2024/25 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

SLSP2731 Central Problems in Sociology

20 creditsClass Size: 160

Module manager: Dr Austin Harrington
Email: A.Harrington@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2024/25

Pre-requisite qualifications

At least 20 credits at Level 1 from a social science related discipline or the appropriate discovery theme.

This module is approved as a discovery module

Module summary

Do you want to be oriented effectively to our modern world? Do you want to understand the key topics in the on-going conversation sociologists have been having for 200 years about our social life, the groupings human beings form and the way they both make and are made by the societies within which they live? If so, Central Problems in Sociology may be the module for you. It focuses on the main thinkers of importance in the history of the discipline, showing how they have influenced each other and elucidating their main ideas. The module is organised around the themes of social integration; the individual and society; power and social change; and the social basis of culture, beliefs and consciousness. The conversation is brought up to date with a discussion of contemporary sociologists debating the question of modernity and what if anything may lie beyond it. Empirical materials covered include suicide, religion, bureaucracy, alienation and revolution, ideology, power and authority, sexuality, genocide, contemporary risks and the future of democracy. Prerequisites - normally 40 credits taken within the Faculty of ESSL or related disciplines.

Objectives

The aim of the module is to provide an introduction to the main themes of sociology, understood as the discipline concerned with: a) the nature of social order and change; and b) the role of human agency in relation to these.

On successful completion of this module, students should:
1) be able to understand the main problems of sociology, the attempted solutions to those problems, and their interrelation; and
2) have acquired a knowledge of the work of the key sociologists who have helped shape the discipline and establish its distinctiveness from the eighteenth century until the early post-Second World War period.

Learning outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1. Explain key approaches within sociology and social theory
2. Evaluate different theoretical approaches
3. Develop confidence in reading sociology and social theory
4. Critically discuss theories in verbal and written formats
5. Identify contexts in which theories are formed
6. Apply concepts to understand social life

Skills Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:

• Apply critical thinking skills to a range of social issues
• Apply well-defined and targeted information seeking and filtering capabilities
• Employ ethical practices in the use of multiple academic sources to support your understanding of own work
• Showcase evidence of independent thought
• Communicate complex information, including concepts, verbally and in written form

Syllabus

Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	22	1.00	22.00
Seminar	22	1.00	22.00
Private study hours			156.00
Total Contact hours			44.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Students receive formative feedback during tutorial discussions and at tutor’s open-door hours.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Assignment	Coursework	100.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 19/07/2024

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