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| Module Availability |
| Semester 1 |
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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 seen 2 hour examination
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100
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Qualifying Condition(s)
A weighted aggregate mark of 40% is required to pass the module.
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| Module Overview |
| This module builds upon the knowledge that students have developed at level 1, and focuses on some key issues within sociological theory. It examines differences between forms of sociological explanation, in relation to such topics as the nature of social organisation, the workings of power, and modes of everyday behaviour, and considers the relationship between overtly critical and ostensibly descriptive forms of sociological theory. |
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| Prerequisites/Co-requisites |
| None |
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| Module Aims |
· Cover some key paradigms within sociological theory
· Consider the relevance today of these paradigms
- Compare and evaluate critical and descriptive forms of theory
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| Learning Outcomes |
Having completed this module the student should:
· Have an understanding of some key theoretical traditions within sociology, and the points of contention between them
· Have a sense of the relevance today of 19th and 20th Century sociological theory
· Be able to use sociological concepts and theories to question widely held cultural assumptions and critically assess aspects of social organisation
· Appreciate the different ways in which sociological thought can illuminate everyday life
- Have developed skills in writing, in exam conditions, on pre-prepared topics
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| Module Content |
· The critical tradition of thought exemplified by Marxism
· The critique of modernity within the work of Weber, Simmel and the Frankfurt School
- The sociology of everyday life
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| Methods of Teaching/Learning |
11 lectures and 11 seminars
Weekly reading and seminar preparation
Formative exercise to prepare students for the exam
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| Selected Texts/Journals |
Callinicos, A (2007) Social Theory: a historical introduction (2nd edn), Polity
Dodd, N (1999) Social Theory and Modernity, Polity
Jacobsen, M (ed) (2009) Encountering the Everyday, Palgrave
Lemert, C and Branaman A (eds) (1997) The Goffman Reader, Blackwell
Ritzer, G (2007) Sociological Theory (7th edn), McGraw Hill
Stones, R (ed) (2008) Key Sociological Thinkers, 2nd edn, Palgrave
Swingewood, A (2000) A Short History of Sociological Thought, McGraw-Hill |
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| Last Updated |
| April 2011 |
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