Sociology BA (Hons)

This module will provide students with the necessary skills to begin studying at level 4 in courses related to the humanities, social sciences, English, media and education. Students will be introduced to the core skills necessary to succeed in higher education, including thinking critically, researching, and referencing appropriately, demonstrating appropriate numeracy and ICT skills, and communicating effectively verbally and in writing. In addition to these fundamental study skills, Students will be given an introduction to a broad range of disciplines whose skills and theories are widely applicable. Students will study a variety of writing styles in order to recognise, deconstruct and replicate various forms of persuasive, analytical, and informative writing. Students will learn the basics of intercultural studies and how these theories can be applied to real-world problems. Students will consider social perceptions held across western cultures, and the difference between social and self-perception, participating in structured discussion and argument. Students will be introduced to the core principles of psychology and will explore various current applications of psychological theory. Students will also be introduced to ethics and will learn about some of the key theories and thinkers in the development of current ethical considerations in a range of scenarios. This module is made up of the following eight constituent elements: Interactive Learning Skills and Communication (ILSC); Information Communication Technology (ICT); Critical Thinking; Intercultural Studies; Psychology; Composition and Style; Ethics; Social Perceptions.

Sociology focuses on the relations that connect individuals, groups and institutions within societies. Sociology in Action introduces you to the sociological 'cast of mind' and you will explore the specific contribution of sociology to understanding the past, present and potential futures of modern societies. You will come to appreciate what is required to study sociology at degree level by considering key foundational thinkers in the discipline, examining examples of current research, and through participation in a range of activities and tasks that emphasise the varied ways in which sociologists engage with the social worlds they study. You will develop the following four graduate capitals: knowledge and understanding of sociology in theory and practice; the values of a sociologist, awareness of the skills required to conduct sociological inquiry; the importance of self-reflection and understanding of individual learning styles. The assessment for the module is a 4,000 words portfolio and two diagnostic exercises. The assessment encourages reflections on activities during the module, and requires you to understand the skills required to conduct sociological research. The portfolio consists of a discussion of a foundational social thinker; a presentation, including supporting materials; a reflection on research activities; and a discussion of contemporary sociological research.

Global Sociology will introduce you to theories of globalisation as well as the concept of ‘connected sociologies’ (Bhambra 2014). You will be asked to rethink the tenets of classical sociology via engagement with postcolonial studies, notions of decoloniality, and other critical approaches. The various features of ‘connected sociologies’ will be covered on a lecture-by-lecture basis, though connections between topics will also be explored. These dimensions/topics include modernisation theory, colonialism and settlement, methodological nationalism, migration and diaspora, cosmopolitanism and dynamics of belonging, and post-colonial and decolonial approaches. The module will be delivered via lectures and seminars. You are required to complete preparatory reading prior to each seminar. Seminar content and activities will relate to the content of the corresponding lecture. The assessment for this module is a 4,000 word portfolio of work that includes an employability task; participation in Impact 24 and an essay. This module will advance your knowledge and understanding of global sociological issues and future sustainable development, and addresses the issues of cultural and social capital by offering you an opportunity to develop professional networks and engage with real challenges. It will also prepare you to take part in a university wide Big Pitch competition.

This module will introduce you to the importance and value of researching difference and inequality within sociology. It will be delivered in two parts. The first part will focus on the comparative study of communities and societies and introduces you to methodological approaches to study difference. You will be challenged to think beyond Eurocentric and western-centric ideas of progress, and consider how co-existence across different cultures and societies is possible. The second part will provide opportunities for you to think critically about what creates inequalities, and to contextualise opportunities, prejudice and discrimination within unequal experiences. Intersectionality as a theoretical framework will be at the centre of your understanding of different forms of inequality within society, where class, gender, religion, ability, sexuality, etc intersect to produce divisions and marginalisation. You will apply your learning to your own experiences and those of your peers across various spaces and institutions in society. The module will be delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars and practical exercises. Your assessment will comprise a 3000-word group report, written after visiting the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge; an in-class group presentation based on the visit; and a 2500-word critical analysis of either an existing ARU Students’ Union campaign on inequality or a case study of a new campaign.

Media representations of crime are a matter of public interest as well as political debate. The way the media treats crime has important implications for public perceptions of crime, criminals and the processes of the criminal justice system. Should crime always be newsworthy? How objective is the presentation of crime in the media? With the use of specific examples, you will examine key issues in traditional and new media, to provide you with an understanding of changing social norms and expectations in relation to crime and the media formats through which it is discussed and portrayed. You will explore the ways in which media shapes our perception of crime and critically examine the theoretical perspectives on media and propaganda. In addition, you will explore the construction of crime news and the role of politics and ideology in this context. You will explore the fictional and factual representation of youths and sex in the media; the fear of crime; contemporary surveillance culture; the analysis of relevant statistics, and the use of propaganda techniques. You will examine these issues through the use of case studies, reports, and theory. You will be expected to select one or more case studies in order to develop analytical skills as well as presentation skills during the seminars. The selected case study will build a foundation for the essay. In the essay you will develop techniques to evaluate debates about the relations between media, society and crime, as well as public perceptions. This module is taught by lectures and seminars and will be assessed by a pass-fail seminar presentation equivalent to 1000 words, a media review of 2000 words, and an essay of 2000 words.

Making a difference in the world begins with the belief that you can do something that doesn’t just benefit yourself. The easiest way to think about making a difference in the world is to inspire one person first. It’s a simple, measurable and an achievable goal that will show you what’s possible. However, in order to make a difference in the world, you will be required to demonstrate that you have the credentials to defend your ideas and your goals. In ‘Making a Difference’ you will learn about how to combine key aspects of entrepreneurialism with research methods in order to present an airtight and thoroughly evaluated plan or pitch through which you will be able to demonstrate how you can make a difference in the world. You will study four short stand-alone options within one module, through which you will become equipped to consider, research, pitch and evaluate an idea that could potentially make a positive contribution to society. The module will be taught in four-week blocks, comprising a blend of class-based and online delivery. Each option will be assessed separately at the end of each four-week block. Researching Social Sciences (Trimester 1, 2nd block) and Project Prep (Trimester 2, 1st block) are compulsory elements. In addition, you will choose one other option to study each trimester through which you will apply your research methods in preparation for your major project.

On this module, you'll discuss the contribution of key social theories to our understanding of the distinguishing features of modern societies, individuals, changing social structures and processes of modernity and 'post-modernity'. The key themes you'll consider will include: sociological perspectives and debates on the self and identity; sociological debates on social power and authority; changing sociological conceptions. You’ll look at how sociological knowledge can contribute to our understanding of contemporary social and political issues. The theorists that you'll study may include Habermas, Bourdieu, Giddens and Foucault. You'll be assessed through a research essay of 3,000 words.

This module will help you understand how peoples’ mobilities and migration shape, and have shaped, societies and individual lives in a current and historical context. You will explore different migration movements across nationstate borders such as the Syrian refugee crisis, EU migration, the ‘Windrush Generation’ and Kindertransport. The focus will be, in particular, on nation-states’ migration policies and the effect these policies have on migrants’ rights and experiences in different areas of social policy (e.g. employment, housing, education and migrant admission procedure). Therefore, you will be introduced to different theoretical frameworks which analyse nation-states’ responses to migration and migrant integration, which will equip you with skills to evaluate migration policies and to formulate recommendations for effective migrant integration strategies. You will be introduced to different local, national and international organisations and networks which deal with migration and integration and offer opportunities for volunteering, internships and/or employment. You will engage with a live brief in order to prepare a report of a chosen migrant group which analyses nation-states’ policies and migrants’ experiences in the context of a chosen social policy area (e.g. employment, housing, education and migrant admission procedure).

This module will introduce you to key sociological perspectives on schooling and education. Schooling systems and strategies are instrumental in shaping individual and collective identities, and in reflecting and reinforcing dominant societal values. On this module, you'll engage with the central scholarly and political debates that surround these issues. More specifically, you'll explore how experiences of schooling are shaped by social dimensions such as class, gender, ethnicity and sexuality. You'll consider the basic functions of education, before exploring topics such as the micro-politics of everyday school life; higher education; employability and the knowledge economy; schooling and the negotiation of masculinities and femininities; schooling and sexuality; and schooling, ethnicity and whiteness. Your assessment for this module will be a 3000-word timed research report (including recommendations) on the role of one dimension of social division within education.

Cybercrimes are becoming increasingly prevalent in western society, and their policing and control progressively problematic. You will have the opportunity to explore the risks that modern cybercrimes pose to individuals, organisations and the nation state, and examine how authorities both locally and transnationally have attempted to police new digital patterns of criminality. The module is taught in two, discreet halves, with the first exploring the development of new ‘cyber-dependent’ crimes that exist solely as a product of new internet technologies. The second half will examine the emergence of ‘cyber-enabled crimes’ involving the reconstitution of established and traditional crimes such as human trafficking, organised crime, terrorism and hate crime that been irrevocably changed by virtue of their online ‘digitisation’. Within each of the topics covered in the module, you will have the chance to explore cutting edge cyber-crime case studies against a backdrop of the challenges that authorities have faced when attempting to police these crimes both locally and transnationally. In addition, you will examine the impact of the Dark Web and Tor Network, and how these continue to evade traditional policing styles. You will learn about the facilitation of radicalisation and terrorism, othering and stigmatisation, transnational crime, migration and human trafficking and the policing and security strategies that have been developed to combat and prevent them. You will examine the topics within online digital settings, which will provide you with insights that will deepen and complement other taught modules that adopt an ‘offline’ approach when investigating crime and policing. You will achieve an understanding of a wide range of cybercrimes, their sociological and criminological conceptualisation and the key modes of policing, punishment and control designed to reduce and contain their risk. The module is taught by lecture/seminar format using computer-based work for seminars. You will be assessed via a formative and summative assessment using an essay-based format.

This module will introduce you to the sociological and historical analysis of the place of intoxicants, and the role of intoxication, in society. It incorporates a broad range of themes: production and distribution; regulation, control and the law; substance use, misuse and addiction; gender and intoxication; and socio-economic changes in the place of intoxicants in societies (e.g. work, time and alcohol use). You will gain an understanding of the broad historical and cultural differences in the meanings ascribed to intoxicants and intoxication and engage in problem-based learning scenarios. You will develop analytical skills in identifying how substances, who consumes them, and the place/time they are consumed change, and that they are shifting targets of problematisation in society. Theoretical approaches to understanding the role of intoxicants and intoxication in society will be explored, including moral regulation theory, governmentality, and gender performativity; focusing for example on alcohol, cannabis, New Psychoactive Substances, and heroin. You will gain an insight into how one phenomenon, that of intoxicants and intoxication, can act as an observational lens through which a wide range of sociological issues can be examined, including gender, age, social class, disorder, offending and regulation. Intoxicants and intoxication will be delivered in weekly one-hour lectures and one-hour seminars. The assessments will combine academic skills (an essay), through which you can develop your critical analytical skills, and real-life writing contexts (a policy analysis blog), which will be useful for you in determining how to write and critique existing policy for a diverse audience.

Globalisation and Security is your opportunity to explore, analyse, and critique issues of crime and criminology as they impact on a global, national, and human scale. Over the course of the module we will use a wide range of recent real-world scenarios, policies, and the relevant academic literature to encourage and develop your understanding of the effects of globalisation on perpetrators of crime, victims of crime and the cultural context in which they live. You will also have the opportunity to hypothesise on the potential future issues brought forth by the process of globalisation. On completion of the module, you will have the skills to interpret the diverse and complex causes of, and responses to, the perpetration of crime on a global basis. You will also be able to creatively consider potential future issues and innovative solutions to problems inherent to our world. The assessments for Globalisation and Security will include a peer-assessed formative case study, and a summative problem-solving critique of current responses to global, national and human issues of crime and security.

Historically sociologists have examined religious beliefs, practices and institutions in order to understand more about the implications of faith for individuals, societies and communities. Contemporary sociologists continue to explore the cultural and political significance of religion in the context of globalisation, and the development of new forms of religious practice and faith in the modern world. In this module you will explore traditional sociological perspectives on organised religion, as well as contemporary debates about spirituality, and political aspects of faith communities and multiculturalism. You will also examine issues related to religious fundamentalism. You will look at original sociological views on religion in the work of thinkers such as Marx, Weber and Durkheim, but will also examine contemporary spiritual practices such as roadside memorials, atheist church services and new age beliefs. You will debate the impact of globalisation on religious beliefs including topics such as secularism and the politics of fundamentalist movements. You will have the opportunity to undertake structured skill development in presentation and debate, and written analysis and exposition. These skills are necessary for future employability skills and relate to other outcomes on your degree. This module is taught by interactive sessions and may include visits to e.g. Cambridge places of worship such as mosques, churches and prayer communities. You will be assessed informally throughout the module through discussion and presentation. The module will also include opportunities for formative feedback. Formal graded assessment will be through one 3,000 word portfolio submission.

In this module you will examine the interaction between health and society and, more specifically, the relationship between health and illness and social institutions. The vulnerabilities, strengths and differences between human bodies are not only experienced by all of us in our daily lives but are increasingly at the forefront of political and social media debate and controversy as well as the targets of national and international trade, aid and inequality. You will look at how disability and ideas of the “healthy body” relate to neoliberal notions of individual agency and personal responsibility, often serving to legitimise forms of social stigma, marginalisation and inequality. You will also examine the ways in which medicine has been racialised, how an epidemiological/public health approach has used to address certain forms of Crime. Teaching will be lecture and seminar based. You will be required to read for weekly seminars. Within these seminar discussions, you will assume collective responsibility for applying course material to a specific area of the sociology of health and illness in order to elucidate sociological understandings of bodies in context. Your assessment includes evaluation of the public health campaign (1500 words) and a public health campaign information task (1500 words).

This module will prepare you for the transition from education to work by helping you apply skills gained through your studies in a practical way, and by investigating possible careers for which your degree would be relevant. Through 70 hours of work experience, you'll explore how work and learning interact, increasing your employability by improving your sector knowledge, self-reliance and confidence. Appropriate work placements will give you the relevant experience in sectors and roles in which social science students are likely to find future employment, such as the Citizen's Advice Bureau. Your work placement will be accompanied by an agreement between you, your employer and the module leader. You'll then apply your sociological knowledge, skills and concepts to the analysis of your work experience. You'll also produce a reflective workplace diary, logging activity and supporting an analysis of the learning achieved in the report. You'll also attend a series of workshops to support your work, and receive supervision from the Module Leader or Tutor.

You are a member of the Home Office Research Group who has been asked to write a briefing for the Minister. Identify one form of violence and write a report to explain a) the nature of the problem, b) the potential causes, and c) the implications of these causes. To do this, you will need to define your chosen form of violence, assess the evidence of its prevalence and how it tends to occur, as well as drawing on the contrasting theories as to the causes. Finally, you should introduce some of the potential implications of these causes, which may be that a current policy should be stopped or that a new one should be started. You will be assessed through a 2,500 word case study.

Each week in the seminars, you will be given a case study scenario in which you are a practitioner or policymaker who is seeking to respond to a specific violent crime. You will receive an abridged outline of the relevant policy guidance and must identify the best practice response in the scenario, including a consideration of the barriers and complexities in fulfilling the guidelines. You will then choose three of the five case study scenarios to write up into your portfolio. In each one, you will outline the specifics of the case, the best practice guidance, and the potential challenges to implementing the guidance. You will then identify the actions you would take in each case, and reflect upon why these actions would show that you are a good practitioner.

The individual final Major Project module allows you to engage in a substantial piece of individual research, focused on a topic relevant to your specific discipline. Normally the topic will be agreed in consultation with academic staff and an appropriate supervisor will be appointed to supervise you in your chosen topic. The topic may also be drawn from a variety of sources including: Anglia Ruskin research groups, previous or current work experience, the company in which you are currently employed, or a professional subject of specific interest (if suitable supervision is available). The project topic will be assessed for suitability to ensure sufficient academic challenge and satisfactory supervision by an academic member of staff. The chosen topic will require you to identify and formulate problems and issues, conduct literature reviews, evaluate information, investigate and adopt suitable development methodologies, determine solutions, develop software and/or media artefacts as appropriate, process data, critically appraise and present your findings. Regular meetings with the project supervisor and or/group workshops should take place, so that the project is closely monitored and steered in the right direction. The assessment will normally include a substantial written report, including a bibliography.

On this module, you'll explore the sociology of 'race', racism and ethnic divisions. You'll consider three related themes: the social origins and significance of racial and ethnic divisions, the varied causes, contexts and consequences of racism and antiracism, and the cultural consequences of migration. Although your primary substantive focus will be on race relations in contemporary Britain, you will also draw insights from historical and international comparisons. You'll also attend a series of student-led workshops, in which you'll apply sociological knowledge and understanding to current questions of 'race' politics and policy. The topics of these workshop will relate to key module themes, such as: the collection and use of racialised data in the criminal justice system, debates about the usefulness of the concept of institutional racism, and globalised Islam.

Nature and Society explores the relationship between social and natural worlds and, in the process, considers sociological debates about how best to engage with biological knowledge. You will address the following interlocking questions: How can sociological approaches take account of the ways in which people are at once social and biological beings? How can we fully integrate non-humans into an account of social life and social change? How are recent developments in the life sciences challenging existing views and experiences of group identity, self, life and kinship? What are the likely social causes and consequences of world-wide environmental catastrophe? To answer these questions, you will need to consider both the future of the discipline of Sociology and the future of society.

Feminist Debates and Activism will introduce you to the plurality and diversity of feminist thoughts and debates, practices and activism(s). The heterogeneity of feminist action and strategies on a range of issues will be emphasised to enable learning on historic and contemporary feminist movements. An intersectional approach will be adopted to highlight how feminists have engaged with anti-race politics alongside challenging norms around gender and sexuality. You will be exposed to feminist knowledges and scholarship on issues viz. women’s political participation, gender-based violence, trans identities and rights, sex work, etc., as well as learn about different forms and strategies of feminist activism. You will also learn about feminist research methodologies and epistemological approaches to understand what it means to ‘see’, ‘think’ and ‘do’ sociology using a feminist approach. Teaching will comprise a combination of lectures and seminars and will involve guest speakers who are feminist activists and researchers. Assessments will take the form of a formative assessment of 1000 word ‘feminist manifesto’ where you will write your own mission statement for a feminist movement or collective on any of the topics discussed within the module. Summative assessment will be a 2000 word critical analysis of an existing global feminist movement or campaign on a particular issue, drawing on theoretical approaches on the topic. This will enable a ‘real-world’ application of feminist knowledges and pedagogies on contemporary issues of importance in the area of race and gender (in)equality globally. On completion of the module you will develop critical observation and critical thinking skills, knowledge of project evaluation, and essay writing skills. This module enables you to develop a number of graduate capitals, and provides you with an important critical understanding of contemporary feminist debates. You will be introduced to diverse research areas in social and cultural spheres. You will need to adapt your writing style to produce a feminist manifesto, an authentic assessment.

On this module, you'll explore the range of discursive practices used to explain sex and sexuality in Western culture. You'll examine long-standing claims about the 'naturalness' of heterosexuality as a reproductive drive linked to the survival and reproduction of the human 'species', and the implications of this for the gendered sexual order, various non-conventional sexualities and particular social groups. Drawing on a 'social constructionist' approach, you'll examine religious, biological, psychological and sociological explanations of sexuality. You'll uncover how sex and sexuality are understood, practised and regulated, and in doing so, expose the ideological and discursive foundations of ideas about sex and sexuality in relation to gender, ethnicity, age and disability. You’ll look at how ideas about sex and sexuality are shaped historically, how they vary cross-culturally and how they impact on us as individuals and members of particular social groups. You'll be assessed through a 3,000 word essay.

New media, and particularly online social media, have become a fixture in today’s socio-political context. The ubiquity of online social media like Twitter and Facebook, among other platforms, have given them not only a social dimension but also one that facilitates political activism, exchange and perhaps control. On this module, you will explore the role of social media in political practices, and the production of political knowledge as well as power. You will be introduced to the many facets of social media in political theory and practice, before considering real world impact areas of social media today in a range of issue areas. You will focus on how social media impacts on activism and protest, and political campaigning, but will also explore the darker side of social media freedom. The module is structured in two parts, beginning with an engagement of theoretical aspects relevant to politics and social media. In this part you will explore and contrast the virtual with the real, examining how they relate to one another in current socio-political contexts. The second part engages with concrete cases in which social media have played an active role for social and political impact. As part of the module, you will be encouraged to participate actively with social media on a political topic of your choice, assessing the value and role of the online social media platform. You will be taught by lectures and seminars, and assessed by an essay and an on-line blog and twitter feed exercise.

This module will develop your understanding of the relationship between sport, processes of globalisation, and the sphere of international politics. Broadly speaking, the key themes that you'll consider are ideology, power and control. More specifically, you'll be introduced to a set of key theoretical and conceptual insights relating to globalisation, nationalism and commercialisation early in the module. In later lectures and seminars, you'll apply these insights to particular instances from the sporting world. Specific topics you'll consider include 'race' and racism in sport; the Workers' Sport movement, the role of sport in the colonisation of Africa, the history and politics of FIFA, and a number of national case studies including Catalonia and South Africa. You'll be assessed through a 3,000 word essay.

Youth, Crime and Aggression has been designed to allow you to build on your previous two years of work to think critically about the Youth Justice System and its place in the wider context of the criminal justice system. In this module, you will critically evaluate the youth justice system in England and Wales. You will identify areas of tensions and contradictions within the youth justice system. You will compare and contrast theories explaining youth crime and youth culture. You will also analyse competing strategies in youth justice and their outcomes, discussing recent developments in youth justice legislation, policy and practice, which will teach you to evaluate current practices in youth justice issues. Within this module, you will explore recent developments and key innovations in the youth justice system and their implications for the rights of young offenders and their victims. This module will run weekly two-hour lectures and a one-hour seminar. You are required to have a good understanding of criminological theories and their histories and be thoroughly prepared for weekly discussions by completing the essential reading ahead of lecture/seminar. You will be assessed by way of a theoretical essay of 2500 words.

What role, if any, does the concept of evil play in our moral vocabulary? Is it a narrowly theological notion or does it usefully describe certain kinds of act and/or character? On this module, you'll examine contemporary accounts of evil, as well as looking at the concept of evil in the history of philosophy from Leibniz to the present. In addition to considering theoretical discussions of evil, you'll also consider phenomena such as war and terrorism and ask whether the concept of evil helps us to understand them.