise to the thesis research. A Reader is a tenure/tenurable faculty member at Mount Royal, either in Sociology or in another department or discipline on campus, who has expertise relevant to your thesis topic. An adjunct is a scholar who is not a tenure/tenurable faculty member at Mount Royal or who may in fact be from outside the University, but who has expertise related to your thesis topic.