Barbara Hanson
Professor
Email: hansonbg@yorku.ca
Accepting New Graduate Students
Professor Hanson has had visiting appointments at Princeton Department of Sociology, Institute for Research on Women at Rutgers, University of California San Francisco, and Mental Research Institute, Palo Alto California. She was awarded the Faculty of Graduate Studies Teaching Award in 1999.
Professor Hanson has had visiting appointments at Princeton Department of Sociology, Institute for Research on Women at Rutgers, University of California San Francisco, and Mental Research Institute, Palo Alto California and University of San Francisco . She was awarded the Faculty of Graduate Studies Teaching Award in 1999, for substantial, significant and sustained excellence, commitment and enthusiasm to the multifaceted aspects of graduate teaching.
Professor Hanson has also been the Editor in Chief of International Review of Modern Sociology, and International Journal of Sociology of the Family. Her main research interests are in theory, methods, Meta-theory, epistemology, health, intimate relations, law, fat studies, religion, and gender.
Degrees
Ph.D., University of TorontoM.A., Carleton University
B.A., Western University
LLB, Osgoode Hall Law School
Member of the Bar of Ontario, Law Society of Ontario
Research Interests
- Faculty of Graduate Studies Teaching Award, York University - not provided
- Graduate Program in Public Policy, Administration, and Law, York University - not provided
- Graduate Program in Sociology, York University - not provided
- Visiting Fellow, Princeton University - not provided
- Visiting Scholar, University of San Francisco - not provided
- Visiting Associate Professor, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of California-San Francisco - not provided
- Visiting Scholar, Mental Research Institute - not provided
- Visiting Scholar, Institute for Research on Women, Rutgers University - not provided
What Holism Can Do for Social Theory. New York: Routledge. Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought (ISBN 978-0-415-74390-7 hbk or 978-1-315-81333-2 e-book).
Hanson, B. The Research Process: Creating Facticity. Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press Inc., 1999. (ISBN:1-57766-065-X)
Hanson, B. Social Assumptions, Medical Categories, Supplement 1: Advances in Medical Sociology, Greenwich, Connecticut: JAI Press Inc., 1997. Cloth (ISBN: 0-7623-0243-7)
Hanson, B. General Systems Theory Beginning with Wholes, Washington: Taylor & Francis.
2021 “Cyber Blame and Social Theory.” SN Social Sciences, vol. 1, no. 7, p 178-190. DOI.org (Crossref), doi:10.1007/s43545-021-00138-1.
“Social Constructions of Fatness: Legal Proceedings in Canada as a Case in Point. (Published online April 19, 2018) Disability and Society. United Kingdom. DOI: 10.1080/09687599.2018.1456405.
“Objectivities: Constructivist Roots of Positivism”, Quality and Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Volume 49, Issue 2 (2015), Page 857-865. Electronic version: published in 2014 available at http://www.springerlink.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&id=doi:10.1007/s11135-014-0027-6. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11135-014-0027-6
“An Implicit Religious Reflex to Mechanism and a Holistic Alternative: Social Theory as Case in Point” Implicit Religion Vol 18 (1), 45-62. (print) ISSN 1463- 9955, (online) ISSN 1743-1697, doi:10.1558/imre.v18i1.20766.
"Towards a Model of Contextual Emotional Dynamics of Illness: Senile Dementia versus Cancer as a Case in Point" International Review of Modern Sociology 36 (1): 53-73
“Whither Qualitative /Quantitative? : Grounds for Methodological Convergence." Quality and Quantity, 42: 97-111.
“Uneasy Ground: Mutual Drive Right of Ways as Growing Urban Concern” 49 Real Property Reports 239.
“Dog-Focused Law’s Impact on Disability Rights: Ontario’s Pit Bull Legislation as a Case in Point” 12 Animal Law Review.
“Science, Religion and Social Theory” Theory and Science, 17(1): 1-14
“Questioning the Construction of Maternal Age as a Fertility Problem” Health Care for Women International, 24: 166-176.
“Systems Theory and the Spirit of Feminism: Grounds for a Connection” Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 545-556, 1-12.
Hanson, B. 1997 "Who's Seeing Whom?: General Systems Theory and Constructivist Implications for Senile Dementia Intervention," Journal of Aging Studies (USA), 11(1):15-25.
Hanson, B. 1996 "The Intimate Politics of Sense: Symptoms versus Problems in Senile Dementia," International Review of Modern Sociology (USA/INDIA), 26(1 Spring): 1-13.
Approach to Teaching
I started university planning to become a lawyer. Around the time I was admitted to law school I attended a graduate course in the sociology department at the University of Toronto on holism and mental health. It grabbed me from the start. I turned down the law spot and became an academic who focused on theory instead. My MA thesis was on nursing homes and PhD on senile dementia. I started as a teacher during many years as a downhill ski instructor and honed my skills with the help of teaching resources support in my first tenure track position at the University of Waterloo. During this position I also became involved in feminist politics. I came to Atkinson College in 1991. My interest in law re-surfaced in 2001. It led me to Osgoode Hall Law School, articling for Legal Aid in Downsview, and being a practicing lawyer member of the Ontario Bar. Doing theory has led me into a number of topics, that I continue to articulate including epistemology, methodology, health, aging, gender, religion, law, and animals.
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer 2025 | AP/SOCI1010 6.0 | A | Introduction to Sociology | ONLN |
Upcoming Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter 2026 | AP/SOCI1010 6.0 | M | Introduction to Sociology | ONLN |
Professor Hanson has had visiting appointments at Princeton Department of Sociology, Institute for Research on Women at Rutgers, University of California San Francisco, and Mental Research Institute, Palo Alto California. She was awarded the Faculty of Graduate Studies Teaching Award in 1999.
Professor Hanson has had visiting appointments at Princeton Department of Sociology, Institute for Research on Women at Rutgers, University of California San Francisco, and Mental Research Institute, Palo Alto California and University of San Francisco . She was awarded the Faculty of Graduate Studies Teaching Award in 1999, for substantial, significant and sustained excellence, commitment and enthusiasm to the multifaceted aspects of graduate teaching.
Professor Hanson has also been the Editor in Chief of International Review of Modern Sociology, and International Journal of Sociology of the Family. Her main research interests are in theory, methods, Meta-theory, epistemology, health, intimate relations, law, fat studies, religion, and gender.
Degrees
Ph.D., University of TorontoM.A., Carleton University
B.A., Western University
LLB, Osgoode Hall Law School
Member of the Bar of Ontario, Law Society of Ontario
Research Interests
Awards
- Faculty of Graduate Studies Teaching Award, York University - not provided
- Graduate Program in Public Policy, Administration, and Law, York University - not provided
- Graduate Program in Sociology, York University - not provided
- Visiting Fellow, Princeton University - not provided
- Visiting Scholar, University of San Francisco - not provided
- Visiting Associate Professor, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of California-San Francisco - not provided
- Visiting Scholar, Mental Research Institute - not provided
- Visiting Scholar, Institute for Research on Women, Rutgers University - not provided
All Publications
What Holism Can Do for Social Theory. New York: Routledge. Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought (ISBN 978-0-415-74390-7 hbk or 978-1-315-81333-2 e-book).
Hanson, B. The Research Process: Creating Facticity. Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press Inc., 1999. (ISBN:1-57766-065-X)
Hanson, B. Social Assumptions, Medical Categories, Supplement 1: Advances in Medical Sociology, Greenwich, Connecticut: JAI Press Inc., 1997. Cloth (ISBN: 0-7623-0243-7)
Hanson, B. General Systems Theory Beginning with Wholes, Washington: Taylor & Francis.
2021 “Cyber Blame and Social Theory.” SN Social Sciences, vol. 1, no. 7, p 178-190. DOI.org (Crossref), doi:10.1007/s43545-021-00138-1.
“Social Constructions of Fatness: Legal Proceedings in Canada as a Case in Point. (Published online April 19, 2018) Disability and Society. United Kingdom. DOI: 10.1080/09687599.2018.1456405.
“Objectivities: Constructivist Roots of Positivism”, Quality and Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Volume 49, Issue 2 (2015), Page 857-865. Electronic version: published in 2014 available at http://www.springerlink.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&id=doi:10.1007/s11135-014-0027-6. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11135-014-0027-6
“An Implicit Religious Reflex to Mechanism and a Holistic Alternative: Social Theory as Case in Point” Implicit Religion Vol 18 (1), 45-62. (print) ISSN 1463- 9955, (online) ISSN 1743-1697, doi:10.1558/imre.v18i1.20766.
"Towards a Model of Contextual Emotional Dynamics of Illness: Senile Dementia versus Cancer as a Case in Point" International Review of Modern Sociology 36 (1): 53-73
“Whither Qualitative /Quantitative? : Grounds for Methodological Convergence." Quality and Quantity, 42: 97-111.
“Uneasy Ground: Mutual Drive Right of Ways as Growing Urban Concern” 49 Real Property Reports 239.
“Dog-Focused Law’s Impact on Disability Rights: Ontario’s Pit Bull Legislation as a Case in Point” 12 Animal Law Review.
“Science, Religion and Social Theory” Theory and Science, 17(1): 1-14
“Questioning the Construction of Maternal Age as a Fertility Problem” Health Care for Women International, 24: 166-176.
“Systems Theory and the Spirit of Feminism: Grounds for a Connection” Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 545-556, 1-12.
Hanson, B. 1997 "Who's Seeing Whom?: General Systems Theory and Constructivist Implications for Senile Dementia Intervention," Journal of Aging Studies (USA), 11(1):15-25.
Hanson, B. 1996 "The Intimate Politics of Sense: Symptoms versus Problems in Senile Dementia," International Review of Modern Sociology (USA/INDIA), 26(1 Spring): 1-13.
Approach to Teaching
I started university planning to become a lawyer. Around the time I was admitted to law school I attended a graduate course in the sociology department at the University of Toronto on holism and mental health. It grabbed me from the start. I turned down the law spot and became an academic who focused on theory instead. My MA thesis was on nursing homes and PhD on senile dementia. I started as a teacher during many years as a downhill ski instructor and honed my skills with the help of teaching resources support in my first tenure track position at the University of Waterloo. During this position I also became involved in feminist politics. I came to Atkinson College in 1991. My interest in law re-surfaced in 2001. It led me to Osgoode Hall Law School, articling for Legal Aid in Downsview, and being a practicing lawyer member of the Ontario Bar. Doing theory has led me into a number of topics, that I continue to articulate including epistemology, methodology, health, aging, gender, religion, law, and animals.
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer 2025 | AP/SOCI1010 6.0 | A | Introduction to Sociology | ONLN |
Upcoming Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter 2026 | AP/SOCI1010 6.0 | M | Introduction to Sociology | ONLN |
