SOCIOLOGY 2731-001: Social Problems and Indigenous Peoples Topics
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Mount Royal University
Course Outline and Syllabus
Instructor:
Days/Times:
Room:
Leonzo Augusto Barreno, PhD
Tuesday and Thursday
Time: 2:30 – 3:50 p.m.
LP Y318 (Jan. 11, 13, 18 and the 20th classes will be delivered on remote
mode as stated by the university’s leadership).
Instructor’s office : B349D
E-mail :
LBarreno@mtroyal.ca
________________________________________________________________________
Course Outline: Social Problems and Indigenous Peoples
This course examines “Social Problems” in two parts. First, using Sociology’s main theories the
emphasis is on explaining how (i.e. research) to use them to study social inequalities in the larger
society. Topics include economic, cultural, racial, gender, health, family, education, labor,
violence, and environmental problems in Canada and abroad. The second part will focus on areas
of sociological study and analysis but affecting Indigenous peoples, including the social construct
of the “indian,” land invasions and dispossession, politics of slavery and starvation, justice
(national and international law), subsistence vs. free-market economy, identity politics, and
politics of assimilation. Instead of following traditional sociological paradigms, emphasis will be
on how colonization and racism have shaped these areas of social life, and how Indigenous peoples
in Canada and abroad are continuously advancing decolonial viewpoints to challenge these social
constructs, structures and processes.
Syllabus: Procedure
Most classes will be based on Tepperman, Curtis and La Touche’s text Social Problems (60 %)
The Indigenous topics (40%) are not in this textbook.
Required text:
Tepperman, L., Curtis, J., and La Touche, R. 2020. Social Problems: A Canadian Perspective.
Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press.
You can use this link to acquire the book: https://bookstore.mtroyal.ca/courselistbuilder.aspx You will be
able to choose between e-text rentals or physical text purchase.
The library, as of December 30, 2021, listed four hard copies of the required textbook.
Optional
Palmater, P. 2020. Warrior Life: Indigenous Resistance & Resurgence. Halifax and Winnipeg:
Fernwood publishing. (Not online)
Links: You will need your MRU ID number and password to access these links.
Anderson, M. C. and Robertson, C. L., (2011). Seeing Red: A History of Natives in Canadian
Newspapers. Winnipeg, Manitoba: University of Manitoba Press. (Online)
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Belanger, Y. D. (2014). Ways of Knowing: An Introduction to Native Studies in Canada. Toronto:
Nelson Education Ltd. (Not online. Specific readings may be emailed to you).
Bodley, J. (2014). Victims of Progress. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, ProQuest Ebooks
Central. (Online)
Daschuk, J. (2013). Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of
Aboriginal Life. Regina: University of Regina Press. (Online)
Seed, P. (2006 [1995]). Ceremonies of Possession in Europe’s Conquest of the New World:
1492-1640. Ebook. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Online)
Course Requirements and Grading:
a) Attendance
b) Participation
c) Mid-term
d) Final exam
Total
10 %
10%
40%
40 %
100 %
a) Attendance and b) participation information is provided below.
c) Mid-term exam will cover the questions I will email to you after the first day of classes.
They are based on the first six chapters of the book and the first Indigenous topic
questionnaire. Answer the questions using the textbooks and by attending classes.
d) Final exam will cover chapters 7-12 and the two Indigenous Topics questionnaires.
Grading: Marks for each required assignment will be added together at the end of the term. The
total grade will be translated to the following letter grade system:
Percentage
95-100%
85-94%
80-84%
77-79%
73-76%
70-72%
67-69%
63-66%
60-62%
55-59%
50-54%
0-49%
Letter Grade
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
F
Point Value
4.0
4.0
3.7
3.3
3.0
2.7
2.3
2.0
1.7
1.3
1.0
0.0
Description
Exceptional
Excellent
Excellent
Very Good
Good
Good
Fully Satisfactory
Satisfactory
Minimally Satisfactory
Poor
Minimal Pass
Fail
STATEMENT ON ACCOMMODATIONS
“Accommodations and services are intended to remove barriers to learning, allowing access to
course information, enabling you, the student, to demonstrate mastery of the course content and
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‘level the playing field’ while maintaining the academic standards and objectives of the course.
Services are based on your unique needs and on the course requirements.” Students who require
services and accommodations please visit the following link for more information:
http://www.mtroyal.ca/AcademicSupport/ResourcesServices/AccessibilityServices/index.htm
Please come speak with me as early as possible in the term to let me know how I can make the
learning environment more comfortable for you.
STUDENT COUNSELLING SERVICES
“Our mission is to assist students in identifying and achieving their realistic academic, career,
educational, and personal goals. Our fundamental philosophy is that intellectual and personal
development are complementary and inextricably linked with each other. We believe that student
success and satisfaction is best served through development of the whole person.” There are many
important services MRU offers to its students – for more information, please visit:
http://www.mtroyal.ca/CampusServices/WellnessServices/MentalHealthServices/StudentCounselli
ng/index.htm
STUDENT LEARNING SERVICES
I strongly encourage all students to take advantage of the free services that MRU offers. The academic
support provided by the student learning services is an excellent resource for mentorship programs,
peer-tutoring, and writing and learning workshops.
http://www.mtroyal.ca/AcademicSupport/ResourcesServices/StudentLearningServices/index.htm
ACADEMIC CONDUCT
Academic dishonesty and misconduct will not be tolerated. Plagiarism will be taken seriously.
There will be no exceptions and no excuses allowed. Serious repercussions will follow any incident
of academic dishonesty, which could include failure in the course. Should the thought of
plagiarism cross your mind, I strongly advise you to immediately meet with me and express your
anxiety or concern over the assignments. I will do my best to guide you through these anxieties.
There are also these helpful resources for students:
https://www.mtroyal.ca/CampusServices/CampusResources/StudentCommunityStandards/academi
c-misconduct/index.htm
YOUR MENTAL HEALTH
Are you feeling overwhelmed, stressed and anxious? Finding it hard to be motivated, meet
deadlines or attend class? Having a hard time sleeping, concentrating or retaining information no
matter how much you study? Help is available! See the MRU Mental Health Website:
http://www.mtroyal.ca/CampusServices/WellnessServices/MentalHealthServices/index.htm
DIVERSITY, INCLUSION, HUMAN RIGHTS and SEXUAL VIOLENCE
You are encouraged to find general information as well as information on how to address issues
related to diversity, inclusion, discrimination, harassment, accommodation, healthy relationships
and dating, domestic and sexual violence. See the MRU Campus Equity & Meaningful Inclusion
page:
http://www.mtroyal.ca/CampusServices/CampusResources/CampusEquityMeaningfulInclusion/i
ndex.htm
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Policies:
If for a medical reason or emergency, you missed the midterm exam you can write it after the
scheduled day. In this case you must provide a written notification (accompanied by a doctor’s
note, for example) explaining the reason for your absence. Please note: In fairness to your
classmates, any test you take afterwards will not be same they take. The final exam will follow
MRU scheduled date and policies.
Accessibility Services:
As per the Alberta Human Rights Act “it is essential that post-secondary education be accessible
to all members of our community…” Therefore, if you are experiencing a health issue that requires
academic accommodation feel free to book an appointment with Accessibility Services at (403)
440-6868. The call and meeting are confidential. For confidentiality and privacy issues I cannot
discuss your request in class time, nor can I sign a form without notification from Accessibility
Services. If you require accommodation other than disability you can contact the Diversity and
Human Rights Services at (403) 440-5956.
Expectations:
Attendance will be taken. As the MRU leadership decided, the first two weeks of classes will
be delivered online. At the time this course outline was designed we are scheduled to return
to face-to-face classes on January 25 (Tuesday). Students can attend a course once they are
officially registered and have paid the appropriate fees. It is the responsibility of the student to
attend all classes. When circumstances prevent students from attending classes, they are advised
to
contact
me
(Attendance
policy,
Mount
Royal
University
in
http://catalog.mtroyal.ca/content/attendance-policy).
Participation: each class participation is worth .5 for a total of 10 marks. Any class you attend
is an automatic .5 for another 10 marks; ensure you write your name in my attendance list.
Anytime we meet online Google meet will automatically record your name.
You can participate by reading the textbook and the assigned readings following the calendar
order OR as stated by the instructor. For the Indigenous topics’ readings, you will need your
personal ID to access library resources. 1) Go to https://library.mtroyal.ca/search and click
“Search and Borrow.” 2) Enter author’s name (for instance, James Daschuk) and click on
“available online” material. 3) Enter your personal information and read the assigned
chapter, and 4) at the beginning of each class explain what you learned (or use the
microphone or chat in the online classes). When a reading is not available, the instructor will
ask a question before the class. For instance, in what Treaty territory is Calgary located?
THREE-FREE topics. When you cannot find the reading or do not have time to read the
assigned reading you can participate by sharing with us anything that you have done for the
environment, for the local economy, for the elderly, for gender equality, for human rights,
for the health of others, for a community group, to help the less fortunate, for your
community. OR what others have done for you or your community during Covid-19.
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Notice of Recording
If the course is mandated to move online, we will use Google Meet. Mount Royal University
has contracted Google to provide educational technology software for the course SLGY 2731;
where, the instructor may record lectures using Google Meet and make them available to
registered students through a link on Blackboard for up until 10 days after the course is
completed. Users, including any recorded student participants, are advised that the personal
information collected during the recordings will only be used for educational purposes and is
collected under the authority of the FOIP Act – section 33(c) and the Post-Secondary Learning
Act in the Province of Alberta.
Users are further advised that the downloading of posted videos other than for the purposes of
student personal learning through the link on Blackboard, may violate the copyright of the
course instructor or others.
For additional questions regarding the collection, use, disclosure and protection of personal
information please contact:
Pam Jonnson – pjonnson@mtroyal.ca
Administrative Assistant to the Chair,
Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology, MRU
CALENDAR
Class I (Jan. 11): CLASS INTRODUCTION
First part: presentation of course. Policies, expectations, textbooks, readings, and assignments.
The main terms to be used in class, midterm and final exam include but are not limited to
- Social problems and the main theories to study them
Second part: Indigenous ways of knowing, methodologies, and methods (they had and have their
own ways of seeing the world, interpret and explain it).
Class II (Jan. 13)- Social problems
Readings (to earn participation marks read the chapter about Social Problems and explain
what you understand what “social problems” mean and how to study them). Hint: read one
question in the textbook, answer it and explain it in class to participate.
- Sociology and Social Problems. Explanation of tables for theories and research areas
- Social Problems and the Sociological Imagination
- Social Problems Research – Not just moral but needed
Class III (Jan 18)- Class, Poverty and Economic Inequality
Readings:
- Measuring poverty
- Measuring well-being and inequality
- Poverty as an urban problem [and rural when it comes to Indigenous peoples]
- Theoretical perspectives on poverty and research areas
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Class IV (Jan. 20) - Indigenous topics I: Indigenous and European realities in the 15th century
Part A: Indigenous peoples and Europe in the 14th Century and the origins of our social and
cultural division
- The end of the world is near: epidemics, pandemics, and endemics are part of human
history. In Kirkpatrick Sale (1990). (Note: this book is not available electronically).
- Indigenous peoples before European contact
James Daschuk (2013). “Indigenous Health, Environment, and Disease before Europeans.” In
Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Aboriginal Life. Regina:
University of Regina Press, pp. 1-10.
-
Introduction to the various European strategies to claim land in the Americas. The western
creation of the Indio (Indian) and what to do with them.
Patricia Seed (2006 [1995]). “Introduction: Ceremonies of Possession in Europe’s Conquest of the
New World.” Ceremonies of Possession in Europe’s Conquest of the New World 1492-1640.
Ebook. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp: 1-15. (Online)
Part B: English colonialism in North America
Houses, Gardens and Fences: Meanings and objectives. In Patricia Seed (2006). Ceremonies of
Possession in Europe’s Conquest of the New World 1492-1640, pp. 16-40. (Online)
- Religion: multiply, replenish and subdue the earth
- Indigenous people: they have no fences, no cattle?
- English expansion over the world, including Canada.
Class V (Jan. 25): Race and Ethnic Relations and doing research on these topics
- Race and Ethnicity
- Multiculturalism in Canada
- Theoretical perspectives
- Racism and prejudice
Class VI (Jan 27): Gender Relations and Sexuality
- Gender and sexuality are two different things
- Sexism and gender inequality
- Structural sexism
- Theoretical perspectives to study gender relations/ research
Class VII (Feb. 1): Sexualities
- Sexual orientation
- Attitudes and laws
- Gay rights movements
- Consequences of homophobia
- Theoretical perspectives/research
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Class VIII (Feb. 3): Religion and government as “two brothers” to colonize Abya-Yala
A: The Spanish Requirement: A military and political ritual to enslave people
- Patricia Seed (2006 [1995]. “The Requirement: A Protocol for Conquest.” Ceremonies of
Possession in Europe’s Conquest of the New World 1492-1640, pp: 69-99. (Online)
- Spanish conquests and “their” colonies around the world.
B: French language, theater, and religion to claim Indigenous lands
- Patricia Seed (2006 [1995]). “Ceremonies: The Theatrical Ritual of French Possessions.”
Ceremonies of Possession in Europe’s Conquest of the New World 1492-1640, pp: 41-68.
- French possessions around the world including Canada.
Class IX (Feb. 8): Crime and Violence
- Crime, laws, and social order
- Crime in Canada and elsewhere
- Demography of crime
- Theoretical perspectives
- Social effects of crime and violence
Class X (Feb. 10). Indigenous Topics III - The economy: Indigenous resources and labor, the
industrial revolution and the onset of capitalism
o Economic contributions: The industrial revolution and Indigenous resources
o Political contributions
o Other contributions
- Who are Indigenous peoples anyway, where do they live today? How many are they? In
World Bank https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/indigenouspeoples
Class XI (Feb 15): Health Issues; Defining and Measuring Health
-
Pandemics: threats to Canadian and global health
Theoretical perspectives on health, illness, and health care
The social determinants of health
Addictions and substance use ad why are they a problem
How do drugs and alcohol cause social problems
Class XII (Feb. 17): Global Inequality, War, and Terrorism
-
Globalization and global inequality
Theoretical perspectives
Consequences of global inequality
Globalization, war, and terrorism
Theoretical perspectives
Mid-Semester Break February 21-25, 2022) - Study for the midterm (1st questionnaire and
the first Indigenous Topics questionnaire)
CLASS XIV (March 1, 2022) MID-TERM EXAM
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CLASS XIV (March 3): Families
- Social consequences of family life
- Health consequences of family life
- Fertility trends
- Family violence
Class XV (March 8): Aging
- Aging
- Cross-cultural attitudes to aging
- Aspects of the sociology of aging
- Health consequences of aging
- Claims-making and the social construction of aging
Class XVI (March 10): Indigenous Topics IV
- “The extension of government control.” In Victims of Progress, pp: 80-98. (Online)
- Ethnic cleansing in Canada. James Daschuk (2013). “Treaties. Famine, and Epidemic:
Transition on the Plains, 1877- 82.” In Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and
the Loss of Aboriginal Life. Regina: University of Regina Press, pp: 99-126. (Online)
- The press’ role in the making and domination of the “indian” (Introduction in Anderson and
Robertson, 2011)
- "The Political Struggle for Self-Determination.” In Victims of Progress, pp. 188-231. Online.
Class XVII (March 15) : Education and Schools
- “Education” and “Schooling” differences
- Education and gender
- Education and race (and how to use education for assimilation purposes)
- Theoretical perspectives on education
- Social consequences of education
Class XVIII (March 17): Workplaces
- Economic systems
- The bureaucratization of work
- Theoretical perspectives
- Social consequences of work
- Unemployment and its effects
- Social consequences of unemployment
- Health consequences of work
Class XIX (March 22):. Populations and the Environment
- World population in context
- The demographic transition
- Population density
- Urbanism
- Theoretical perspectives on urban life and on environmental problems
- Social consequences and responses to environmental problems
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Class XX (March 24): Indigenous topics V
- International documents addressing Indigenous rights in United Nations official website:
https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wpcontent/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf
And
International
Labour
Organization
website,
read
https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:::NO:12100:P12100_I
LO_CODE:C169:NO
-
-
-
Non-Indigenous debates about Canada’s Indigenous peoples’ rights
Why are Canada’s Indigenous peoples still referred as Aboriginal or “Indian”? Yale D.
Belanger (2014). “A Word about Terminology.” In Ways of Knowing, pp: xv-xvi;
Margaret Kovach (2009). “Introduction [Notes About Terminology].” In Indigenous
Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations, and Context, pp: 19-20 (available online).
Who are Alberta’s Indigenous Peoples? Which nations formed the Blackfoot Confederacy?
How many treaties were signed in Canada, in Alberta? What treaty area is Calgary located
and who are the local Indigenous peoples?
What are the main social problems facing Canada and Alberta’s Indigenous peoples?
o Health, Housing, Stereotypes, Unemployment, Urban realities (Belanger, 2014)
Class XXI (March 29): Indigenous Topics VI (Palmater, 2020; Belanger, 2014)
- Who are Canada’s Indigenous peoples
- Indigenous leadership (explanation and critique)
- Two views of leadership and the confusion it causes
- Funding for Indigenous social programs: numbers and explanation
- Promises vs reality
- Colonial laws ruling modern lives: the Indian Act
Class XXII (March 31): Indigenous Topics VII (Palmater, 2020; Belanger, 2014; TRC Reports)
Current Indigenous social problems in Canada
- Indigenous peoples and the Justice System
- Indigenous health situation
- Racism, sexism and the ongoing disappearance/killing of Indigenous women and girls
- Residential schools’ legacy (TRC report)
- Genocide?
- Are “indians” (as per the Indian Act) disappearing?
- TRC’s call to Action
- Indigenous worldviews and the environmental crisis
Pamela Palmater (2020). “A Modern Treaty to Save Our Peoples and Planet.” In Warrior Life:
Indigenous Resistance & Resurgence. Winnipeg: Fernwood Publishing, pp: 249-252.
John Bodley (2013). “Global Warming and Indigenous people” Victims of Progress, pp: 255-278.
(Online)
Class XXIII – (April 5): Indigenous Topics VIII
CLASS XXIV (April 7) CLASS REVIEW
FINAL EXAM: TBA. Exam will be online and in the same format as Mid-term. It will follow
MRU schedule and policies.
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