Department of Sociology
Previously named: Psychology and Sociology; Sociology and Anthropology
Established: 1974
History: In 1915, the Philosophy Department at UNB had one honours course named 'Social Ethics', and by 1920, this same course had changed its name to 'Sociology'. In 1922, Sociology became a general elective class for third and fourth year students. Sociology remained a single elective course taught under the 'Philosophy' Department until 1941 when 'Philosophy' merged with 'Education' and 'Sociology' and became a 'Philosophy and Education' course still only being offered as a single elective. In 1946, the departments were shuffled again, and a Department of 'Education and Psychology' was created with the expansion of both 'Psychology' and 'Sociology' classes being offered under this heading. At this time, the number of 'Sociology' electives grew from one class to four. In the 1950-51 academic year, 'Psychology and Sociology' broke away from 'Education' to form their own conjoined department while still maintaining a very limited course selection. The number of 'Sociology' courses offered at the university fluctuated between six and ten over the next two decades with little change until 1967, when a new department of 'Sociology and Anthropology' was created. It wasn't until the early seventies that the number of Sociology courses available to students reached nearly twenty, and this growth closely coincided with the separation of Sociology and Anthropology into separate and distinct departments in 1974. While this separation happened at an administrative level in 1974, the two departments did not give course offerings under separate headings until the release of the 1975-76 UNB academic calendar. Sociology has remained an independent chair since that time, and with the creation of a singular department, the number of courses has continually increased. By 1979-80, four years after Sociology was first independently recognized in the calendar, the course selection had risen from twenty-two courses to forty-four. The number of courses increased slightly in the mid-nineties reaching fifty-six in 1994-95 and then increased again each year to reach eighty-one courses in 2006-07. In the 2012-13 academic calendar, eighty-eight Sociology courses were offered at UNB.
Physical location: Tilley Hall
Faculty: Arts
Notes: Nels Anderson, famous for the first field-research monograph of the famed Chicago School of Sociology, which marked a significant milepost in the discipline, was a member of the UNB faculty from 1965-1977.
The year that a certain department was established can be a subjective figure. For the purpose of this wiki, the year that a department is considered first established is the first year it was listed in the academic calendar as an independent chair with no other affiliation, unless there is documentation to demonstrate otherwise.
Source(s):
- UA Case 120.
- UNB Calendars (UA RG 86), 1910-1915, 1920-1925, 1940-46, 1965-70, 1974-75, 1979, 1994, 2006, 2013.
- UA Case 78; Section 1; Annual Reports 1974-1975.
© UNB Archives & Special Collections, 2013