SMF is a unique program that teaches applicable knowledge on sexuality, marriages, romantic relationships, and family relationships. We adopt a critical lens to look at the ways in which our identities are shaped by our combined social locations (like age, race, class, sexual orientation) and the power and privilege these different identities afford us.

​

We take an interdisciplinary approach to education, drawing from a range of disciplines. Studying SMF helps us, as students, to become better equipped to handle our own personal crises, conflicts, and life transitions. It also trains us to support others in their own unique journeys.

​

SMF majors go into a wide variety of jobs (such as research, midwifery, and personal support work). Studying sexuality and relationships is a core component of human life, and this learning has sparked a commitment to raising awareness regarding its importance in lives, relationships, and career paths across the board.

SMF has trained us to think critically and understand the influence of social norms and expectations on our interpersonal interactions. SMF invites us to engage in unique dialogue and consider how intrapersonal and interpersonal dynamics shape our social, sexual, physical, and socio-economic experiences. 

 

We’ve learned to embrace humanity and to live empathetically, with a perspective that allows us to relate to and understand others. We bring a variety of skills to the table, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, active listening, social perceptiveness, the ability to empathize with diverse people, and sound judgement and decision making. We have learned to draw on these and other skills, alongside the value of teamwork, to create positive changes in our community. 

 

We don’t have all the answers, but we are trained to think systemically, ask critical questions, and to do the research required to answer them.  

SMF explores relationships, sexualities, and families from an interdisciplinary perspective. This means that we learn about these and related topics by drawing on theory and research across disciplines in both the humanities and social sciences in order to gain a fuller understanding of the complexities of human relationships. We are challenged to critically explore topics related to sexuality and relationships through an intersectional framework where power is understood to operate within and though people’s intersecting social identities (such as age, race, sexual orientation, and more).

​

​The applied focus of SMF is particularly unique and facilitates the transition to life after university. We are constantly taking the material beyond the classroom through discussions and projects that explore how the theory and research apply to real people’s lives and experiences, including our own! This is possible, in part, due to the strong support system from faculty, staff, and fellow students who are all committed to our success and well-being. This sense of community supports us both as learners and as developing human beings.