Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25
None
Available as a Free Standing Elective
No
Aims
Through a focus on the consumption of nature, and working through themes of pollution and resource use, everyday practices, and the consumption of nature, this module aims to explore sociological approaches to understanding environmental decline. And by asking the question how sociological insights can be used to develop solutions, it further aims to engage students in work that moves from understanding to intervention.
Intended Learning Outcomes
Demonstrate the ability to apply a critical and questioning approach to the sociologies of consumption, nature, human-animal relations and environmental decline: 1Demonstrate an understanding that environmental decline is both an outcome of, and is embedded in, complex social, cultural, economic, technological and political relations that have very real, yet complex intersecting consequences: 1Describe, using relevant empirical examples and evidence alongside sociological analysis, the intricacies of environmental decline, the consumption of nature, and human-animal relations: 1Analyse and clearly formulate different sociological perspectives of social, cultural, technological and economic change, in relation to the consumption of nature, and to use these in analyses of environmental decline and in proposals for intervention and solutions: 1Sociologically analyse selected examples of the problems of consuming nature, human-animal relations, and environmental decline, and to develop applied sociological proposals for solving these problems: 1
22 contact hours (two hours per week) 55 hours independent study and workshop preparation time 73 hours assessment preparation
Description of Module Assessment
1: Essay weighted 100%A 3000 word essay.Students write a 3000 word essay, selecting a question from a list supplied by the module leader. The essay questions will ask students to develop a sociological analysis of a selected problem area, drawn from the module, followed by a proposal for an intervention or solution.