Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

The aim of the module is to examine and understand a range of social divisions and inequalities in society, through use of macro-sociological theories and recent empirical studies drawn mainly from the UK, and student will explore how these interact.

More specifically, the module objectives are:

(a)       To explore different empirical forms of division and inequality in contemporary society. There will be a specific focus on economic inequalities and how these intersect with wider dimensions of inequality (for example, class, gender, ethnicity, age, health, disability, religion, nationality, sexuality, poverty).

(b) Use current empirical examples to explore how ideas about how inequality are shaped, both by the media and broader political discourse. The module aims to get students to think critically about the relationship between wider discourses around inequality and to think about how these can be challenged with empirical evidence.

(C) To think about the ways in which social policies are created, for example, austerity policies, and to explore how social policies themselves also work to shape wider opinions towards various forms of inequality

(d) Weave throughout an understanding of different theoretical models of social division, for example post-Marxist, post- modernist, systemic and structural-functionalist.

Outline Of Syllabus

Week 1: Introducing theoretical perspectives on 'Social Division'.
Week 2: Explores economic inequality in the UK
Week 3: Introduces the concept of intersectionality as a key shift in sociological understandings of social division which is then used across the remaining sessions.
Week 4: Austerity politics, social policy formation and the shaping of public opinion
Week 5-10: Each session will major on one social division from gender, ‘race’ and ethnicity, age, sexuality and disability, but will examine each through an intersectional lens.
Week 11: 'Social Divisions and Inequality' revisited: as a group, we work through the significance of how sociology researches social divisions and what this might mean for wider society and our approach to inequality.

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

On completion of the module, students should:

(a)       Be able to reflect on inequality and the nature of social divisions, and how they can be studied sociologically from various theoretical and empirical perspectives.

(b) Be able to understand some of the links between wider inequalities and social policy formation and wider public opinion and use sociological knowledge to engage with wider claims about inequality.

(b)       Possess an enhanced detailed knowledge of at least one social division.

(d) Have an understanding of how social division can be incorporated into macro-sociological analysis to enhance understanding and theorisation of society based on empirical evidence.

Intended Skill Outcomes

In terms of professional and intellectual skills, students should be able to:

(a)       Articulate, with clarity and understanding, the formal specialised language of sociology.

(b)       Undertake and present work in a scholarly way.

(c)       Engage in a critical reading of texts.

In terms of key skills, students should:

(a)       Be able to demonstrate an appropriate level of competence with respect to oral skills (in class presentations and discussions) and written skills (in the assessed essays).

(b)       Be able to carry out topic-oriented research using both library and IT resources.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

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Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The case study will allow students to develop their written and analytic skills alongside their empirical and theoretical knowledge of the subject. They will select their own individual topics (reflecting their own specific interests) and be able to demonstrate detailed critical knowledge about the specific topic. Within all the case studies there is an expectation that students reflect on contemporary issues in social policy and media representation around inequality, and compare this with their broader knowledge of other social divisions.

General Notes

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