Department Of Social Science (UNBSJ)

Previous names: 

Established: 1993

History:

As of 2015, The Department of Social Sciences included studies in Economics, Education, Gender Studies, Information & Communication Studies, Sociology, and Sport and Exercise Psychology. 50 years earlier, Social Science was first introduced as a subject grouping under the UNB Fredericton Faculty of Arts. The courses offered in the original grouping were Economics, Political Science, Psychology, Anthropology, Sociology, History and Philosophy and all classes were held at Beaverbrook House in Saint John. The instructors of social science courses in 1965 were as follows:

In the year 1967, first year courses were added in Philosophy, Anthropology, Economics, Political Science, Psychology and Sociology. Two years later all subjects moved with the Faculty of Arts to Sir Douglas Hazen Hall on the Tucker Park campus. At this time, the Arts program in Saint John was still considered a part of the UNB Fredericton Faculty of Arts and was subject to its course and administrative changes. In 1974, just one year after third and fourth year Social Science courses were added, the Division of Social Science and Administration was created. The Division, a part of UNB Fredericton’s administrative structure, consisted of Business Administration, Anthropology, Economics, Physical Education, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology. In this year a major in interdisciplinary Arts in General Social Science was also offered, but was removed from the Arts program by 1979. In 1976, the Senate approved a separation of Administration and Social Science into two divisions and the following year Majors in Economics, Psychology and Sociology were offered, as well as Honours in Psychology and Sociology. Social Science programs at UNBSJ had grown substantially since 1965 – there were four courses offered in Anthropology, forty-two offered in Economics, forty-four in Political Science, and twenty in Sociology.

Developments were few in numbers during the 1980s until 1989 when first year Education was offered to students. One year later the Anthropology program, which had lacked growth since its introduction, was cut from the Arts Faculty and in 1991 a Major in Political Science was offered. In 1993, the UNBSJ Faculty of Arts and the Department of Social Sciences was established, no longer including Political Science or Psychology as a part of the Social Science grouping. Dr. Muhammad Kabir was the first to chair the department. The 1990s brought the introduction of Honours in Economics, a revamped five-year Education program offered concurrently with the Bachelor of Arts, and the availability of a certificate in Social Science. At the close of the decade, Dr. Janet M.C. Burns stepped in as chair of the Department of Social Sciences and during the first half of the 2000s new Majors and Minors in Information and Communication Studies and in Sport and Exercise Psychology were added to the department’s offerings. Additionally, certificates in Gender Studies and Economics became available in 2002 and a Major in Gender Studies was offered beginning in 2005. Dr. Garry L. Worrell became chair of the department in 2005. By 2011, course offering numbers had increased in Economics to thirty-three, in Sociology to fifty-two, in Information and Communication Studies to seventeen, in Gender Studies to two, and in Sport and Exercise Psychology to thirteen. In 2015, Dr. Robert Moir became chair of the department.

Physical location: Sir Douglas Hazen Hall, Tucker Park

Faculty: Faculty of Arts

Notes: Established date is based on the date that the separate UNBSJ department was officially stated in the calendar, and in the commencement year of the UNBSJ Faculty of Science, Applied Science and Engineering.

Sources:

• Undergraduate Calendars (UA RG 86) 1965-2014
• UNB Saint John website
• McGahan, Peter. The Quiet Campus : A History of the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, 1959-1969. Fredericton: New Ireland Press, 1998
• UNB Perspectives Vol. 2(14 & 15); 3(13)