Politics and Sociology (Placement Year) BA Hons - 2021 Entry

Course Structure

Lancaster University offers a range of programmes, some of which follow a structured study programme, and others which offer the chance for you to devise a more flexible programme to complement your main specialism. We divide academic study into two sections - Part 1 (Year 1) and Part 2 (Year 2, 3 and sometimes 4). For most programmes Part 1 requires you to study 120 credits spread over at least three modules which, depending upon your programme, will be drawn from one, two or three different academic subjects. A higher degree of specialisation then develops in subsequent years. For more information about our teaching methods at Lancaster please visit our Teaching and Learning section.

The following courses do not offer modules outside of the subject area due to the structured nature of the programmes: Architecture, Law, Physics, Engineering, Medicine, Sports and Exercise Science, Biochemistry, Biology, Biomedicine and Biomedical Science.

Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, and the University will make every reasonable effort to offer modules as advertised. In some cases changes may be necessary and may result in some combinations being unavailable, for example as a result of student feedback, timetabling, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes and new research.

Year1

Core

• Placement Preparation

  Your placement year is a terrific opportunity to gain experience in the workplace and to develop your skills and knowledge. This short module has been designed to help you find a suitable placement position and support you to make the strongest applications for placement opportunities.

  With the help of our experienced tutors, you’ll find out about the graduate job market, including what employers expect from the graduates they employ, as well as the specifics of Lancaster’s placement year scheme and how this can support your career development. Using a blend of face-to-face sessions and online learning, you will sharpen your job seeking skills such as researching job opportunities, and creating professional application documents. Our online learning platform provides an introduction to psychometric testing, advice on how to set up a LinkedIn profile, and information and support in relation to interviews and assessment centres. You will have the opportunity to develop a greater awareness of your personal attributes, set up a LinkedIn profile, and consider how to present yourself effectively to employers.

  The skills and practice gained during this module, and the professional feedback and support you receive, will prepare you for your second year when you will start applying for placement positions.

  This module is not credit-bearing, however you will need to pass the module assessment in order to continue on the Placement Year scheme.

• Politics in the Modern World

  You’ll be introduced to some of the key themes in the study of modern politics, and will have the chance to gain critical insight into the nature and use of political power in the contemporary world. You will learn about: the foundations of the modern nation-state, and the ways in which our institutions can reflect or fail to meet the ideals of liberal democracy; the behaviour of individuals and groups in political contexts; the workings of national constitutions and international organisations; the interaction of global events and domestic agendas.

  Areas of study typically include:

  + Political Theory: the study of the scope, nature, and justification of state authority, and the history of political thought.

  + British Politics: the study of the theory, and political reality, of British governance in the twenty-first century.

  + Comparative Politics: the study of the various institutions of the nation-state, in a comparative context.

  + Ideologies: the study of political ideologies such as (neo-)liberalism, (neo-)conservatism, socialism, and fascism, their cohesiveness and social/political function.

  + Political Behaviour: the study of the ways in which agents and groups engage with politics in the age of mass and social-media.

  + Politics and Religion: the study of the relevance of religion to politics in contemporary society.

  + Politics in a Global World: the influence of global movements and events on domestic and international politics.

  Because of the increasing interdependence of the national and global, domestic politics and international relations can no longer be properly understood in isolation from one another. To ensure the best possible foundation for a degree in Politics, in first year, we strongly recommend you also take International Relations: Theory and Practice.

• The Sociological Imagination

  What does it mean to ‘think sociologically’? When there are so many academic disciplines and non-academic areas of professional expertise, what is unique and important about starting with the social? This module begins with fundamental questions about the value of sociology in understanding the contemporary world and goes on to explore how the significance of our questions and everyday experiences are transformed when investigating all kinds of contemporary social problems, from inequality to globalisation, sociologically.

  This full-year module is organised into different ‘blocks’ that connect themes in sociology – such as the relationship between self and society or between self and power – to both long-standing and newly emerging research. Whether or not you have studied sociology before, this module will introduce you to new areas of sociology, as well as demonstrating how key themes such as consumption, identity, social justice, or culture and media intersect with different sociological questions and sites of enquiry. Lecturers draw upon the ongoing research undertaken at Lancaster, giving you access to current insights that are inspiring change in policy and professional organisations.

  The benefit of having multiple topics and themes addressed within one year-long module is that the assessments are carefully designed to slowly build up your research and study skills over your first year of study, whilst still giving you the flexibility to write major essays on the topics that are most interesting to you. The module provides you with a fantastic opportunity to explore new ideas and find new inspiration for understanding how we lead our lives today, and what possibilities there are for change tomorrow.

Optional

• International Relations: Theory and Practice

  We will introduce you to some of the central aspects of the discipline of International Relations, providing a firm grounding in the major concepts and debates necessary to understand the modern world of international politics. You will have the opportunity to learn about: the dominant features and power relations of the contemporary global system; the nature of sovereignty and security, their expression and limitations; the real-world problems confronting the international community today.

  Areas of study typically include:

  + International Relations Theory: the study of how relations between states can and should be viewed and theorised, Realism, Liberalism, Constructivism and Feminism.

  + Regional Studies: the study of some of the key regions of the world, and the politics of their interactions.

  + International Institutions and Law: the international organisations, customs, and rules that govern inter-state relationships.

  + Global Politics and Belief: the study of how religious and ideological belief can shape international politics and the relation of states.

  + International Crises: the study of pressing issues confronting the international community, such as environmental collapse, technological advance, the rise of non-state actors, and terrorism.

  + International Relations and the Domestic: the study of how the domestic agendas can shape and influence international politics.

  Because of the increasing interdependence of the national and global, domestic politics and international relations can no longer be properly understood in isolation from one another. To ensure the best possible foundation for a degree in International Relations, in first year, we strongly recommend you also take Politics in the Modern World.

Year2

Core

• Skills for researching social and cultural life

  This module is designed around active learning – helping you to develop skills to do your own research.

  Lectures address cross-cutting methodological debates as well as established methods (such as interviewing, discourse analysis, ethnography and quantitative surveys). Most of your time, however, is spent in seminars where you will try out methods such as interviewing, analysing media texts, and doing observation on campus.

  There are ample opportunities for feedback as you develop ideas for your project-based final assessment, and build diverse skills to support your final year dissertation.

• Sociological Thought for Our Times

  This module introduces the development of social theory from the Enlightenment in the eighteenth century to contemporary debates about the character of knowing. This module will introduce important models developed by classical social theorists (and especially Marx, Weber, Durkheim and Simmel) for analysing modern societies and considers how they have been adapted, updated, or displaced by recent social theories. It explores how these theories have been shaped by social and political change in eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth century Europe. Particular stress is placed on relating theories to contemporary social life. You will critically consider different current understandings of the role of social theory as privileged knowledge, tool of social control, ideology, and discourse. You will explore critically the theme of everyday life in modernity.

  This module offers the opportunity to learn skills in reading, analysing, comparing, and critically evaluating major social theories of the rise of modern societies.

• Work Based Learning Preparation

  During your second year you will apply for placement positions. A range of positions will be available in different types of organisations, and you will be able to decide which are of interest to you. While a placement role may not be available in a field or organisation that is directly related to your academic studies, all placement roles offer valuable experience of working at a graduate level and gaining a range of professional skills.

  A placement year provides the opportunity to find out more about yourself and the type of career that is right for you. The aim of this module is to prepare you to maximise the opportunities for learning and development that your placement can provide, including any formal elements such as Professional Development Reviews (PDR) and opportunities for informal learning.

  You’ll consider your individual strengths and preferences through completion of a personality type assessment. This will be useful when we move on to looking at your aspirations for the placement. Working with others in the group and your tutors, you will be asked to develop strategies for achieving your goals and to record these in an action plan.

  You will need to successfully complete the assessment for this module in order to continue on the Placement Year scheme. This module provides 10 credits towards the 30 credits which successful completion of your placement year provides. These 30 credits are on top of the 360 credits of a standard degree, meaning that you will graduate with 390 credits; 30 more than if you took the same degree without a placement year. The additional credits recognise and reward the additional skills and experience that you will develop during your placement year.

  The University will use all reasonable effort to support you to find a suitable placement for your studies. If you are unsuccessful in securing a suitable placement for your third year, you will be able to transfer to the equivalent non-placement degree scheme and would continue with your studies at Lancaster, finishing your degree after your third year. The University offers a range of shorter placement and internship opportunities for which you would be welcome to apply.

Optional

• Climate Change and Society

  This module will introduce students to sociological thinking on climate change. Debates about climate change are shifting, and beginning to make much stronger links between a vast and complex planetary perspective (a globe in crisis) and the private sphere (the home, low-carbon lifestyles, urban living, consumer demand, etc.). In this context, social theorists have been considering what sociological thinking can offer to contemporary debates on climate change issues. The module aims to introduce you to a range of new and emerging sociological analyses which examine: climate change and social change; new subjectivities, institutions and collectives under climate change; climate activism; dynamics of crisis and denial; the contested politics of climate change science; the global political economy of climate change; utopias and dystopias of climate change.

• Consumer Culture and Advertising

  This module explores how consumption, advertising, branding and promotion shape society. In the module we will ask questions such as:

  • Why do many people find shopping so appealing?
  • How does consumption relate to our identities, our hopes and our futures?
  • What is consumption doing to the world? Are we shopping ourselves to death?
  • Does consumption shape inequalities – both at a national and global level?
  • How does advertising and branding speak to us?
  • Do we now live in a ‘promotional culture’ in which we must ‘sell ourselves’?
  • Why do some people resist consumer culture?
• Exploring Key Economic Issues: Economics for the Real World II

  This module explores the analysis of contemporary economic problems through the discussion of a range of contemporary economic issues. It will help you extend your knowledge of the analysis deployed by policy makers and by media commentators when presenting potential solutions to a range of contemporary economic challenges that was developed in the first of the paired modules. By the end of this module, we aim to provide you with the opportunity to better understand the terminology used in economic debates and how these discussion inform and shape discussion of a range of contemporary economic issues. The second of the paired modules is intended to allow you to further develop your knowledge and analytical perspectives on economics and its associated policy debates. The module can normally only be studied after successful completion of the first of the paired modules. Like its pair, this module encourages a critical approach to contemporary economic theory and policy (as widely discussed beyond the academy) and is not intended to provide a “textbook” introduction to academic economics.

• Issues in Contemporary Political Philosophy

  This module will consider some of the major issues currently being debated by political philosophers and political theorists. Specific topics may change from year to year, but issues usually covered include some of the following:

  • - State power and citizens’ obligations
  • - Equality between social groups
  • - Material equality
  • - Environmental politics
  • - Public goods and state action
  • - Politics and regulation of business activity
  • - Global justice
• Media, Bodies and Society

  Social and cultural theories of the body have transformed thinking in the last two decades. Indeed, accounts of the body and embodiment have moved from being a marginal aspect of social and theory to a central feature of how we understand and experience media culture and society. Through a series of case-studies, this module explores some of the key developments in sociological accounts of the body and the body politic (or the nation state). Throughout this module we will focus on issues of inequality, stigma, power, in/visibility, surveillance, disability, 'race' and ethnicity. Examining the body as a site of social control, and as a repository of shifting classifications, we will consider bodies which do not easily fit prevailing social and cultural norms, bodies which are perceived to be ‘out of place’, abject or deviant and bodies imagined and employed as sites of resistance and protest.

  As well as gaining an understanding of some key social, cultural and political issues you will develop critical thinking, reading, writing skills and practical skills. We will go on course field-trips (for example to Lancaster Castle in order to think about the history of punishment) and you will participate in lively and challenging workshops. You will be required to arrange and pay for your own travel to and from any field trips, which are highly recommended but not compulsory. If you are unable to attend then alternatives can be discussed.

  As part of the assessment for this course you will make a short film in response to themes and issues examined or provoked by lectures, screenings, reading and seminar discussions. This course is interdisciplinary and is open to students from any discipline, but has been particularly designed for Sociology, Media and Cultural Studies and Gender & Women’s Studies students.

• Moral Philosophy

  Moral philosophy is the systematic theoretical study of morality or ethical life: what we ought to do, what we ought to be, what has value or is good. This module engages in this practice by critical investigation of some of the following topics, debates, and figures: value and valuing; personhood/selfhood; practical reason; moral psychology; freedom, agency, and responsibility; utilitarianism and its critics; virtue ethics and its critics; deontology and its critics; contractarianism and its critics; the nature of the good life; the source and nature of rights; the nature of justice; major recent and contemporary figures, such as Bernard Williams, Martha Nussbaum, Peter Railton, Christine Korsgaard, Philippa Foot, Allan Gibbard, Simon Blackburn; major historical figures such as Aristotle, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, G. E. Moore.

• Philosophical Questions in the Study of Politics and Economics

  Our aim in this module is to consider some of the big philosophical questions underlying social sciences. Economics and politics raise both deep philosophical questions about society and subjectivity; for example: Who gets what? Who rules whom? Who, or what, decides? In this module we will investigate a variety of methods that attempt to address these questions, and what answers might be possible. In sum, the aim is to examine methods and assumptions across central movements in the social sciences, politics and economics, from a philosophical perspective to see the troubles and possibilities in each.

• Power in British Politics: The Role of the Prime Minister

  This module explores British politics by focusing on the role of its central figure – the Prime Minister. Judging by media coverage, it would seem that the Prime Minister dominates the decision-making process, dwarfing other institutions such as the Cabinet, Parliament and the judiciary. But does this impression reflect reality? Does Britain really have a system of ‘Prime Ministerial’ – or, as some commentators have claimed – even ‘Presidential’ government? The module attempts to answer these crucial questions through case-studies of recent Prime Ministers and an examination of the sources of Prime Ministerial power, such as the ability to appoint ministers, to influence public opinion and to shape Britain’s foreign policy.

• Public Policy

  The goal of this module is to introduce you to some of the key concepts of public policy both in theory and practice. The module is designed to give you a rich understanding of the actors, mechanisms and processes that underpin public policymaking, as well as a comprehensive overview of different public policies. The module aims to enable you to identify how and why public policy is made, the actors and factors that explain policy outputs and policy failures, and to be able to assess the explanatory power of different theories that seek to explain differences in policy outputs. In addition, you will also assess policy outcomes associated with different policies and policymaking regimes. In this module, you will have the opportunity to gain an understanding of a range of public policies as well a comprehensive understanding of a specific public policy arena, including the debates surrounding such policy, through their policy briefing assessment. In this module we will touch on a number of questions and themes related to public policy, including why does policy change? Who makes public policy? How can we explain differences in policy outputs? What explains the gap between policy outputs and outcomes (or policy failure)? How do ideas shape policy? Are differences in public policies a consequence of different cultures, economic conditions, political institutions or interest group pressures? How are policy problems defined?

• Racisms and Racial Formation

  This module focuses on racism and racial formations in the world today in both historical and contemporary perspectives. We will consider how ideas of race are historically constructed and look at how racism takes on different forms. Topics may include: the slave trade, colonialism and imperialism; ‘everyday racism’; structural racism; the social construction of ‘whiteness’; anti-racists politics and movements. The aim of the course is for you to gain an overview of various sociological approaches to explaining ‘race’, but also to gain an understanding of how such theories make a difference in the world today.

• Russian International Politics

  This module examines the domestic and the external sphere of Russian politics. By the end of the module you will have had the chance to develop an understanding of some doctrines of Russian politics and its wide-ranging effects on Russia’s engagement with the EU, the US, NATO, countries in the former Soviet space and the Middle East. We assess Russia’s response to the Arab Spring and its engagement in the conflict in Syria.

  The module introduces you to Russia, an actor which gained presence and influence over several issue areas and regions. In this module we aim to prepare you for more extensive analyses of conceptualising Russia as an actor in their future studies

• The Politics of Race

  Race has played a central role in shaping the political agendas of many nations around the world – and has acted both as a mechanism of political exclusion and as a form of politicised identity. In this module we critically examine the notion of race, and its connection to the politics of ethnicity, religious identity, and class. We examine the role race has played, and continues to play, in the determination of domestic and international politics. We look at the way in which race is politicised and de-politicised, and consider the nature of various forms of racism that exist in politics.

• Understanding Liberty: Theory and Practice

  This module explores a range of ideas which are central to any understanding of politics. In this module we will focus on the relationship between negative and positive accounts of liberty. We will examine and discuss the distinction between the two accounts, and apply those accounts to the analysis of the work of Hayek and Mill, as well as advancing the capacity for essay writing skills. This module aims to develop an understanding of some of the key ideas of the thinkers under review, and the ability to assess the contribution that these thinkers have made to our wider understanding of politics. We also aim to enable you to recognise the relevance of these thinkers to our current political debates and the ability to employ their ideas within them. You will also have the opportunity to build on your ability to evaluate the key features of an argument, the confidence to express your own views and evaluate the response of others.

Year3

Core

• Work Based Learning Placement

  As well as developing skills and experience that are specific to your placement position and industry, your placement year should provide the opportunity to gain broader experience and professional skills in several areas:

  • analytical thinking, problem solving and decision making;
  • planning and negotiation;
  • prioritisation and time management;
  • critical engagement with theories and frameworks through applying them to real situations.

  During your placement year, although you will be working away from the University campus, you will be able to be in regular contact with other students via our online learning platform and with your Lancaster University tutors.

  You will be asked to review your experience on the placement and this will form the module assessment.

  This module provides 10 credits towards the 30 credits which successful completion of your placement year provides. These 30 credits are on top of the 360 credits of a standard degree, meaning that you will graduate with 390 credits; 30 more than if you took the same degree without a placement year. The additional credits recognise and reward the additional skills and experience that you will develop during your placement year.

  The University will use all reasonable effort to support you to find a suitable placement for your studies. If you are unsuccessful in securing a suitable placement for your third year, you will be able to transfer to the equivalent non-placement degree scheme and would continue with your studies at Lancaster, finishing your degree after your third year. The University offers a range of shorter placement and internship opportunities for which you would be welcome to apply.

Year4

Core

• Work Based Learning Reflection

  In your final year you’ll return to Lancaster to complete your degree. Feedback from previous students is that their final year studies were enhanced by the real-world experience they were able to draw on.

  Whatever your career path, having the skills to critically evaluate your own learning and development will considerably enhance your effectiveness in the workplace. During your final year, you will be asked to reflect on your experience of work based learning. Did you take part in any formal training during your placement? How did this benefit your work? What kinds of informal learning opportunities arose? What did you learn about your own preferences for professional development? How do your experiences compare to those of other placement students?

  You will be asked to consider your future career aims and identify areas for further development.

  This is an assessed module that provides 10 credits towards the 30 credits which successful completion of your placement year provides. These 30 credits are on top of the 360 credits of a standard degree, meaning that you will graduate with 390 credits; 30 more than if you took the same degree without a placement year. The additional credits recognise and reward the additional skills and experience that you have developed during your placement year.

Optional

• Africa and Global Politics

  This module provides a historical and thematic introduction to the issues facing Africa in the international system today. The module is divided into two sections. The first section explores the historical incorporation of the continent into the emerging international system centred on Europe from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. We focus on the impact of colonialism and independence in terms of the economy, the state and the politics of race and the implications these have for the region’s prospects for democracy and development today. The second section looks at key contemporary issues and agents shaping the continent. The latter includes ‘top-down’ actors such as the Chinese state, as well as grassroots actors such as unionised South African workers.

• Britain in the World

  This module presents a detailed analysis of the major developments in British foreign policy since 1945. It explains these developments within a global context, offering rival interpretations of Britain’s changing role and status – issues whose importance has been underlined by the debates surrounding the 2016 ‘Brexit’ referendum. The major themes include: the consequences of Britain’s participation in the Second World War; the retreat from Empire after 1945; the ‘special relationship’ with the United States; and the prolonged attempt to redefine Britain’s global role in the context of perceived economic and geopolitical decline.

• Cities, Cultures, Creativities - Urban Development in the Age of Global Media

  Culture and creativity are key assets that cities use to attract a ‘creative class’ and succeed in a global context of urbanisation. But do the kinds of cultures and creativities promoted give citizens (and non-citizens) the right to the city? Can cultures and creativity be ‘used’ for economic competitiveness and foster a social production of city space? This module examines how social, artistic and media practices shape cities and people, and urban development in the Global North and South. It combines theoretical readings and discussion based seminars with case studies that examine examples of creative urbanism in cities such as Gaza, Hamburg, Sao Paulo.

  Culture and creativity are key assets that cities use to attract a ‘creative class’ and succeed in a global context of urbanisation. But do the kinds of cultures and creativities promoted give citizens (and non-citizens) the right to the city? Can cultures and creativity be ‘used’ for economic competitiveness and foster a social production of city space? This module examines how social, artistic and media practices shape cities and people, and urban development in the Global North and South. It combines theoretical readings and discussion based seminars with case studies that examine examples of creative urbanism in cities such as Gaza, Hamburg, Sao Paulo.

• Classic Encounters

  All sociologists are supposed to know their classics but most only know them from second or third hand summaries. In this module we offer the opportunity to have an intimate encounter with one of the classics, texts that are often referred to in the social sciences. The text will change on an annual basis. Past examples include Zygmunt Bauman’s prize-winning book Modernity and the Holocaust (1989) and Jean Baudrillard’s America (1988). The chosen text will be used as a point of departure for exploring some central debates and themes in sociology and media and cultural studies.

• Contemporary Issues in Human Rights

  This module introduces you to human rights as a political and legal concept. It provides a critical overview of contemporary debates in the field, without losing sight of key theoretical questions. What are human rights? What is their source? In what sense are they ‘universal’ and ‘inalienable’? Following a discussion of philosophical and historical foundations the module will examine the post-World War II international legal regime for the protection of human rights. We will explore the political implications of enshrining human rights at the international level, and engage with questions of culture and diversity, development and globalization, poverty and health. You will have the opportunity to research and discuss such issues as gender-based violence, torture in the ‘war on terror’, treatment of refugees and asylum seekers and HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. These empirical case studies of recent human rights struggles and controversies, will shed light on the complexity of global human rights politics in the early 21st century.

• Contemporary Issues in the Middle East

  As the Middle East has long been [and still is] one of the most unstable regions in the world, and it is further bedevilled by strong authoritarian states and pervasive ethnic and sectarian violence, what explains this instability and ongoing tensions? By examining some of the key questions surrounding the study of Middle Eastern politics, this module aims to provide you with a critical perspective of the region’s politics. This module introduces you to an analysis of the history, politics, society, culture and religions of the Middle East with attention to major events in the region.

• Disasters: Why do things go wrong?
  • What counts as a disaster?
  • Is it still reasonable to speak of ‘natural’ or human-made’ disasters?
  • Do disasters have a beginning, middle and end?
  • Is it possible to make disaster-proof systems?

  This module uses case studies of disasters (technical and social) to explore these questions and what sociology can teach us about them.

• Dissertation

  This module provides you with an opportunity to choose a topic related to some aspect of Politics and International Relations, Philosophy and Religious Studies which particularly interests you, and to pursue it in depth. The topic may be related to work that is being done on a formally taught course, or it may be less directly linked to course work. We encourage you to develop your research skills, and your ability to work at length under your own direction. You submit a 9,000 - 10,000 word dissertation by the end of the Lent term in your third year. To help you prepare for work on the dissertation, typically there is an introductory talk in second year on topics relating to doing one's own research and planning and writing a dissertation

• Dissertation with external collaboration

  The aim of this module is to allow you to pursue independent in-depth studies of a topic of your choice, within the scope of your scheme of study. The topic will be formulated in dialogue with one or more external collaborator(s) and may be related to work that is being done on a formally taught course, or it may be less directly linked to course work. You will have the opportunity to develop your employability and research skills, and your ability to work independently at length under your own direction with input from external and an academic supervisor. The external collaboration will give you the chance to enhance your ability to reflect on the impact of academic work. One option is to incorporate work done through the Richardson Institute Internship Programme, but you may also discuss other forms of collaboration with their supervisor. The completed dissertation is usually submitted at the start of Summer Term in the third year. To help you prepare for work on the dissertation, typically there is an introductory talk in second year on topics relating to doing one’s own research and planning and writing a dissertation.

• Feminism and Social Change

  This module investigates gender inequalities within society through a focus on historical and contemporary debates in feminist theory and activism. The module has an `intersectional` focus that means we will consider gender inequalities as bound up with other forms of discrimination and marginalisation, particularly racial and ethnic inequalities, disability and social class.

  The module will challenge you to think about `what feminism means today` through a consideration of key aspects of feminist thought and activism from the late 1960s onwards. We will consider the continued relevance of the idea of ‘The Personal is Political’ and ‘consciousness raising’. We will overview feminist approaches to social research and explore feminist interventions in practices of gender inequality, for example inequalities in paid and unpaid work, childcare and women’s health. You will complete an intergenerational interview research project on ‘women, work and social change’ through which you will analyse and reflect upon your experience of the research process.

  We will also take the feminist manifesto as a central document which expresses lived experiences of gender inequalities and collective desire for social change. Through some practices of inequalities, such as art, beauty contests, capitalism and patriarchy, we will explore the contemporary resonance of ideas such as black feminisms, art activism, the occupy movement and backlash.

  By the end of the module you will have been given the opportunity to become familiar with some of the key debates within feminism today. We aim for you to be able to make connections between feminist theory and forms of feminist practice. The module engages you in debate, original research and feminist activism through analysis of varied media including academic texts, advertising, art, film, news media and social media.

• Independent Dissertation Project

  This module provides an opportunity to bring together knowledge and skills you have developed into an 8,000 word dissertation that you complete in your final year. You will have the opportunity to undertake an independent piece of research (under supervision) and to apply your general understanding of the research process to real world examples that are of particular interest to you. There is the option of conducting your dissertation as part of a placement with an appropriate organisation or group.

  You will plan, present and design a dissertation proposal in tutorial groups, with a detailed, step-by-step web-based guide available for extra support. This will help you develop an idea for a research project, work out what is possible, which methods to use, and begin to plan it. You will have opportunities to get feedback from other students and your supervisor during regular meetings. After carrying out your own data collection and analysis, you will then write it up as a dissertation.

• Indian Politics, Society and Religion

  This module aims to introduce and familiarise you with the interplay between politics, society and religion in the world’s largest democracy, India. At a time when India is emerging as a global power and economic powerhouse despite persistent poverty and various socio-political fissures, a critical balance must be struck in our understanding between its potential and its problems. India offers powerful lessons on the challenges and achievements of democracy in a deeply pluralistic and unequal society. An examination of these issues opens up our conceptual preconceptions about democracy, competing political philosophies, religion, secularism, discrimination, globalization and political mobilization, which tend to be structured by knowledge of Western polities. The particular issues concerning large populations of many different religions and huge social differences offer pathways of understanding to many pressing global issues.

• Living with Capitalism: Class, Distribution and Recognition

  Economic inequalities have widened in advanced capitalist countries and yet many people are reluctant even to acknowledge the existence of class. The module analyses how inequalities of class and status are generated, how they relate to other kinds of inequality, and how they are experienced. It explores how the social forms and mechanisms of capitalist economic organisation interact with other sources of inequality, not only producing an unequal distribution of resources and opportunities but affecting the ways in which people value themselves and others. Linking social structure to personal experience, the course applies social theory, including that of Pierre Bourdieu and Henri Lefebvre, to the ‘common sense’ about class and to their people’s everyday experiences.

• Nations and Migration

  Belonging to a nation is widely seen to be as natural as belonging to a family or a home. This module will explore how such assumptions about national belonging come about by introducing students to a range of theoretical approaches and debates.

  You will explore how notions of belonging are socially constructed, how the nation is defined, who belongs and who doesn’t. The module addresses these notions by examining what everyday practices, discourses and representations reveal about the ways people think about, and inhabit, the nation. The module also pays particular attention to nation formation in relation to debates about multiculturalism, diversity and migration and asks: What are the impacts of migration and multiculturalism on definitions of the nation? How is multiculturalism defined and perceived?

  Although focus will be on the example of Britain, the issues raised will be of interest to all students concerned with the effects of nationalisms and ideas of belonging and entitlement, which many countries of the contemporary world are presently debating in the context of the 'Age of migration' (Castles and Miller 1998).

• Politics of Global Danger

  This module examines the changing character of war and security in a time of rapid and disruptive technological and geopolitical change. The module combines analysis of contemporary policy documents with the interdisciplinary insights of intellectuals that have examined how war has changed in the modern age. In this module you are introduced to a range of concepts that are currently significant in the policy debates about the future of war – concepts such as ambiguous war, the gray zone, the third offset strategy and the three block war. While the module is grounded in broader debates from social and political thought about war and modernity, it explores a range of evolving and inter-related case studies that are central to understanding how war is changing: cybersecurity/artificial intelligence; cities and urban war; drones and the future of robotics; climate change and ecological insecurity. Each year we try to bring a guest lecturer from the Ministry of Defence or the FCO to discuss questions relevant to the course – and to discuss how the course can be relevant to a broad range of careers.

• Race and American Politics

  This module analyses the politics of the United States through the lens of its racial divisions, with particular emphasis on the black-white divide. In this module, you will have the opportunity to develop an understanding of why race has been and continues to be central to American political life and development. You will also have the chance to gain a deep theoretical and historical understanding of racial formation in the United States before moving on to apply these insights to current debates about the role of race in American democracy and public policy. Topics typically include race and sexual politics, the black power movement, racialised voting, race and the labour movement, the carceral state, and other subjects. Ultimately, this module concludes that in order to understand the politics of the United States, we must understand its unique relationship with race.

• Religion and Violence

  There are those who claim that religion is little more than a perverse and irrational scar on the modern world, one that invariably causes violence, while others (at times driven by political motivations) claim that religion is ‘good’ and that violence only occurs when ‘religion has been hijacked by other forces’. Others still claim that ‘religious violence’ is a myth constructed for political purposes, and that one should not therefore speak of religion in such terms.

  In disentangling such claims, in this module we examine the relationship between religion and violence, asking whether one can draw such associations between the two and whether one can develop any broader theoretical understandings about their relationship that enhances our understanding of religion in the modern world. It thus challenges you to think through and develop an understanding of these issues. While examining a variety of theories and perspectives on the topic, including close examination of the arguments outlined above, we will continually refer to empirical data and case studies in which religious movements and religious individuals have been involved in violent activities, as well as examining cases where acts of immense violence (including genocide) have occurred in what appear to be political contexts, but where religious rhetoric may have been used by the perpetrators of violence.

• Sociology goes to Hollywood

  This module addresses contemporary debates in sociology and cinema by focusing on a single film each week. Its overall aim is to employ cinema for the purpose of social diagnosis.

  The module engages with cinema as a social fact, before linking together cinema (producing images of the social) and sociality (socialisation of the image) for analysis.

• Sociology of the Future

  We live in societies in which forecasting and planning for the future is an important activity for governments, institutions, businesses and individuals. We live in societies in which imaginings of the future as a better time or as a more fearful one circulate in the here and now, calling us into action or invoking threats or desires. This module considers how we should understand the future from sociological and cultural perspectives. The module will address both how we can look into the future through various techniques in order to gain a foresight into what might happen, and we will look at the future – how images of the future circulate in the present through the work of scientists, artists, filmmakers, writers, academics, politicians and others.

• Special Subject: Complexity, Pragmatism and Policy

  As is now commonly recognised, the world is becoming increasingly connected and complex. Just as policy and socio-political actors can no longer view the state, market and society as distinct and separate entities, we can no longer see the global as neatly divided between powerful and distinct nation-states. Global interaction via economics, the media and the internet overwhelm these earlier rigid barriers. But how do we understand this new world and, equally important, how do we act within.

  To try to answer that question we will explore complexity theory and pragmatist philosophy and their applications to politics, policy and society. The module will begin with an introduction to the development of the earlier ‘orderly/Newtonian’ framework played in shaping 19th and 20th-century social science and public policy. We will then go on to examine the paradigm shift in the natural sciences beyond the limits of that framework and towards a more complexity-oriented paradigm. Following this, we will begin to explore how complexity has spilled over into the social sciences at the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st. We will then explore how complexity overlaps with some of the main concepts from pragmatist philosophy and conclude with an exploration of the impact of a complexity framework on several policy areas.