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| Module Availability |
Year (starts in October 2010 and finishes in January 2011)
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| Assessment Pattern |
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Unit(s) of Assessment
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Weighting Towards Module Mark (%)
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One essay based exercise
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50%
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One timed assignment
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50%
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| Module Overview |
This module is focuses on a range of social controversies in the public arena, such as environmental debates, the agendas of new social movements, the relationship between the religious and the political, and the impact of science and technology on modern life. The course will explore the groups with interests in these debates, media representation and public understanding of the issues, structural and policy responses, and the contributions that sociology can meaningfully make to the understanding and direction of social change.
This module aims to provide an introduction to sociological understandings of current social issues and debates.
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| Prerequisites/Co-requisites |
None |
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| Module Aims |
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This module focuses on a range of social controversies in the public arena, such as environmental debates, the agendas of new social movements, the relationship between the religious and the political, and the impact of science and technology on modern life. The course will explore the groups with interests in these debates, media representation and public understanding of the issues, structural and policy responses, and the contributions that sociology can meaningfully make to the understanding and direction of social change.
This module aims to provide an introduction to sociological understandings of current social issues and debates.
This module aims to provide an introduction to sociological understandings of current social issues and debates.
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| Learning Outcomes |
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At the end of the module, the student should be able to:
· Understand the contributions sociology as a discipline can make to public debates and controversies
· Identify how the concepts and analyses drawn from sociological approaches can help us understand current social issues
· Critically evaluate the discourses of social groups with interests in particular social issues
· Understand the role of media representation in framing public debates
· Understand the relationship between public debate, social policy and social change.
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| Module Content |
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· Introduction: Current Debates and Sociological Understanding: Education, Media, Policy.
· Religion in Social Life; for example, its relationship with ethnicity and nationality, and the global construction of ‘terrorism’ in historical context
· Controversies in Science and Technology; for example nuclear energy, space exploration, artificial intelligence
· Controversies within sleep research
· Contested Bodies; for example, Genomics, IVF, Stem Cell Research.
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| Methods of Teaching/Learning |
| 10 one hour lectures and 5 one hour classes |
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| Selected Texts/Journals |
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Bauman, Z. (1990) Thinking Sociologically
Oxford
, :Blackwell Introduction ‘Sociology- What For?’
Williams, S.J. & Bendelow, G. (1998) The lived bodyy : sociological themes, embodied issues
London
:Routledge Ch. 9 ‘The ‘dormant’ body: sleep, night-time and dreams’
Reading
: Adorno, T (1994), The Stars Down to Earth: The Los Angeles Times Astrology Column in Adorno, T and S. Crook (eds) ‘Stars Come Down to Earth and Other Essays on the Irrational in Culture’. Taylor & Francis Intro P46-56
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| Last Updated |
| Sept 2010 |
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