As Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, I am endlessly impressed by the scholarship, creativity, and widespread impact of our students, professors, staff, and alumni, so it is truly a pleasure to welcome you to our Faculty Highlights web page. Here, we collect the many and varied achievements of the members of our Social Sciences community in the areas of teaching and learning, research, service, and community engagement.
Scholars in the Social Sciences at Brock University repeatedly show their willingness to confront and address the needs of our society. They adapt to ever-changing circumstances, assess multi-faceted issues from multiple perspectives, and remain clear-eyed and determined when seeking explanations and solutions. In this corner of our web site, you will find a sampling of the experiences, accolades, and impact that we in the Faculty of Social Sciences have been celebrating most recently. We hope you’ll join us in this celebration.
Dean Ingrid Makus
Faculty facts
The Faculty of Social Sciences is Brock’s largest faculty.
We are home to the following Departments, Centres, and Programs:
Applied Disability Studies
Applied Linguistics
Child and Youth Studies
Communication, Popular Culture and Film
Economics
Environmental Sustainability Research Centre
Forensic Psychology and Criminal Justice
Geography and Tourism Studies
Labour Studies
Political Science
Psychology
Social Justice and Equity Studies
Social Sciences
Sociology
Women’s and Gender Studies
Faculty complement
Learning options
Student body
New offerings in the Faculty 2022-23
New in September 2022 is the PhD in Sustainability Science. Housed in the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre, the program is the first of its kind in Canada and Brock’s 10th PhD program.
Coming in September 2023 is the Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Earth and Planetary Science Communication, a cross-disciplinary program offered by the Departments of Geography and Tourism Studies and Communication, Popular Culture and Film in the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Department of Earth Sciences in the Faculty of Mathematics and Science.
Award Databases
Recipients of awards, scholarships, and grant funding from across the Faculty of Social Sciences can be found in these searchable databases.
Students in Brock’s Term Abroad in New Zealand program (GEOG-TOUR 3F97) this semester, under the supervision of Professor David Brown, had a memorable trip that included a chance meeting in Fiordland National Park in Milford Sound, NZ with Sociology grad Katie Greenwood (BA ’18), who is now living and working in New Zealand as a crew member on the Southern Discoveries nature cruise team.
Associate Professor Caitlin Mahy in the Department of Psychology has been awarded the Chancellor’s Chair for Research Excellence, which recognizes the excellent scholarship of Brock’s faculty members. Chair holders are active scholars nominated by their peers who have demonstrated excellence and who will continue to make significant contributions to the advancement of their field. Read more.
The Faculty of Social Sciences was pleased to announce the recipients of the inaugural Distinguished Service Award for faculty members in early 2023. Congratulations to Assistant Professor Paul Gray in the Department of Labour Studies for receiving the junior faculty award, and to our two senior faculty award winners, Associate Professor and Chair Heather Chalmers in the Department of Child and Youth Studies and Professor Michelle Webber in the Department of Sociology, who is also the Director of the BA in Social Sciences. We are grateful to all of the recipients for their outstanding service.
On Saturday, Mar. 25, the Niagara community gathered for the Niagara Social Justice Forum (NSJF) for the first time since 2020. The day-long community-focused event has been organized by the MA in Social Justice and Equity Studies (SJES) since 2007, with sponsorship from the Social Justice Research Institute (SJRI) since 2014, but had been suspended during the first years of the pandemic. This year’s forum, held at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, brought together students, community members, artists and non-profit organizations for workshops, performances and information sharing. Read more.
This web site was launched for the 2020-2021 school year. In previous years, the Faculty of Social Sciences provided highlights in The FOSS Review, published annually each September.