Course modules
- Full time: 120 credits per year
- Part time: 60 credits per year
Although we have study skills at level 4 and 5, throughout the course we will emphasise the transferable skills the course will develop, it will equip you to better understand the world we live in and give you the capacity to apply your knowledge and skills in new contexts in everyday life. You will develop your ability to think in different ways and acquire valuable intellectual skills, preparing you for careers in our ever changing society. A BA Hons in the social sciences could open up career opportunities in education, the health professions, law, social services, national and international voluntary and campaigning organisations, the media, public relations, public service organisations and government (national and local), the criminal justice system and social welfare organisations. The course offers a flexible route within higher education for people with varying levels of experience and will enable you to develop your skills of writing, analysis, critical thinking, presentation and teamwork and apply them to contemporary issues and problems in the real world.
Year 1
Understanding the Social: Theories and Themes (Requisite)
The main aim of this module is to introduce the distinctive features of Sociology as a critical discipline and approach to the study of society, developing an understanding and critical awareness of major classical sociological perspectives and traditions, and the social contexts in which they emerged. Students will develop an awareness of the sociological imagination and it's relevance for contemporary social life and within the social sciences, critically applying their knowledge of major sociological perspectives and traditions to historical and contemporary social contexts.
The Human Mind: Introduction to Psychology (Requisite)
The aim of this module is to introduce a broad range of students to the main perspectives in psychology that impact the discipline and beyond. The module aims to provide a basic understanding of the limitations as well as the strengths of these perspectives, and to think about the broader relevance of them in informing debates about key issues in the social sciences. But, more importantly, you will discover new ways of thinking about these studies and the ideas that they explore. The module aims to show how psychology can be – and has been – taken forward in interesting and existing ways through a careful re-examination of the ‘sacred texts’ that lie at its heart.
Modernity: Development and Structures (Requisite)
This module is designed to introduce key themes in British and European History, concentrating principally on the key developments responsible for the creation of Europe as a distinct social and cultural region. The module will look at social, political and cultural issues through changing artistic and media forms and ideological transformations, in order to consider the development and nature of modernity. Specific attention will be paid to the social and cultural development of Eastern Europe and Great Britain in relation to the rest of Europe and the wider world, especially in the context of national identity.
Models of Political Thought and The State (Requisite)
The module introduces students to some of the important political thinkers and some of the major political ideologies. Thinkers will include some of the following among others: Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Wollstonecraft, Marx and Mill. The ideologies will include liberalism, conservatism, socialism, fascism, feminism and nationalism. The aims are to facilitate an understanding of some of the most influential thinkers in the history of political thought, to facilitate an understanding of the nature of the political ideologies, and to encourage analysis of the work of the thinkers and the features of the ideologies. There will be focus upon concepts, key tenets and arguments as applied to contemporary society.
Research Methods in the Social Sciences (Requisite)
This module examines the theories and methods associated with qualitative and quantitative research, and how they are applied within the social sciences. The aim is to introduce students to the range of methods of enquiry in order to enable students to gain a fuller grasp of research methodologies and paradigms at level four. Level four compares and contrasts qualitative and quantitative methods, aiming to give those studying the social sciences the confidence, critical understanding and skills to provide a basis for informed judgments concerning disciplinary and interdisciplinary research methods and evidence, that members of the research-led professions need to make.
Academic Skills (Requisite)
The aim of the module is to introduce students to academic study skills. This module will equip students with the skills required for academic study at undergraduate level 4, it will help students acquire key academic vocabulary and to master key academic grammatical structures. The module will also help develop the necessary skills for reading academic texts, writing academic assignments including presentations, interpreting and presenting visual materials, academic referencing and research skills, supporting the range of assessments and formative tasks you will be required to undertake throughout your degree. The module will enable students to perform successfully across all modules of the first year programme, as well as preparing them for study throughout the entire undergraduate programme. Further to this, online contributions via the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), in your other modules will form part of your learning and teaching, and will be used as evidence in your assessed portfolio. This module will also enable you to develop the graduate key skills that are referenced in every module specification and these can be separately claimed at the end of your degree.
Year 2
Contemporary Social Theory (From Modernity to Post-Modernity) (Requisite)
Contemporary developments in social theory, concentrating especially on those that raise issues of general relevance across the social sciences e.g. post-empiricism, structuralism and post-structuralism, feminist theory, postmodernity and the critiques and defence of modernity. A more in-depth consideration of selected topics in areas of contemporary social theory, including: Interpretive sociology/hermeneutics, feminist theory, reflexive modernisation and risk society, postcolonial theory, history and modernism, neo-Marxism, critical theory and postmodernism, structuration theory and cybertheory.
The Human Mind: Psychosocial Factors (Requisite)
This module develops upon the understanding developed in the year 1 The Human Mind: Introduction to Psychology module. We review the main theories of psychology using historical and contemporary research to explore psychosocial factors. The aims of the module are: to promote a broad and critical understanding of the ways in which different aspects of the human mind influences various aspects of human behaviour and interactions as well as to more specifically gain a deeper understanding of key psychosocial factors such as identity and individual difference.
Social Policy and Social Change (Optional)
The module surveys and analyses some of the main developments in world affairs from the end of the Second World War to the end of the Cold War. This will include analysis of major international events and their impact on national, regional and global histories, and how political and social movements were expressed through popular music, film and fashion. Attention is paid to social, cultural and political forces in the development of national and international social policy and social change.
International Politics and Relations (Requisite)
This module examines the historical development of the modern international system and the central concepts and theories used to explain this development. It considers the unique features of international politics, and explores the origins of the inter-state system. This includes attention to concepts such as sovereignty, power and terrorism. The historical development of international relations in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries will also be discussed, focusing particularly on international politics in the post-war era. The module also investigates some of the political issues which have arisen as a result of globalisation.
Research Practice in the Social Sciences (Mandatory)
The module will enable students to extend their grasp of qualitative and quantitative methods. The module will develop their critical understanding of research and thereby contrast a range of methods, methodologies and research paradigms. The students will be able to use this and already acquired knowledge at level 4 to plan and create a research proposal that can form the basis of their dissertation at level 6. The module will also continue to clarify the discipline and interdisciplinary based research methods, highlighting both the similarities and differences between them.
Advanced Academic and Employability Skills (Requisite)
The aim of the module is to further develop academic and employability skills in order to support students’ undergraduate and professional studies. The intention is to continue to develop effective learning, research skills and strategies to promote successful academic study in Higher Education and providing an opportunity to pursue a task that requires the students to draw upon a range of disciplines. Level 5 Advanced Academic and Employability skills will concentrate more on employability skills than the level four module as many of the skills including data analysis, numeracy and professional literacy skills are important for employability not just academic study. Emphasis will be placed on developing interview skills, writing for a particular audience and writing to persuade. The module will build on employability skills such as preparing a C.V, working with others, leading teams and reviewing personal and team performance and development. Further to this, online contributions via the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), in your other modules will form part of your learning and teaching, and will be used as evidence in your assessed portfolio. This module will also enable you to develop the graduate key skills that are referenced in every module specification and these can be separately claimed at the end of your degree.
Behaviour Awareness (Optional)
This module is designed to develop knowledge and understanding about behaviour including a range of causal factors and its potential impact on learning and the learning environment. The students will explore the value of peer, community and civic attitudes and gain insights into what is considered to be appropriate or inappropriate behaviour in relation to age, while investigating strategies, policies and procedures used in modifying behaviour. The students will develop knowledge and understanding of policies relating to SEN, EAL, equality of opportunity, gifted and talented and inclusion.
Year 3
Dissertation (Mandatory)
Students will select a topic in consultation with tutors, define the parameters of their chosen project, select appropriate research methods, and undertake independent research to produce a dissertation which makes a contribution to knowledge-production in the area of the social sciences.
Identity and Culture (Mandatory)
This module examines the social and cultural processes generating the production of diverse contemporary identities and the decentring of traditional and modern identities and the structure versus agency debate including the self-reflexive project. The module aims to critically explore the cultural forms and practices produced and consumed in the expression of identity, which will include the body as a self-project. Lectures will be organised around themes such as ethnicity, gender and sexual identities, new social movements, the spatial location of identity, corporate identities, identity and material culture, techno and cyber identities, and national and cosmopolitan identities.
Social Psychology (Mandatory)
The aim of this module is to provide you with a broad understanding in some of the key areas of social psychology. Lectures will explore social psychological phenomena as they relate to individuals (e.g., the self, attitudes), group behaviour (e.g., social influence, leadership), and important social issues (e.g., prejudice, aggression). Key theories and classic and contemporary studies will be identified and discussed. Lectures will give you an understanding of how social psychological thinking has developed across time.
Social and Cultural Futures (Optional)
The module content will examine key selected themes in the culture and society of contemporary Europe. During this module, students will examine primary sources, to gain a critical awareness and understanding of aspects of British and European culture and society. This module will focus on a range of subject areas in contemporary society in relation to the historical development and change of social structures, social policies and identities. Students will chose from a range of subject areas such as the media, the environment, sport, health, and crime and social justice in order to demonstrate aspects of social and cultural change.
Globalisation and Localism: Processes and Structures, from the Local to the Global (Mandatory)
Students will study current debates on globalisation and the relationship between global and local processes and structures. This module will explore globalisation as a cultural, economic, political and social process with differential impacts in different parts of the globe. The module will concentrate on the roles of the nation state, international organisations and non-governmental organisations, in the development of a global civil society. Above all, the module will provide a critical evaluation of the theories of globalisation and international relations.
Critical Evaluation of Interventions and their success (Optional)
Early intervention in particular, as well as intervention in general, is considered a key to improving quality of life for all, considering poverty and disadvantage, based on the rights of the child to positive regard as a contributing member of the family. This module explores policy and practice in relation to children and their families, and the particular contribution of psychological and sociological perspectives for understanding the child and the family. Psychology also provides a rationale for a range of interventions, with recommended approaches sometimes at odds with one another.
