Sociology

Social Research Methods

You’ll gain crucial skills for employment, as you develop your knowledge of social research. You’ll build on your understanding from the module ‘Researching the Social World’. And develop skills in 

• designing and delivering questionnaires and interviews
• sample recruitment
• data entry
• analysis and interpretation
• presenting research findings

This will give you fantastic competitive skills for the workplace.

Gender and Society

In this module, you’ll look at gender and its central role in society. You’ll explore the social processes that affect the lives and roles of men and women in society. We’ll consider the centrality of gender in everyday life, and how society reflects and reproduces gender relations.

'Race', Ethnicity and Inequality

Why do we exclude some ethnic groups from society? In this module, we’ll explore race, ethnicity and racism through:

• employment
• education
• housing
• migration
• policing
• the impact of anti-discrimination legisilation. 

You’ll engage with pressing debates on race, ethnicity and racism. You’ll explore the experiences of minority ethnic groups and you’ll explore the factors which exclude them from mainstream society. We’ll focus on the UK, but also consider ethnic minorities in other cultures. We’ll highlight the complexities of social constructions of race and other social inequalities

Global Sociology

In this module, you’ll explore worldwide social change and what causes it. You’ll consider the consequences of global social change in different nations in terms of politics, economics and culture.  You will also engage with competing explanations of global change and debate its impact and significance.

Sociology of Work

In this module, you’ll dive into the key issues of work, and its relationship with society. You’ll explore theories for understanding work, employment and the labour market. And you’ll gain valuable critical skills as you consider how to define work, and its activities. You’ll explore:

• production, technologies and skills in the workplace
• power and conflict in the labour market
• the changing face of work and employment 
• social inequality, such as gender, ethnicity and social class

You also examine different types of work, and how they impact the lives of individuals. 

Culture and Everyday Life

In this module, you’ll dig into different aspects of culture. You’ll gain key critical skills as you analyse:

• matters of taste
• cultural classification
• media
• fashion
• subcultures
• bodily culture
• food practices.

You’ll explore the significance of these issues to:

• globalisation
• group formation
• resistance and inclusion

We’ll also use examples from British popular culture, to discuss the theories and concepts you’ve covered in lectures. 

Anthropology of India

In this module, you’ll get to grips with India, and its cultural customs and habits. You’ll dive into key economic and political issues in India. You’ll look at how Indian and non-Indian anthropologists seek to understand the diversity of the country. And you’ll follow India’s social, political and economic change - from colonialism to postcolonialism, and then to free-market capitalism. And you’ll gain key insight into how India has been represented and imagined over time.

Anthropology of Ritual

What are rituals, and why do we perform them? In this module, you’ll explore the key role of rituals in society. You’ll look at various human communities as you consider the origins of ritual, and its different definitions. You’ll gain valuable critical skills as you explore key anthropological concepts, including:

• rites of passage
• liminality
• anti-structure
• communities

We often stereotype ritual as exotic, and about religion. However, you’ll enrich your perspective as you explore ritual in non-religious contexts. You’ll look at ritual within:

• politics and power relations
• social identities
• social traditions

Cities: Geographies of the Urban Experience

In this module, you’ll examine the human relationships and layouts of the world’s great cities - from the nineteenth century to today. You’ll gain valuable critical skills as you analyse the trends likely to shape such cities in the future. And you’ll consider people and place as inseparable, exploring the relationship between human societies and the physical cities they live in.

State and Society: Europe and the United States

How do nations and states come about? In this module, you’ll explore European societies, and their foundations - social and political. You’ll examine the processes of nation and state-building. And you’ll get to grips with the relationship between state, market and society. 

You’ll explore European approaches to citizenship and capitalism. You’ll consider the future of Europe. And you’ll use a historical, comparative perspective to evaluate how Europe might respond to current social and political challenges.

The Social World of Childhood

Do you remember how you felt as a child? In this module, we’ll explore the world of children, and how our ideas about childhood have changed through time. You’ll consider the impact of different models of socialisation on children. And you’ll explore the factors - cultural, structural and experimental - which develop a child’s identity.  We’ll make strong use of life and history material.

Work Based Learning

In this module, you’ll have the chance to carry out a work placement closely linked to your Sociology course.

You’ll have help from your module leader to find a placement that meets your needs, and which will support your learning. With a carefully chosen placement, you’ll build on the skills and knowledge you’ve already gained in Year 1, and you’ll also gain vital skills for the workplace, like time management, communication and team-working.

During and after your placement, you’ll:

• create a placement portfolio, including a learning journal
• craft a CV showing your experience
• produce a policy brief or policy analysis paper.

Sociology Dissertation

This module gives you the chance to do independent research on a topic that fascinates you. You’ll have the support of expert tutors. We encourage you to make use of the research skills you’ve gained from your research method modules, but it’s not a formal requirement for you to carry out primary data collection.

Democratic Challenges in Russia and the EU

In this module, you’ll develop key critical skills as you explore the democratic challenges facing Russia and the EU. Both are currently facing enormous social, political and economic transformation.You’ll gain a strong grounding in the key issues of diverse, multi-ethnic states and multinational organizations. You’ll look at core themes, such as:

• the role of the media,
• the role of civil society and political institutions
• in identity, and the formation of states. 

In this module, you can choose to study Russia or the EU. You’ll take either Democratic Challenges in Contemporary Russia: State and Society, or Democratic Challenges in the European Union: Integration and Disintegration, depending on staff and student availability. 

Ethics, Power and World Politics

What should world leaders do? How much power should countries give each other? And how should states and individuals behave towards each other? In this module, you’ll get to grips with the key questions in world politics. You’ll explore: 

• how we determine rights and duties 
• how we both enable and restrict dominance

in relation to world politics. You’ll choose one of three topics on international ethics and power - human rights, migration and immigration, or postcolonial perspectives.

Racialised Identities in Super-Diverse Societies

What shapes our racial identities? How do they play out in everyday life, alongside gender, class and age?

In this module, you’ll gain a strong understanding of identities and differences in current western societies. You’ll explore postcolonial theories of Self and Otherness. And you’ll gain key analytical skills, as you investigate the relevance of these theories to diverse societies today.

Sociology of Health and Illness

How do we view health and illness in society today? In this module, you’ll dig into key debates on health and illness, focusing on theoretical perspectives and real-life experiences. You’ll gain key analytical skills as you engage with ethical debates around decision making in health and illness.

As you investigate health and illness, you’ll use both lay perspectives and medical knowledge to inform your understanding. You’ll also consider:

• concepts of lifestyle and risk
• the centrality of the body in modern debates
• the medicalisation of everyday life, death and dying. 

You’ll learn how our understanding of health and illness is affected by:

• circumstances
• gendered experiences
• social class
• culture
• race
• age.

Sociology of Youth and Young Adulthood

In this module, you’ll explore the sociology of youth and young adulthood. You’ll learn about how young people’s experiences of youth are affected by social and economic factors, like housing or austerity measures. You’ll understand theoretical perspectives that will help you develop a critical understanding of youth and young adulthood. 

You’ll look at topics like: 

• sexual and romantic relationships in young adulthood 
• work, changing employment opportunities and insecure futures
• passages to adulthood: ethnic and racial diversity in the transition to adulthood
• Youth im/mobilities: ‘waithood’, delayed adulthood and migration    
• Youth activism. 

Theorising Society

In this module, you’ll get to grips with the central problems of social theory. You’ll develop key analytical skills, as you analyse the pressing debates and concepts in classical and modern sociological theory. 

We’ll consider key concepts and theories, socially and intellectually. And you’ll explore the relevance of these theories to everyday life. 

The Sociology of Migration

Why do people move across the world? In this module, you’ll use real examples to examine migration, and its key concepts. You’ll explore political and economic issues, as well as climate change, to understand why millions of people move across nations. You’ll analyse the consequences of migration on migrants’ countries of origin, and the places they move to.

You’ll focus mainly on migrants who move countries for work. You’ll look at the role of states in regulating labour migration, and other factors in the movement of people. You’ll gain critical knowledge of land-based and sea-based migrants, and the factors that drive migration. And you’ll understand international migration in terms of development, economic and cultural factors. You’ll also look at the rights of migrants in migration policy.

The Sociology of Emotions

Do our emotions come from society, or from within us? In this module, we’ll dig into emotions, and learn how social researchers see emotions as socially constructed, rather than coming purely from our inner selves. 

You’ll investigate why sociologists have often neglected emotions, and what this approach adds to our knowledge of them. You’ll develop key critical skills, as you dive into debates about the role of emotions in social life. And you’ll explore how studying human emotions gives us a new perspective on key sociological topics, including: 

• gender
• class
• race
• culture.

Gendering Intimate Relationships

In this module, we’ll investigate intimacy today. We’ll explore:

• gender
• identities
• relationships
• family lives.

Social changes have transformed our intimate relationships and arrangements in the home. However, tensions and contradictions still affect gender roles, and what we see as ‘appropriate’. In this module, you’ll gain key knowledge of the complexity and diversity of intimacy today. 

Independent Study

This module gives you a great chance to do self-directed study on a topic in Sociology that fascinates you. You’ll have guidance from a tutor, but the direction you take is up to you. Your study could involve fieldwork investigations, or analysis of fieldwork investigations. If you’d like to gain work experience linked to the topic you’re interested in, you could try a work placement. Or you could carry out independent, library-based research.

Whatever kind of study you choose, you’ll gain excellent project management skills from planning and setting goals to working independently and managing your time.