SOCIOLOGY

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr M Holmes

Pre-requisites

None

Overview

This course provides a general introduction to sociology through a discussion of the basic social structures and institutions that shape modern industrial societies. Topics covered include the family, education, work, class, ethnicity, gender, and community.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour written examination (60%), essays (30%) and tutorial participation (10%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%) if tutorial participation grade is a pass.

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr D Inglis

Pre-requisites

None

Overview

This course provides a general introduction to the sociological study of societies. It focuses on the issue of social power and forms the resistance to power. It demonstrates how sociologists have sought to understand the ways in which power relations permeate modern Western societies. The course illustrates themes of social control and deviance by means of examining particular substantive areas of social life, including the mass media, crime, bureaucracy, surveillance, religion, subcultures and protest movements.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour examination (60%), 1 essay (30%) and tutorial participation (10%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%) if tutorial participation grade is a pass.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr D Gimlin

Pre-requisites

SO 1003 and SO 1505.

Overview

In considering the triangular relationship between body, self and society, this course covers the topics of social interaction, communication and information control; the image and appearance of the human body; the development of “self” in social interaction; body language; stigma and the boundaries between deviance and normality; consumer culture, the sociology of fashion and the language of clothes; mass media and advertising; and social integration within consumer societies. Specific life experiences covered include youth and ageing.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour examination (60%), essays (30%) and tutorial participation (10%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%) if tutorial participation grade is a pass.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr C Wright

Pre-requisites

SO 1003 and SO 1505.

Overview

This course examines the tensions between identity, modernity and postmodernity. Through studies of everyday life and cross-cultural comparisons, we focus on the problems of maintaining identity and show how the self is both constructed by social institutions and resists this institutional control. Examples will be drawn from prisons, workplaces, hospitals, holidays and leisure.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 two-hour examination (60%), essays (30%) and tutorial participation (10%).

Resit: 1 two-hour written examination (100%) if tutorial participation grade is a pass.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr N Stockman

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 or above who have achieved 100 Credit Points from level 1 and 2 Sociology courses.

Overview

A course through which students become aware of the diverse traditions of sociological thought as established by the discipline’s founders; in particular, though not exclusively, Marx, Weber and Durkheim. The intentions of the course are to enable students to reflect critically on the intellectual resources of sociology and to provide a coherent context within which to locate concepts and arguments encountered in substantative sociology courses.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).

Resit: Written examination (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Professor S Bruce and Dr B Brasher

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 or above.

Overview

The central concern of the course is the place of religion in the modern world. Various aspects of modernity that have undermined the plausibility of the supernatural are examined, as are the ways in which religion remains a powerful force for aiding cultural transitions and the defence of ethnic identity. Although the substance of the course is the sociology of religion, it is designed to teach students basic sociological ideas.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).

Resit: Written examination (100%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr K O’Reilly

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 or above in Single Honours Sociology, Designated Sociology, Single Honours Anthropology and Joint Honours Social Research.

Overview

This course will introduce key skills in social research. The course will cover an introduction to the philosophy of social research, writing research reports, critical appraisal of research writing and use of basic computing skills such as information services.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 tutorial/computer workshop per week. NB: Tutorials and workshops will be held on alternate weeks (Course includes 6 workshops and 6 tutorials).

Assessment

1 two-hour examination (40%) and exercises (60%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr C Wright

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 or above who have achieved 100 Credit Points from level 1 and 2 Sociology courses.

Overview

This course introduces students to a range of current influential arguments about the distinctive characteristics of sociological thinking. How, if at all, do sociologists’ typical assumptions, concepts, forms of explanation, and topics for investigation differ from those of other social scientists and of ‘lay’ members? A central theme is the tension between persisting attempts to achieve a single synthesis of sociological theories and the reality of division into the competing Departments based on the works of Partsons, Havermas, Homans, Berger and Luckmann, Althusser, Goffman, Foucault and Giddens.

Structure

2 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).

Resit: Written examination (100%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Ms J Shucksmith

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 or above in Single Honours in Sociology or Joint Honours in Social Research.

Overview

Under close supervision from a member of staff, students develop a research problem, which they will attempt to solve with the collection and analysis of original data. In this part of the project, students clarify their problem, survey the relevant literature and formulate their research approach, with an appropriate defence of the techniques to be used.

Structure

Two 2 hour workshops and individual supervision. Credits awarded on judgement of satisfactory progress.

Assessment

Examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Mr A Glendinning

Pre-requisites

This course will be available to students in Programme Year 3 or above in Single Honours Sociology and Joint Social Research.

Overview

This course will cover the design and conduct of social survey research and the use of statistical methods to analyse data.

Structure

2 hours per week (1 lecture and 1 tutorial weeks 30-33 and one lecture and one computer workshop weeks 34-44).

Assessment

1 research assignment (60%) and 1 two-hour examination (40%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Ms J Shucksmith

Pre-requisites

This course will be available to students in Programme Year 3 or above in Single Honours, Sociology and Anthropology, Joint Honours Sociology and Anthropology and Joint Honours Social Research; Designated degree students in Sociology.

Overview

This course will cover the use of qualitative research methodologies in social research and ethical issues in conducting social research.

Structure

1 lecture and 1 workshop per week.

Assessment

1 research assignment (60%) and 1 two-hour examination (40%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr C Wright

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 or above who have achieved at least 160 Credit Points in Sociology.

Overview

Supervised by a member of staff, students develop a research problem, survey relevant literature, collect and analyse data and write up their results.

Structure

1 tutorial per fortnight.

Assessment

The final report forms the entire assessment.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr D Carey

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 or above.

Overview

The course will feature 6 weeks teaching from history, 3 weeks from psychology and 3 weeks from sociology.
Students will be introduced to the key themes and social processes in regard to the social history of sport and leisure. Students will be given an introduction to key psychological methods in regard to sport and leisure; and will be introduced to key sociological dimensions of sport and leisure.

Structure

4 one-hour lectures and 2 one-hour tutorials every 3 weeks.

Assessment

Examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Ms J Shucksmith

Pre-requisites

SO 3517

Overview

In this part of the project, students analyse the material collected and, with guidance from a member of staff, write the final report. The techniques of analysis will vary with the nature of the research problem but all students will be guided in the arts of critical analysis, report planning, and report writing. As in part I, particular emphasis will be given to helping students develop their own skills.

Structure

Two-hour workshop, individual supervision.

Assessment

Continuous assessment: project report (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr C Wright

Pre-requisites

Available only to Senior Honours students.

Overview

The course shows how members of particular social groups seek to exercise control over the work environment and how they together make sense of work experience. Central issues will be the manner in which work is central to both personal identity and social standing. The course will also show how the distribution of social power is crucially affected by the organisation of work. Topics to be covered will include the exercise and legitimation of managerial control, the role of trade unions and the significance of informal work organisation, the sources of gender inequality at work, the nature of skill and the experience of unemployment, and the nature of producer co-operatives.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

Examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr J Bone

Pre-requisites

Available only to Senior Honours students.

Overview

This course examines the social and sociological debates surrounding sport and leisure in traditional and modern societies. The major issues explored are conflict and violence; ethnicity and racism; globalisation and cultural identity; the role of the media; and the body and consumer culture.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture, 1 one-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

Examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Professor R Robertson

Pre-requisites

Available only to Senior Honours students.

Overview

The course deals with globality and modernity. The issue of globality has arisen primarily in the context of the debate about globalization and in the increasingly common talk of us now living in a ‘global age’. Modernity is a pressing theme in sociology and in this course there will be an emphasis on the various forms of modernity and the changing global context in which they are arisen. While there will necessarily be considerable discussion of macro-sociological topics, attention will also be paid to everyday social life in a variety of settings.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

Examination (60%) and continuous assessment: 2 essays (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Ms J Shucksmith

Pre-requisites

Available only to Senior Honours students.

Notes

This course will be available in the second half-session of 2004/05 as SO 4520.

Overview

This course introduces students to the main sociological approaches to health, illness and medicine. The intention is to show how the distribution, definition and treatment of illness cannot simply be understood, as many people think, in physical and biological terms. Health, illness and medical management are part of wider cultural systems, and as such are closely associated with processes of social control, both by professions and the state. The sociology of medicine has strong links to recent analyses in the sociology of the body.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

Examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr B E Brasher

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4.

Overview

This course critically examines the concept of E (electronic) society, with a particular focus on new forms of community associated with computer-mediated communication and the contributions of the Internet to inter-personal relationships. Key topics are the Internet/WWW as public sphere, identity and deception in cyberspace, and online religion, ritual and spirituality.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

1 three-hour examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr D Gimlin

Pre-requisites

Available only to Senior honours students.

Notes

This course will be available in the first half-session of 2004/05 as SO 4025.

Overview

This course examines activities intended to alter the form and functioning of the human body. Drawing upon case studies of various types of 'body work', the course will address the following topics: the influence of class and other forms of stratification on the ways people develop their bodies and on the symbolic value attached to particular bodily forms; the role of 'body experts' in shaping understandings of legitimate vs illegitimate body practices; the body's implication in the buying and selling of labour power; and the means through which physical capital is converted into other resources and rewards.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

1 three-hour written examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Professor J Brewer

Pre-requisites

Available only to Senior Honours students.

Co-requisites

This course will be available in the second half-session of 2004/05 as SO 4526.

Overview

The course addresses communal violence and its resolution from a sociological perspective. It focuses on sociology's contribution to understanding peace processes as it contrasts with governance and human rights approaches that normally dominate the literature. This involves analysis of the different types of post-violence society and the different ways in which peace can be achieved, with attention being focused on post-violence societies based around negotiated peace settlements. The course explores the sociological features of peace accords and of post violence adjustment problems and draws heavily on the experiences of societies like Northern Ireland, South Africa, Rwanda, Sri Lanka and various South American countries.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

One 3-hour examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Professor A Blaikie

Pre-requisites

Available only to Senior honours students.

Overview

This course examines questions of national identity by asking what constitutes Scotland as a nation. The origins of myths surrounding community, egalitarianism and difference from England are explored in relation to the diverse experiences of economic development, and decline, sectarianism, political allegiance, tourism and heritage.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

Examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr N Stockman

Pre-requisites

Available only to Senior Honours students.

Overview

This course provides a sociological overview and analysis of some of the main institutional features of Chinese society, including the family, the village, the work-unit, and the state. Two questions will lie at the heart of our investigations. Is Communist China a completely new kind of society or are there important continuities from pre-communist times? How can a study of Chinese society help us to understand, by comparison and contrast, society in Britain or the West? To explore these, we will look out for contrasts or similarities in assumptions and beliefs about people, groups, social relations, and the wider structure of society.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

Examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr M Holmes

Pre-requisites

Available only to Senior Honours students.

Overview

The course begins with an examination of the sociological concept of gender and the importance of representation in the production of gendered meanings. It explores how femininity and masculinity are constructed and represented in relation to other identities such as those based on ethnicity and class. Attention is also given to the links between gender and politics, and knowledge and power.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

Examination (60%), and continuous assessment: 2 essays (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr D Inglis

Pre-requisites

Available only to Senior Honours students.

Overview

This course examines how cultural issues can be investigated sociologically. It introduces students to the main range of theoretical approaches to the sociology of culture, including classical Marxist and neo-Marxist paradigms such as those of Gramsci and the Frankfurt School, semiotics, culturalism, and the ideas of Pierre Bourdieu. It also offers students the chance to explore sociological viewpoints on the nature of artistic creation and other forms of cultural activity. A particular feature of the course involves analysis of what the terms ‘high culture’ and ‘popular culture’ may mean, and the stakes that are involved in their use in different social contexts. The relations between social groups, forms of power and modes of cultural creation, dissemination and consumption are explored and reflected upon.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

Examination (60%), and continuous assessment: 2 essays (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Professor S Bruce

Pre-requisites

Available only to Senior Honours students.

Overview

This course examines the many ways in which politics and religion interact in the modern world in order to address the big issue: do particular religions generate particular kinds of political movements and regimes? Key topics are the place of religion in nationalist and ethnic identity politics; Catholicism and fascism in the 1930s; the influence of religion on voting patterns; the rise of fundamentalism; state responses to new religious movements; and religion in progressive politics (such as the US Civil Rights movement).

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

1 written examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).