The School of Urban & Regional Planning (SURP) in the Queen’s Department of Geography and Planning emphasizes excellence in teaching, with high faculty-student engagement and courses that capitalize on the considerable planning experience of our energetic faculty. This is a professional education program that also has a significant research component. It is officially recognized by the Canadian Institute of Planners as a key stage toward earning the Registered Professional Planners designation.

Sociologists investigate how societies work. We critically examine the social world at every level, from personal relationships to the functioning of institutions and nations, right up to global interconnections. Our department is particularly well known for its strengths in criminology and the law; media, information, and surveillance; power, inequalities, and social justice.

Psychology is the study of mental processes and behaviour. Psychologists study relationships between brain function, behaviour, and environment. As a discipline, psychology explores a wide range of topics, including cognition, neuroscience, social influence, mental health, development, relationships, sensation, and perception, as well as the influence of factors such as gender and culture on these areas. Home to 35 labs, psychology students have the opportunity to work alongside faculty researchers to gain valuable research training.

Politics is about power – who has it and how it is exercised by nation-states, individuals, groups, classes, or political parties, and how different interests are reconciled in and between communities. Political Studies is also concerned with the institutions created to govern communities, as well as with political practices such as voting habits or protests, and how rules, behaviours, and cultures are created in societies. Since power in society is often dependent upon material resources, political scientists also study the distribution of wealth, both within and between nations.

Our Master of Industrial Relations (MIR) program will prepare you to embark on an exciting career in the broad and dynamic field of Employment Relations. Whether you work in labour relations or human resource management, you will have a direct and positive impact on the productivity and quality of life in contemporary workplaces. Our reputation for an exceptional educational experience and unparalleled alumni network attracts new graduates as well as individuals with extensive work experience.

With dynamic courses and dedicated instructors, Global Development Studies (DEVS) empowers students to engage the pressing global challenges that define our age. Our unique interdisciplinary program connects big-picture thinking with problem-solving approaches to open a wide range of career choices. Upon completing their DEVS degree, our students have gained the specialist knowledge and tangible skills they need to realize their commitment to making the world a better place.

Among academic disciplines, Geography is unique in combining the social sciences and humanities with the physical sciences. In physical geography, or earth system science, we study natural processes, their interactions, as well as natural and human-generated environmental issues, such as climate change. Explore critical questions about our environment and our society as you develop research skills. Study with award-winning faculty in an interdisciplinary department that combines fundamental analysis and research with practical, applied approaches to planning and implementation.

Gender Studies opens doors for students to address growing concerns about inequity, equity and justice across national and global societies. Gender affects everyone, making Gender Studies a space where our theory and our practice attend to the differences and connections among diverse peoples worldwide. As an interdisciplinary field, Gender Studies helps students connect social science, humanities, arts, and natural science methods to produce innovative new knowledge.

What determines the prices of goods and services? How do individuals decide how much to spend and save? How can government policies help reduce environmental pollution? These are questions we all face every day. Economics is our attempt to analyze and understand them. Often seen as being all about money, at its more basic level, economics is concerned with the material well-being of human societies. Economics at Queen’s is widely recognized as one of the leading Economics departments in Canada. The programs are challenging, rigorous, and of small to medium size.