SOC-10033 - Module Specification
School of Social Sciences
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

This module introduces the thought of the founding sociologists of the 19th century - Marx, Weber, and Durkheim - alongside other voices who were instrumental in shaping sociological thought, Simmel, Du Bois and Perkins Gilman.
Apart from considering the central works and ideas of these foundational sociologists, we also focus on the enormous changes that took place in the historical period we call modernity and consider how this influenced the origins of the discipline, the focus of its investigations, the methods employed to investigate society, and the concepts produced to understand and explain it. As such the module will provide an historical, technological, social, political and economic contextualisation of the origins of sociology and introduce students to the idea of thinking sociologically.
The module asks:
How did Sociology develop as a subject?
What did it have to say about the nature of modernity?
What is distinctive about modernity?
What is the relationship between sociology and modernity?
Why do we still study foundational social theory?

To familiarise students with the foundations of sociology of the 19th century.
To enable students to critically examine the work of key thinkers and understand how they relate to sociological conceptions of historical change expressed by notions such as feudalism and modernity.
To explore the impact these writers had on future research and assess the degree to which their analyses and findings remain relevant to contemporary society.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Conform to key academic conventions, reflect on own performance, and present materials in a coherent fashion: 1,2
Identify classical social theories and ways of theorising: 1,2
Formulate connections between sociology and modernity, in terms of conceptual links and an awareness of related historical developments: 1,2
Question the role of sociological theory, recognising that theorising is a means of simplifying complexity: 1,2
Discriminate between sociological and common-sense views: 1,2
Collaborate with others to research, write and present oral and visual material about one social theory/ist: 1

Study hours

10 hours lectures
10 hours seminars
4 hours student conference for delivery of presentations.
40 hours of asynchronous online activity to include engagement with key readings, note-taking, and video content.
34 hours presentation preparation to account for group meetings, research, writing, and producing visual materials.
52 hours exam preparation.

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment