BSc Sociology

This module will introduce the major sociological traditions, focusing on the works of Marx, Weber, Durkheim and Simmel. Special focus will be given to the role of structure and agency, of economic and cultural factors, and of methodology.

Assessment method: the assessment is by two class tests (each 10%) and a 2 hour closed book examination (80%) at the end of TP1.

This module follows on from Classical Social Theory I and reviews some well-known and some not so well-known social theorists from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The course examines the preoccupations of sociologists working in different times and contexts and considers the relationship between social theory and wider popular debates. Students will be expected to read original writing by key theorists and to link discussion of this material to a consideration of key themes in the course.

Assessment method: essay.

This module introduces students to a variety of methodological approaches to social science research, and develops students’ research skills by giving them small tasks relating to these approaches. In the first term, these tasks encourage students to evaluate their own interests, ideas about research and how you actually carry it out. In the second term, they move from qualitative to quantitative methods, learning the basics of SPSS (a popular software package designed specifically for social scientists) and using an actual live database (the National Child Development Study) to do a project. This ‘Mixed Methods’ project requires the students to combine the qualitative skills they learned and developed in the first half of the module, with the statistical ones they learned at the beginning of the second term in order to analyse the database.

Assessment method:  Portfolio in Teaching Period 1 (50%); Mixed methods project in Teaching Period 2 (50 per cent).

This module seeks to introduce students to sociological thinking around two key and overlapping areas; ‘social identities’ and ‘social inequalities’. During the first term, the emphasis will lie on learning how to develop critical analytical skills and introducing concepts of social class, ‘race’ nation. During the second term, the module will focus more on gender and sexuality. The aim with all of these sets of identities is to establish the ways in which they are constructed, and the maps of social inequalities on which they can be located.

Assessment method: Class test In Teaching Period 1 (10%); Assessed essay in Teaching Period 2 (40%); 2-hour exam in summer exam period (50 per cent each).

This course offers an introduction to the sociology of culture through the study of ‘popular culture’ (film, television, virtual media, popular music and art, advertising and informal education). The first part outlines sociological definitions of ‘culture’, illustrating how sociologists study culture and the methods we use to analyse cultural practices and products in a critical way. The second part interrogates different theoretical approaches to popular culture – culture as meaning-making in everyday life, culture as an instrument of domination and culture as a form of resistance – using case studies to explore the politics of culture in contemporary society.

Assessment method:  Portfolio of coursework, due during exam period (100%)

The module covers the period from the Industrial Revolution to Blair’s election victory in 1997 and concentrates on the experiences of ordinary people as they respond to events unfolding around them.  It gives considerable emphasis to the relationship between contemporary society and the events which shaped it, in addition to considering the global impact of Britain’s history. 

Assessment method: 50% exam, 50% essay.

This module examines the nature of globalised society; what it is and how it impacts our lives.  It uses theory and case studies to consider global inequalities around wealth, gender and ethnicity, the changing role of the nation state and global environmental issues, particularly climate change. It also addresses resistance to globalisation from campaigning groups. 

Assessment method: exam.

This module seeks to provide you with a good understanding of the drivers for change in welfare and public services in recent years and in historical and comparative perspective.  You will gain knowledge of the theoretical and ideological basis of welfare and public services reform.  In the first term we focus on key theoretical concepts and explanations of welfare states and welfare state change.  In the second term we analyse processes of change in key public services.  The programme is delivered through lectures, student presentations and class discussion. 

Assessment method: two class tests during teaching period 1 (40%); a 2,500 word assignment in teaching period 2.

This module offers an introduction to key concepts and debates in contemporary social theory, helping students to build a theoretical ‘toolbox’ and an understanding of how theory can be both applied and created. The first half of the course paints a broad picture of the relationship between intellectual and social change during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The second half focuses thematically on ‘big questions’, including problems of global capitalism; post-modern notions of identity, emotion and ‘the body’; and the relationships between culture, economy and social change.

Assessment method: Short papers submitted during each term (30% overall) and a 2,000-word essay due during each exam period (70% overall)

This module equips student with the skills they need to carry out qualitative research.  Those skills are also necessary to interpret effectively research done by other scholars.  Teaching combines theory and practical workshops, culminating in a group research project. 

Assessment method: An exam in January counts for 50%, the group project accounting for the remaining 50%

This module seeks to enable students to acquire a competent understanding of the ways in which different social inequalities intersect with ‘race’, and the complexity of social inequalities. In doing so, they will be able to conceptualise the social (i.e. dynamic) rather than natural character of ‘race’ using specialist literature, and demonstrate a critical understanding of the key debates around racism. The concepts explored in this module include; ‘race’, racism(s), racialisation, and ‘intersectionality’. The substantive areas through which these are then developed are migration into the UK from 1948 to the present; the impact of the European Union on British migration policy; the politics of immigration in Britain; and responses to Asylum-seeking in the Contemporary UK.

Assessment method: Assessed essay (2,000 words); 2-hour exam at the end of relevant Teaching Period (50 per cent each).

This module explores competing feminist theories through focusing on topics within the sociology of the body. It uses empirical studies to explain and explore theoretical issues and assist the understanding of a number of key feminist theorists. The empirical studies will also introduce sociological understanding on a range of social and political issues including the aging society and the growth of cosmetic surgery. It will also explore the social construction of bodily issues such as love and sexuality.

Assessment method: two pieces of coursework.

This module introduces debates about the city, urban sociology and how we live together. We take Birmingham and the West Midlands as a focus of discussion, in order to explore wider debates about changes in the urban landscape, representations of urban life, the place of cities in society and the impact of globalisation. Module aims include: to understand key debates in urban sociology and to be able to apply these debates to local and regional contexts; to consider key themes in the development of sociology through an examination of local and regional examples; to apply key concepts from the field to local and regional examples, including through the formulation of research questions and projects; to become familiar with influential examples of social research that have been based in the locality and region.

Assessment method: Assessment is by coursework in the form of 50% essay and 50% project.

This module introduces students to sociological understandings of crime and examines criminal justice policy. It will explore what crime is and the ‘causes’ and consequences of crime. The module will also examine the construction of the criminal justice system and the implications this has ‘criminals’, ‘victims’ and wider society. The module will explore crime, subversion and injustice from a critical perspective which students will develop the tools to understand the social processes involved in defining crime and enacting punishment.

Assessment method: exam.

This module seeks to introduce students to the key environmental challenges facing policy makers and their responses to these. We examine key theories such as risk society, ecological modernization and environmental economics and instruments of policy implementation, comparing regulatory, market and voluntary approaches.  We explore these in relation to specific areas of environmental policy, but with particular emphasis on climate change and climate change mitigation.  We examine policy making at the local, national and supranational level. The programme is delivered through lectures, student presentations and class discussion.  

Assessment method: a class test (20%) and a 2,500 word assignment.

This module introduces students to the comparative method in public policy analysis; demonstrates its advantages and disadvantages; and enables students to undertake comparative analysis in practice, through examining case studies. It also deepens students’ knowledge of the influence of key international/transnational and domestic pressures on policy-making, and how these might differ in their impact between nations. Finally, it also provides students with an in-depth knowledge of a number of important policy case studies.   
 

Assessment method: 10% participation (assessed by module tutor), 90% written exam following end of module

This module offers students the opportunity to undertake an independent project of social research. The topic and methodology are chosen through consultation with an academic supervisor, and may address any sociological problem using appropriate method(s). The module is an advanced exploration of designing, conducting and presenting social research; undertaking independent intellectual work; and extending critical and organisational abilities. There are six taught sessions during the first term which outline the research process and strategies for organising independent work. The remaining time is spent on independent study in cooperation with individual supervisors.

Assessment method:  Viva of work in progress, during term (10%, TP1), written dissertation of 6,000-8,000 words, due during exam period (90%, TP2)

This module offers students the opportunity to undertake an independent project of social research. The topic and methodology are chosen through consultation with an academic supervisor, and may address any sociological problem using appropriate method(s). The module is an advanced exploration of designing, conducting and presenting social research; undertaking independent intellectual work; and extending critical and organisational abilities. There are six taught sessions during the first term which outline the research process and strategies for organising independent work. The remaining time is spent on independent study in cooperation with individual supervisors.

Assessment method:  Viva of work in progress, during term (10%, TP1), written dissertation of 10,000-12,000 words, due during exam period (90%, TP2)

This module examines the social and cultural relations of human reproduction. It outlines the ways in which ideals about femininity, masculinity, gender relationships and ‘normal’ families are present in debates about who should and should not have children. It introduces a range of feminist theories on human reproduction and draws on empirical studies to explain and explore theoretical issues. It shows the interrelationship between social structures and controls over human reproduction, and how studying the way that society understands human reproduction helps to understand these wider social structures.

Assessment method: exam.

Through the systematic examination of a series of theoretical perspectives underpinned by relevant empirical examples, the module explores corporations as social actors, paying particular attention to their ability to shape the world according to their interests.  Case studies include Rupert Murdoch and News International, and the Oil Industry. 

Assessment method:  exam.

In this module students will develop an understanding of the specialist literature relating to the topics taught, and the skills required to critically engage with the three key terms in the module’s title both in relation to a variety of subject areas, and as intersecting lines of identity.

The field of study is drawn from the scholarship on racism, and we note the many overlaps and connections between the three systems of inequality; ‘race’, class and gender. There is a deliberate attempt to mix historical and contemporary subject matter, as well as to use international points of comparison. The range of substantive areas addressed includes; ‘race’ and science; slavery and its legacy; eugenics & Social Darwinism; segregation; white identities; mixed-ness, and anti-Nomadism.

Assessment method:  Assessed essay (3000 words).

Education is a key institution of power and social change. Its importance is illustrated not only by the centrality of education to government policy, but also in the faith that is placed in its capacity to empower individuals, advance equality, and enable democratic participation. But education can also disempower people and divide societies. This module offers a framework for understanding why. It examines the history of education in the UK and comparatively, students’ educational autobiographies, theoretical perspectives on education, and current debates in British education to explore relationships between education and the state, family, social movements and identity.

Assessment method:  Portfolio of coursework, due during exam period (100%)

This module looks at changes in society brought about by campaigning groups and protest.  It combines theory and case studies in order to examine the relationship between social movements and social change.  Case studies range from the US civil rights movement to the current “Occupy” protests.

Assessment method: The module is assessed by exam.