BA (Hons) Sociology (with Foundation Year)

In this module, you will be supported in developing the academic, digital, and transferable skills required for success at university and beyond. It introduces key principles of independent learning, research, academic writing, and communication within the social sciences.

You will learn how to read critically, write effectively, manage your time, and engage with evidence and argument. You will also be introduced to university support services to build confidence, independence, and a sense of academic belonging.

You'll experience the first of three hands-on, experiential modules that form the supportive backbone of your studies. By conducting real-world sociological research in the heart of Oxford, you'll bring the sociological imagination to life, ease your transition into university, and discover what it truly means to be a sociologist. Beyond the classroom, you’ll dive deep into your own values, strengths, and aspirations to craft a personalised action plan that maximises every opportunity inside and outside the curriculum. Through this blend of active learning and reflection, you won't just build self-belief and resilience—you’ll master the vital attributes, competencies, technologies, and skills (ACTS) designed to empower your studies and launch your future career.

Race, class, gender and sexuality - how do these things affect us and our social relations today? In this module, you’ll explore the factors which divide human societies, and how sociologists make sense of the world.

You’ll explore the connections between individuals, groups and social institutions. You’ll dive into pressing debates. And you’ll engage with core areas of social analysis, such as:

• gender relations
• class divisions
• race/ethnicity
• sexuality

You'll explore the urgent issues facing society, including diversity and inequality. You’ll understand social context and processes. And you’ll develop a strong awareness of our world today.

What is social theory? Who are the major social theorists, and what do they have to say about things like power, beliefs and values, capitalism, feminism and more? In this module, you’ll explore key concepts and theories in classical and contemporary sociology. You’ll also immerse yourself in current debates, developments and approaches to social theory, and you’ll encounter theories like Marxism, postcolonialism, functionalism and more.

In this module, you’ll investigate the changing face of society. You’ll explore how markets and welfare states have transformed over time. You’ll discover how states, economies and societies interact with each other. And you’ll dig into key questions on politics and power, exploring different political systems.

We’ll explore pressing global topics, including

• international migration patterns
• the formation of ethnic minorities
• religion in modern society
• the challenges of climate change

You’ll explore a wide range of social issues, taking place all over the world. And you’ll develop a strong understanding of how these issues impact individuals and groups.

Why do we vote the way we do? What affects our actions, and our political decisions? In this module, You’ll investigate politics through human behaviour. You’ll explore political culture, and how we participate in a democratic society. You’ll also look at how humans are socialised to hold various political views. You’ll gain a key insight into how ideas and ideologies affect our behaviour individually and as a group.

On this module, you'll build your sense of a criminology community through collaborating and planning a criminology newsletter. This will help you take ownership of your criminology studies.

You'll build on the skills and knowledge you gained on Creating Criminology 1, where you will have interacted with guest speakers from careers and with recent alumni. You'll get to use alumni as interviewees for your Criminology newsletter. You'll also engage with discussions for your future after university, and where you can make a positive impact with your Criminology degree.

Explore the study and understanding of Culture and Society by looking at relevant Customs, Icons and Symbols with a particular emphasis on communicative practice of reading and written language in contexts.

In these modules, you’ll gain the practical language skills to succeed in your French degree. As someone with a beginner’s knowledge of French, you’ll develop strong skills in French speaking and writing, translating and interpreting. You’ll be able to express yourself effectively in French, and gain a critical sensitivity to the intercultural differences between France and other countries.

In this module, you’ll dive into art and artists through the century. You’ll explore the Camden Town Group of painters. You’ll examine the abstract sculptures of Barbara Hepworth. And you’ll analyse the collages of Pop artists like Peter Blake. You’ll scrutinise paintings, sculptures and films. You’ll discuss how British artists tried to create modern forms of expression. And you’ll investigate the ways they promoted their work, like:

• exhibitions
• manifestos
• books
• little magazines.

You’ll participate in on-site visits, where you’ll examine works of art firsthand. You’ll also attend exciting lectures and seminars where you’ll explore your ideas and enrich your understanding of modern British art.

How has humanity changed the environment — and how has the environment changed us?

You'll explore six centuries of environmental change through the history of sustainability, conservation and resource use, from the Columbian Exchange of the late fifteenth century to the Great Acceleration of the mid-twentieth. You'll examine how environmental change has been experienced and contested at local, national and global levels, and examine the political, economic, social and cultural forces shaping the consumption of energy, food and natural resources — while also considering what history can teach us about future policy solutions.

You'll also work with diverse historical sources, from demographic and institutional records to maps and plans, and develop practical digital history skills through designing your own digital map of environmental change.

How is political opinion, authority and democracy shaped and influenced? In this module, you’ll explore foundational issues in political philosophy through exploring the main political ideologies. You’ll start your journey with Liberalism as the default position in the West since the English, American and French Revolutions. Your focus then shifts to the ideologies that arose in response to Liberalism, including:

• Conservatism
• Communism
• Fascism
• Communitarianism
• Anarchism
• and Feminism.

You’ll also consider questions linked to the theory of knowledge, such as can any ideology be rationally justified?

In these modules, you’ll gain the practical language skills to succeed in your Spanish degree. As someone with a beginner’s knowledge of Spanish, you’ll develop strong skills in Spanish speaking and writing, translating and interpreting. You’ll be able to express yourself effectively in Spanish, and gain a critical sensitivity to the intercultural differences between Spain and other countries.

You'll start an exploration of how educators can support and encourage curiosity and exploration in children, through the use of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM).

You'll focus on understanding and developing teaching methods that can enhance childrens' learning. Incorporating STEAM concepts into each of these areas. You will have the chance to

• investigate
• observe
• and create opportunities for hands-on experiments and problem-based learning.

You'll also join discussions on the challenges and difficulties that may arise when implementing STEAM in different educational settings.

In this module, you’ll investigate politics - and the struggle for power - across the nations. You’ll gain a clear introduction to how and why political systems differ in our world today. You’ll examine case studies from a wide range of states, and gain a strong insight into how different regimes function – from the democratic to the totalitarian.

What do we mean when we talk about ‘culture’? How do human ideas, customs and behaviours become a way of life? In this module, we’ll investigate the key theories and concepts of culture. You’ll gain invaluable critical skills as you reflect on different aspects of culture. And you’ll explore the impact of modern culture on individuals and society today.

You’ll explore cultural artefacts and activities. And you’ll look at how culture relates to identity, power and representation.

This module is the foundation of the culture pathway through the Communication, Media and Culture programme. This will be fantastic preparation for many of your level 5 modules.

In this module, you’ll explore some key concerns around crime. You’ll examine the current problems and policies in:

• criminal justice
• law enforcement
• punishment.

You’ll gain core critical skills as you dive into debates on the control and management of crime. You’ll examine the relationship between the theory of crime and criminal behaviour. You’ll also explore the practical workings of the criminal justice system.

You'll look at the development, application and realities of different research methods in the social sciences. You'll equip yourself with the understanding and skills required to analyse research methods, design, processes and research outcomes. You'll study the methods that social scientists use to gather and analyse ‘data’ or evidence, and evaluate and compare these methods. You'll study the ways that research methods are applied in practice, by drawing upon existing examples of research in social sciences.

You'll also learn how to design their own research project, in preparation for your third-year extended project work. In so doing you'll carefully explore what is appropriate and achievable for your undergraduate research project.

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.

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

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

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. You’ll focus on the UK, but also consider ethnic minorities in other cultures. You'll highlight the complexities of social constructions of race and other social inequalities.

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 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.

This module gives you the chance to research a topic that fascinates you. With support from a supervisor, you’ll choose, plan and carry out your independent research, gaining in-depth knowledge of your subject. Student projects have included subjects like:

• Is democracy failing in Eastern Europe?
• Did Putin solve Russia’s governance problems?
• Authoritarianism and political stability in North Korea

You’ll build great project management and research skills, which will help you in your future career.

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.

Should we punish prisoners, or support them to re-enter society? In this module, you’ll dive into the key issues of prisons. You’ll consider modern prisons, globally and historically. And you’ll examine prisons through:

• prisoners
• prison staff
• wider society.

You'll trace the evolution of the prison - from the rehabilitative ideal of the post-war period, to the greater focus on punishment today. You’ll look at how political parties use prison policies to win votes, rather than reduce crime.

You’ll dive into the inner workings of prisons, from governance to administration. You’ll look at the routines of prison life, and how prisoners cope with, and give meaning to them. You’ll consider sentence progression for different types of prisoners. And you’ll explore how well prisons prepare inmates for life after release.

In this module, you’ll dive into key ideas within social and political theory. You’ll explore the key debates on themes such as:

• the State
• gender
• freedom
• equality
• power.

By exploring texts, including Hobbes’ Leviathan and Rousseau's The Social Contract, as well as evaluating topics such as capitalism, progress and “the end of history”, you will develop your interpretation and analysis skills.

In this module, you will explore the history and details of British politics, covering the major events and themes of contemporary British politics.

Examine the complex institutions that make up the British political system and how these have changed over time, including the evolution of political parties and how policy is made by the executive and implemented by the civil service.

You’ll look at political and economic factors side-by-side in how the British state is constituted and how decisions are made. You’ll also cover topics like;

• the changing nature of the British political system
• conceptual approaches to British politics
• the post-war consensus and its end in electoral politics
• declinism
• Britain’s foreign relations and its relationship with Europe.

Equip yourself with the knowledge and critical analytical skills to understand contemporary British politics.

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.

In Cities: Geographies of the Urban Experience, you will be introduced to urban geography. Throughout the module, you will explore a range of ways in which cities shape, and are shaped by people. From the modern architectural movement, to protest and public space, you will learn about the central role that cities play in politics and everyday life. Central to the module is understanding the ways in which inequality is built into urban life, and what we can do to challenge it.

In this module, you can investigate the politics of the USA, subject to student numbers and staff availability.

You’ll focus on governmental and political institutions. You’ll also explore explosive issues in American politics, including religion, race and capital punishment.

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.

This module offers the opportunity to study abroad, experience a new culture, and apply your skills in different contexts to enhance your employability. It will help you develop self-management, cross-cultural communication, and interpersonal skills.

You’ll receive support to secure a place at a partner institution abroad, where you can choose modules related to your degree or explore new areas that complement your studies.

Studying at an international university will help you enhance your interpersonal skills through cross-cultural communication with students and tutors, allowing you to build lasting relationships. You'll also improve your study skills by focusing on your chosen areas of interest, gaining valuable international experience that will strengthen your CV.

This year abroad module lasts for one academic year and is taken after the conclusion of your second year of study, once you’ve completed all your level 5 studies. Your year abroad is not credit-bearing.

You'll embark on the second of three action-orientated experiential modules that form a spine of Supportive Challenge learning opportunities which run throughout the programme of study. You'll be offered the opportunity to draw meaningful, practical experiences to develop personal awareness and self-efficacy while developing your understanding of your chosen subject or profession in the context of the contemporary world and the future world of work.

You'll also be allowed to experience the real-world of the so-called 'wicked problems' which are complex and cannot be addressed by only one subject, discipline or professional context. You'll immerse yourself in interactive projects, enhancing your understanding and aspirations and cultivating deep personal values leading to a greater sense of self-belief, confidence and resilience in your ability to succeed in complex contexts.

In this module you'll focus on young people whose lives, experiences and prospects for the future have been significantly transformed by economic and social changes over the last 40 years.

You'll explore several theoretical perspectives, debates and concepts to develop a critical understanding of youth and young adulthood. You'll identify and analyse key areas in young people's lives that have been affected by local, national and global developments and the social policies implemented as a result of these developments.

You'll compare experiences of UK young people with those from continental Europe, Asia, Africa and elsewhere. This will enable you to draw out similarities and differences in how young people experience youthhood and evaluate the factors shaping them. With this approach, you'll discover how young people from different parts of the world navigate transitions to adulthood, their strategies for dealing with crises and their practices of civic engagement or disengagement.

In this module, you'll develop and utilise your research skills and take a deep dive into topics encountered in other elements of the programme through an extended project. You'll either work on a community project or a research dissertation. If you're studying a joint-honours course, you'll have the opportunity to undertake a discipline-specific project or an interdisciplinary project.

In your third and final Supportive Challenge module, you will step beyond the classroom to apply sociological concepts directly to the contemporary world and your future career. Building on your previous experiential learning, this interactive course sharpens your self-efficacy, transferable skills, and personal confidence as you prepare to graduate. You will evaluate your core strengths, craft a tailored action plan, and master the tools needed to seamlessly transition out of university and make a meaningful impact in whatever professional path you choose next.

In this module, you’ll explore understandings of freedom, justice and liberation in contemporary social and political thought. We’ll focus on a range of theoretical approaches, including:

• decolonial theory
• feminist and queer theory
• post-structuralism
• crip theory
• the black radical tradition.

These will be put in dialogue with classical theoretical discussions on freedom, justice and liberation. We will discuss questions like:

• Is it possible, and desirable, to make claims for justice and liberation based on group identity?
• Can past wrongs be addressed through reparations?
• Can justice be delivered via the criminal justice system?

As such, the module provides students with the theoretical tools to understand and navigate discussions on the meanings of justice, freedom and liberation in contemporary society, and to develop their own positions in relation to them.

In this module, you'll be exploring questions such as: What should the role of a social researcher be? How can we produce ethical research in Western Universities? How does social media change what counts as data? How do we deal with power relations in research? Rather than just exploring case studies, you will actively apply these insights by designing your own research project, equipping you with the practical skills, conceptual confidence, and sharp analytical tools needed to master your dissertation and beyond. Specialising in feminist, postcolonial, and decolonial frameworks, this module connects theoretical depth with hands-on practice—guiding you through diverse methodologies ranging from visual and archival analysis to participatory research.

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.

This module shifts the focus from why people enter the justice system to how people with criminal histories stop offending. You will be introduced to key theories and debates on desistance from crime, with particular attention to critical perspectives and emerging approaches in the field. The module begins with an overview of traditional desistance theories and their limitations, before exploring newer and alternative frameworks that aim to strengthen desistance theory and improve understanding of how to support long term change.

Students will engage with a wide range of critical literature, including feminist and intersectional theories, global perspectives beyond the UK and US, and Indigenous and ethnic minority viewpoints. This section will consider whether desistance remains a useful concept when applied to populations that differ from those originally studied.

This module introduces you to case studies, concepts, and debates, with a focus on sexual offences and other serious crimes. You will explore themes of consent and harm, drawing on critical criminology, feminist theory and socio-legal studies.

You will look at how the criminal law and cultural norms have constructed certain behaviours and identities as deviant.

From a criminological perspective, you will go beyond the headlines to examine the role of:

• labelling
• moral panics
• changing social attitudes towards sex.

This will help you to develop your critical thinking skills.

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.

You'll start with an investigation of the classic texts from Critical Theory and Science and Technology Studies.

You'll then consider the wider cultural and political implications of new digital technologies. You'll engage with classical and contemporary sociological analyses of technology. You'll look at the new technologies that influence our daily lives and behaviours. You'll explore how these new technologies impact us as social beings.

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.

In this module, you’ll explore the changing relationship between anthropology, and international development (the idea that different countries have different levels of development). You’ll gain a strong grounding in international development. You’ll gain key analytical skills as you dive into debates on the relationship between anthropology and development. You’ll explore key issues for anthropologists working in international development, including:

• gender relations
• environmental issues
• health
• youth
• religion.

You’ll compare ideas and practices in international development. You’ll look at approaches to social policy, inequality and well-being in the UK. And you disrupt the lines we draw between North and South, developed and underdeveloped, or advanced and emerging economies and societies.

The Independent Study Module gives you the opportunity to explore a legal topic in greater depth, working closely with an academic whose research interests align with your chosen area. It allows you to investigate issues that go beyond the taught curriculum and develop expertise in a subject that reflects your interests and future ambitions.

You'll build advanced research, analysis and academic writing skills as you engage with legal scholarship, case law and contemporary debates. Students on our named pathways complete their project within their area of specialism, providing an opportunity to deepen their knowledge and showcase their expertise.

Whether you're considering postgraduate study, legal practice or another professional path, the module enables you to pursue an area you're passionate about while developing the independent learning skills valued by employers and researchers alike.

This module is compulsory if studying one of the named pathways.