BSc (Hons) Sociology: Gender and Inequality

Year 2 (national level 5):

All four routes share the following core module:

• Theorising the Social: Challenges and Changes in Modern Society (30 credits)

Build on your previous knowledge of social theory and develop a critical understanding of some of the most influential ideas that helped shape modern industrial society and formed the foundations of our understanding of today’s society. Consolidate prior learning around key sociological concepts, and learn to engage with, compare, and evaluate modern social theories. Develop specialist knowledge of social theory, build on your comprehension, independent and group learning skills, as well as enhancing your abilities to locate, recognise, use, and evaluate classical and contemporary academic sources to construct verbal and written arguments.

Depending on which route you choose, some of the following modules will either be core or optional:

• Gender, Diversity and Human Rights: Global Perspectives (30 credits)

Explore human rights agendas and global policies and practice. Focus on gender as a policy priority for many international organisations and as a theoretical frame for the consideration of human rights abuses. Study topics such as human trafficking, international reproductive politics, gender based violence, human sexuality, divisions of labour, refugee crises and health. Investigate global issues and rights, identities and freedoms and study critical and theoretical approaches to sex, intimacy and reproduction as well as historical and feminist perspectives.

• Religion and Belief: Social Conflict or Social Glue? (30 credits)

Is religion and belief a source of social glue or social conflict? Learn the knowledge needed to critically examine the role of religion and belief in the UK and globally. Gain skills of analysis as you explore fascinating case studies, such as, religious ‘cults’ and New Religious Movements, human rights abuses under the name of religion and complex debates around gender and sexuality. Finish the module with a robust understanding of the nature of religion and belief and whether or not it deepens inequality and maintains the social order, or whether it can lead to dramatic social change. Gain future skills for employment in developing an e-resource such as podcasts, YouTube videos and blog development to add to your CV.

• The Medical Gaze: Surveillance, Medicine and Social Control (30 credits)

Explore key theories of health and illness with the use of case studies that illustrate significant arguments of medicalisation and regulation. Develop your understanding of various sociological theories that give insight into how behaviours and non-medical problems have been defined, categorised and diagnosed as a medical condition. Gain an in-depth understanding of how societal practices have changed through time, influencing how we look at what is considered to be normal and deviant today.

• Domestic Violence and Criminal Justice (30 credits)

Engage with concepts and theories of gender and patriarchy to make sense of domestic violence in intimate relationships. Comprehend how theories of gender and patriarchy construct ‘love’ in intimate relationships in ways which produce inequalities and power in intimate relationships. Analyse the underpinning model/s of criminal justice in England and Wales to make sense of how this system works in patriarchal society to understand outcomes for domestic violence offenders and victims. Evaluate contemporary research including key theoretical frameworks to analyse how domestic violence is perpetuated. Analyse and present theoretical and empirical research to construct knowledge during the module.

• Health Inequalities and Lifestyle ‘Killers’ (30 credits)

Examine the concepts, theories and models underpinning contemporary health promotion and lifestyle behaviour change. Explore health inequalities and biopsychosocial theoretical approaches, values and beliefs which will be examined in relation to the application of models of health promotion and behaviour change.

• Researching Society: Private, Public and Third Sector Organisations (30 credits)

Develop a critical understanding of the management, effectiveness and limitations of the private, public and third sectors. Gain essential qualitative and quantitative research skills, utilising data analysis packages, through examining real life case studies of these sectors. Develop your understanding of organisational management theory and issues relating to practice such as working collaboratively, inequality, discrimination and managing conflict. Gain essential transferable skills and knowledge that are necessary for professional practice, such as resilience, communication, problem solving, teamwork through your engagement in workshop-based learning and activities.

• Researching Society with Placement (30 credits)

Develop a critical understanding of the management, effectiveness and limitations of the private, public and third sectors. Gain essential qualitative and quantitative research skills, utilising data analysis packages, through examining real life case studies of these sectors. Develop your understanding of organisational management theory and issues relating to practice, like working collaboratively, inequality, discrimination and managing conflict. Gain essential transferable skills and knowledge that are necessary for professional practice such as resilience, communication, problem solving, teamwork through your engagement in workshop-based learning and activities.

• Social Science Research and Inquiry (30 credits)

Explore the theory and practice of research methodologies and methods in social science. Discover the history of social science research and the philosophical and methodological debates which have underpinned the emergence of contemporary social science. Carry out your own research investigating an aspect of contemporary social life, learning how to think about, organise, manage, and report on social scientific research.

Final year (national level 6):

All four routes share the following core module:

• Changing Worlds: Understanding Globalised Society, Work and identities in the 21st Century (30 credits)

Analyse the divisions and problems of 21st Century society, its new identities and conflicts. Evaluate theories of difference, fragmentation and individualisation. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the theoretical models in the light of the evidence of social experiences of life and work in a globalised society. Undertake a case study of a social group in the situation of 21st Century society and evaluate the theories of their experiences and problems.

Depending on which route you choose, some of the following modules will either be core or optional:

• From Witchcraft to Homophobia: The Sociology of Hatred and Persecution (30 credits)

Analyse the origins of the different forms of demonisation of different groups, from witches to immigrants, racial minorities to sexual differences. Evaluate the circumstances and different theoretical explanations for the stereotyping and repression of each group. Explore the cultural, social and political forms of exclusion and persecution. Undertake a case study of an individual group and their situation, to examine theoretical considerations centre on the forms of explanation aimed at deconstructing the processes of stereotyping, and their translation into different forms of legal and official exclusion. Develop skills and knowledge to understand the integration of historical, political and sociological perspectives, with a view to the construction of the deviant and the different in terms of the criminal and civil laws as well as in popular and official beliefs.

• Our Planet: Global Health, Inequality and Poverty (30 credits)

Is globalisation the cause or the cure of global health problems? Gain knowledge of the causes of global health inequalities such as wealth and poverty, war and violence, climate change, mass migration, famine and ‘deadly’ diseases. Develop an awareness of how these problems and inequalities are caused and develop an understanding of how we have tried to tackle them as a global community, Finish the module with a sociological analysis of how globalisation affects our lives and explore ideas of how we can develop nations internationally to tackle some of our most pressing issues that we face on ‘our’ planet. Develop employability skills in writing an international report for the World Health Organisation (WHO) and use e-resources such as using data presentation techniques such Canva and infographic software to take forward for your graduate CV.

• The ‘Cultural Turn’ In Sociology: Youth Gender and Cultural Identities in Representation (30 credits)

Investigate representations of ‘race’ and gender in mainstream cinema, literature and popular culture and examine representational systems and meaning. Choose your own movies and novels for scheduled movie screenings and independent reading. Apply theories to youth subcultures, media, dress, fashion, film and music. Examine concepts such as nationality, global culture and popular culture. Topics may include the male gaze, woman as object, femininity in film, the action hero and hyper-masculinity, hybridity, race/ethnicity and hypersexuality, white privilege in cultural industries, sexual orientation and transgender performance.

• ‘Race’ and Racialisation in Society (30 credits)

Gain valuable insights into issues relating to ‘race’ and interrelated concepts that examine the ways in which ‘race’ is socially constructed within society, through ‘whiteness’ and critical race theory. Develop your understanding of the historical nature of ‘race’ and learn how to identify causal factors that lead to racism in society. Discover how experiences of discrimination, prejudice and inequality often result in disproportionate outcomes for specific Black, Asian, Minority Ethic (BAME) communities. Learn to identify the ways that racisms and racialisation operates through politics, policy and practice through conducting research. Developing a critical awareness of ‘race’, will equip you with the skills and knowledge to identify issues of inequality, diversity and discrimination in the workplace, whilst having a broader understanding of working in multicultural settings. Gain transferable skills through conducting your own case study into an institution to provide tangible evidence of overt and covert issues of racism.

• Selling Sex: Theory, Policy and Practice (30 credits)

Would sex workers be safer if sex work was decriminalised? Do sex workers have a choice or are they forced to participate? How is sex work shaped by police practices, the law and social regulations? Engage in debates around sex work and explore the sex industry from global perspectives. Assess the role of legal frameworks, policy interventions, media representations and social stigma in the vulnerability of workers selling sex. Finish the module with a nuanced understanding of the diversity of sex workers and why transactional sex continues to be a complex and contentious issue.

• Drugs, ‘Madness’ and Violence as Responses to Liquid Modernity? (30 credits)

Examine dugs, ‘madness’ and violence as three key social problems which are of growing concern and interest in ‘postmodern’ and unequal societies. Explore whether there is a relationship between domestic violence, mental ill health and substance misuse and what this means for society. Investigate the literature which exists in terms of each of the three topics in turn, and their interrelatedness in contemporary society.

• Theorising Ethics in Practice (30 credits)

What are ethics? Explore the complex yet important topic of ethics and ethical practice in health and well-being. Examine philosophical and moral issues and to engage in critical appraisal of ethical frameworks, guidelines and potential limitations of the professional role within organisations. Use this ethical application within workplace environments and on a much wider level.

• Social Science Dissertation (60 credits)

Enhance your critical thinking through investigating a dissertation subject in greater depth and consolidate prior learning. Advance your research skills by conducting an empirical or none-empirical study relating to your degree. Develop specialist knowledge of theoretical perspectives, conducting independent research and project management. Enhance your ability to work independently, source bibliographical material, communicate complex information, analyse secondary/ primary data and utilise specialist computer packages. Learn how to structure, organise and format a dissertation, present findings and well-argued conclusion. A dissertation can be aligned with the profession you wish to pursue, demonstrating to employers your awareness of the kind of issues that might arise in the job.

• Social Science Work Based Dissertation (30 credits)

Apply the knowledge and theoretical ideas you have developed over the course of your studies into a real world context. Complete a work-based dissertation from which you can draw inspiration to complete an innovative and creative piece of work aimed at improving the practice environment. Acquire essential transferable skills in project management, research and innovation.