Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

This course will further develop students’ knowledge of the sociology of race and ethnicity. It will explore the origins and development of racism, examining how it has shaped, and continues to shape the nature of society. We will further examine how ‘race thinking’ has played in the production of inequalities and exclusions, as well as how it is articulated with nationhood and nationalism. The course engages with contemporary debates and theoretical advances.

The module aims to:
•       Advance students’ understanding of theorisations of race and racism.
•       Develop students understanding of the ways in which race intersects with other forms of social difference such as nation, gender, class, and religion.
•       Encourage students to evaluate the role of racism in the structure of contemporary society.
•       Explore current theoretical debates around key contemporary issues.

Outline Of Syllabus

The course begins by deepening students understanding of the concepts of race and racism. This will also involve looking at the interrelationship between ‘race’, ethnicity, and racism. The rest of the module will build on these foundations to examine how race has shaped, and continues to shape, the nature and structure of society in intersection with other forms of social difference such as nation, gender, class and religion. Many of these issues will be highly topical and students will be encouraged throughout the course to engage in contemporary debates.

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

On completion of this course students will:

•       Have gained a deeper understanding of a range of theoretical tools to understand contemporary debates about ‘race’, racism and difference.
•       Be able to critically engage with key texts and theoretical ideas.
•       Be able to analyse the role of ‘racism’ in the structure of society and its interaction with other forms of social differentiation such as class and gender
•       Have a critical understanding of contemporary developments in the sociology of racism and ethnicity.
•       Know how to apply theoretical ideas to empirical issues.
•       Construct and defend their own arguments in an analytically rigorous fashion.

Intended Skill Outcomes

At the end of the module students should be equipped with the following transferable skills:

Intellectual skills
•       Analyse, evaluate, synthesise and interpret information from diverse sources and present in a coherent fashion
•       Develop and defend reasoned opinions
•       Develop and demonstrate independent and critical thinking.

Employability Skills (Practical skills transferable into employment):
•       Communication skills through participation in group discussions, presentations and class feedback sessions; via written assignments
•       Information and communication technology: searching and obtaining information; entering and processing data; and presenting information
•       Improving own learning and performance: demonstrating independence while learning; and reviewing progress and achievements
•       Problem solving: identifying a problem; exploring options; selecting an appropriate solution; use of appropriate resources; and synthesis, critical analysis, and interpretation of information.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The lectures will provide students with key concepts and ideas relevant to the topic. The lectures will also discuss these in relation to topical contemporary debates and students will be expected to actively engage in these debates.
Seminars will allow the students to explore the matters raised in lectures more depth and introduce them to key readings.
The workshops (debate and content analysis) will give the opportunity for students to draw on the knowledge they have gained and apply this to specific practical examples. In two of the workshops students will have the opportunity to participate in a Virtual Exchange with students at Indiana State University.
Remaining workshops will support the development of critical thinking skills and offer a helpful practice to prepare for assessment.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The critical reflection will ask students to select three key readings on the module and write up a critical engagement of these texts. Students will be asked to evaluate the contribution of the texts to understandings of race and racism and sociological thinking more broadly and offer a personal reflection on how their own thinking on these issues has been reshaped.

The essay will assess the development of sociological knowledge and theoretical concepts of race and racism, critical evaluation and synthesis of relevant literature.

General Notes

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