BA (Hons) Sociology with Integrated Foundation Year

Communication Skills

This module aims to develop the intellectual and practical skills that will be of value in a variety of situations and will include the development of self-awareness, problem solving, reflection and reflexive skills.

You will prepare to communicate effectively with a range of people in a complex and diverse society, enabling you to identify existing skills and knowledge, and to take responsibility for developing and using these skills in a competent way.

The module will introduce you to the ethical issues and professional codes of practice in relation to intervening in the lives of others.

Foundation in Knowledge and Skills

In this module, you will develop your basic knowledge and skills to support your academic development and improve your confidence in your academic writing and reading.

Project

This module is an applied piece of work related to your chosen degree. It will require you to apply the knowledge and skills developed throughout the foundation year and will enhance your ability to work individually and as part of a team.

During the project, you will develop in-depth knowledge of your chosen future specialisation. You will be encouraged to demonstrate creativity in the design, planning and execution of a project.

Valuing Individual Differences

This module develops your knowledge of atypical development in children and young people.

You will focus on the medical, genetic and environmental influences on children’s development, and evaluate theories of child development to gain a deeper understanding of how individual differences can affect learning.

In doing so, it will develop your thinking on the current discourses about defining special educational needs and disability.

Arts in Education and Society

You will engage with a range of discourses surrounding arts and society within the processes of teaching and learning.

A range of disciplinary subjects including performing arts, drama, theatre, music and visual arts will be explored.

In addition, key concepts such as creativity, design, performance and aesthetics will be considered from philosophical, pedagogical and social perspectives.

From Bognor to Bogota and Beyond: An Introduction to the UN and SDGs

Optional module – International Education specialism

You will be encouraged to look beyond your immediate surroundings to the wider world.

You’ll find out how global issues such as those outlined in the UN Sustainable Development Goals have an impact on people across the world as well as on your own life.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and its role in educational provision will also be considered.

Ageing and the Life Course

What is ‘childhood’? How would you define ‘old age’? This module explores how childhood and old age are ‘socially constructed’.

You will explore the historical view of children as merely ‘mini adults’, the invention of the ‘teenager’, and the contemporary view of old age being defined as roughly 20 years older than the person defining it.

You will discuss how government policy has attempted to keep pace with changing social attitudes and ask questions about what kind of society we should grow up in.

Explaining Society

Inequality and poverty are issues that provoke a wide range of social attitudes from outrage to indifference. Beginning with a detailed analysis of the various definitions of poverty and inequality, you will look at the impact of these issues on the life chances of individuals and their wider consequences for society as a whole. You will look at the implications of global inequality for the future of our planet.

Professional Studies: Learners and Learning

This module will enable you to develop an understanding of how learning is influenced by a diverse range of factors.

You will focus on the implications of this on the role of a teacher in areas such as:

• assessment
• behaviour management and planning inclusive
• adaptive teaching

as well as establishing a safe and stimulating learning environment.

Social Identities and Inequalities

Does family mean a place of safety, nurture and stability, or a site of oppression, conflict and turmoil? You will explore opposing views and perspectives of what it means to be a ‘family’, using sociological theory and contemporary research to develop your understanding of family and social change.

Valuing Individual Differences

This module develops your knowledge of atypical development in children and young people.

You will focus on the medical, genetic and environmental influences on children’s development, and evaluate theories of child development to gain a deeper understanding of how individual differences can affect learning.

In doing so, it will develop your thinking on the current discourses about defining special educational needs and disability.

What Is Going On? Making Sense of the 21st Century

The 21st century has been a period of rapid change and innovation, but also of conflict and uncertainty. This module explores the key events of the past 20 years, how they are interconnected and what they might mean for the future.

Why Sociology Matters

In this module, you will:

• Explore key sociological principles and theories
• Discuss the role of sociology in understanding the world we live in
• Develop the knowledge and skills you need to ‘think sociologically’.

In addition, you will discover why sociology provides fascinating insights into so many aspects of our social world and develop your ability to provide supporting evidence for your views and opinions.

Diversity and Duty of Care

This module will explore the broad concepts that underpin human rights, diversity and duty of care.

You will focus on the development of social identities and the relationship between diversity, discrimination and oppression.

Your research will be based on the initial premise that British society is diverse and includes a wide variety of cultures and will explore racism to exemplify the impact of oppression on marginalised people.

Analysing Social Problems

You will draw upon ethical principles to explore questions of ‘what is right and wrong?’ and ‘what should be done?’.

You will investigate how and why governments and other policymakers make decisions and, in doing so, gain deeper insights into how we, as individuals, view problems and make choices about the issues that affect our lives.

Human psychology will inform your discussions as you learn how people think and explore the common biases and mental shortcuts that can lead to prejudice and faulty decision making.

Being Human: Emotions and Behaviour in Social Life

What does it mean to be ‘human’? This question has puzzled humans throughout the centuries, and we often find answers in religion and philosophy as well as biology.

Recent advances in psychology, sociology and neuroscience have revealed the importance of emotions in shaping human behaviour, social attitudes and the social structures we experience every day.

Discussions in this module will aim to revolutionise how you see the world around you.

Criminology Classics and Controversies

In this module, you will develop your critical knowledge of classic and contemporary criminological cases and your understanding of the role of criminology in understanding different forms of crime. You will have the opportunity to compare and contrast profiles of criminological cases.

Health and Wellbeing

In this module, you will increase your critical understanding of adult and children’s health and wellbeing.

You will explore the sociology of health and health inequalities in detail and consider the impact of the NHS on British social policy and social attitudes, as well as our understanding of what constitutes a fair and just society.

You will develop your understanding of resilience in adults and children and the interrelationship between emotional wellbeing, physical health and the social obligations we have to one another. You will contrast international concepts of health and wellbeing with those in the UK.

Making A Difference: Community Project

This module will enable you to put your learning into practice. You will work in a small groups to make a difference in people’s lives and develop a deeper understanding of some of the issues you have studied.

Media and Society

In this module, you will consider key concepts in media theory, the representation and social groups (class, gender, race, age) and the changing forms of media in the digital age. In addition, you will explore the affects on and responses of audience within the media and popular culture sphere as you consider its power, agenda setting and influence.

Researching Societies

The module introduces you to a range of sociological methodologies and research methods that will equip you to design a small-scale research project in an area of sociology in the following year.

You will participate in a series of activities involving research techniques, where you will need to reflect on your own experience.

The “qualitative versus quantitative” debate will be examined. Ethical issues in sociological research, innovative methods for research and how to research social media will be explored.

Sex, Sexualities and Society

Although sexuality is a relatively recent concept, issues concerned with sexuality have a long history in cultures across the world. In this module, you will explore how our contemporary views towards sexuality have evolved and the social forces that shape current debates, questions and arguments.

A Dangerous World? Risk, Anxiety and the Media

In this module you will explore how society constructs notions of risk, danger and dangerousness.

You will understand how the media functions in creating heightened anxieties in the population and how and why politicians respond to these anxieties.

You will critically analyse stories in the media and form your own judgements about phenomena presented as being a risk to society, exploring the social impact of themes as diverse as Covid-19, crime, mental health, Islamophobia and youth culture.

Aggression, Violence and Abuse: A Sociological Perspective

You will use a sociological perspective to investigate the causes and impact of aggression, violence and abuse. Drawing on historical sources, you will note how social attitudes evolve and discuss the influence of feminism and other social movements in framing current debates.

You will explore the life chances of victims of aggression, violence and abuse as well as themes as diverse as:

• Child sexual exploitation
• Domestic abuse
• Cyberbullying
• Harassment
• Hate crimes.

You will investigate implications of these topics for individuals, society and social change.

Independent Project

This independent project allows you to conduct an in-depth investigation into an aspect of sociology that particularly interests you.

You may conduct business-related research or choose to research a topic that prepares you for your future career choice, or focus a subject that interested you during your degree.

Making A Difference: Preparation for Professional Careers

This module offers another opportunity to get involved in real social issues. You will develop your communication, problem-solving and other employability skills as you explore a topic of your choice.

Music, TV and Film in a Changing World

With a specific focus on the 21st century and the latter part of the 20th century, this module will take you on a journey through key social changes and movements as reflected and shaped by music, TV and film.

You will discuss a range of topics starting with the protest songs of the 1960s and explore how music has influenced and been shaped by key events and societal changes, and explore how film, TV and other media forms have highlighted society.

Disability in the 21st Century

This module will start by considering historical, social and cross-cultural perspectives on disability and learning difficulties. Government policy initiatives, legislation and resulting welfare responses to disability will be explored with a particular focus on the lived experience of disability.

Disability will be considered across the life course, drawing upon dominant perspectives and the medical and social models. The notion of ‘care’ will be critically examined, including ethical issues, such as the potentially competing rights of carers and disabled people.

Oppression and discrimination will be examined throughout the module, with particular attention to simultaneous oppression, social exclusion and hate crimes.