Module Catalogue

SOC1032 : Politics and Society

  • Offered for Year: 2024/25
  • Available to incoming Study Abroad and Exchange students
  • Module Leader(s): Professor Alison Phipps
  • Lecturer: Dr Lisa Garforth, Professor Tracy Shildrick
  • Owning School: Geography, Politics & Sociology
  • Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Semester 2 Credit Value: 20
ECTS Credits: 10.0
European Credit Transfer System

Aims

This module is designed to introduce students to the reciprocal influence between political and social life, via discussion of key concepts and major contemporary socio-political issues.

Outline Of Syllabus

The module examines the interaction between political and social factors. It is concerned with how politics can affect its social context as well as with how it can be affected by it. How do we conceive of social and political power? To what extent do political institutions and practices shape the nature and boundaries of civil society and social life, and conversely how do social relations (broadly defined to encompass cultural, economic and associational relations) influence political decision making? The module will also reflect on issues that are at the very centre of political debate and social mobilization in the contemporary era. By offering an overview of arguments and debates about topical issues in politics and society, the module will expose students to the analytical power of a sociological approach to politics.

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities
Category Activity Number Length Student Hours Comment
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesLecture102:0020:00Interactive lectures (1 per week, PiP)
Guided Independent StudyAssessment preparation and completion148:0048:00N/A
Guided Independent StudyDirected research and reading1119:00119:00N/A
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesSmall group teaching101:0010:00Timetabled PiP (seminars)
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesWorkshops31:003:00Assessment and skills workshops (online)
Total200:00
Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The combination of lectures, workshops and seminars is suitable to offering an in-depth understanding of the topics covered in the module. The lectures will be interactive sessions introducing students to key theoretical approaches, public debates and empirical studies. Key readings will be explored and discussed in the student-led seminars. There will be online assessment workshops in which students can explore the key features of the assessment requirements and raise questions and concerns as appropriate.

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Exams
Description Length Semester When Set Percentage Comment
Written Examination28802A5048 Hour take-home exam. 180 minutes
Other Assessment
Description Semester When Set Percentage Comment
Essay2M50Essay 2000 words
Formative Assessments

Formative Assessment is an assessment which develops your skills in being assessed, allows for you to receive feedback, and prepares you for being assessed. However, it does not count to your final mark.

Description Semester When Set Comment
Case study2MOne-page essay plan
Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The take-home exam will offer students the opportunity to consider and explore a selection of concepts and ideas from across the module. Students will write an essay in which they will apply one of the concepts in the module to a contemporary sociopolitical issue. The one-page essay plan will be discussed in the assessment workshops and students will give each other peer feedback under facilitator guidance.

Reading Lists

Timetable