| CODE | LAS1036 | ||||||
| TITLE | Sociology: An Overview | ||||||
| UM LEVEL | I - Introductory Level | ||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Centre for the Liberal Arts and Sciences | ||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The Unit provides an overview of Sociology, its wide field of interest and its basic concepts. The unit aims to introduce students to the systematic study of the social world, its institutions and structures and how these may have an impact on our life and vice versa, how people’s actions and interaction may affect their social context. The Unit introduces students to the main sociological perspectives (ways of looking at the social world): Functionalism, Conflict Theory, Social Action Theory, Feminism and Postmodernism which give their particular interpretation of how society works. The unit aims to familiarise students with the origins of the discipline and with its scientific foundations. One of the objectives of the Unit is to distinguish between common sense knowledge about topics which many people are familiar with and which they may share and sociological knowledge or knowledge based on evidence obtained from social research. Students will be invited to use the “sociological imagination”; to re-examine existing assumptions and challenge accepted ways of looking at social issues. Some introductory concepts that will be discussed include: society, culture, socialisation, roles, values, norms, social control, social change, globalisation and social class. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the Unit the student will be able to: - Differentiate between common sense knowledge and sociological knowledge; - Identify different sociological perspectives; - Compare and contrast different sociological perspectives; - Understand basic theoretical concepts; - Explain basic sociological concepts in her/his own words. 2. Skills: By the end of the Unit the student will be able to: - Make sense of data/information using such basic sociological knowledge; - Apply sociological perspectives to look at familiar social phenomena from different angles; - Explain in an essay/discuss in class or in a group the basic foundation concepts of Sociology; - Look at social issues in a different and more critical way than before; to question taken-for-granted assumptions. Main Text/s: - Best, S. (2003). A Beginner’s guide to social theory. London, Sage. - Mann, D. (2008). Understanding Society: A Survey of Modern Social Theory. Oxford University Press. - Giddens, A. (2009). Sociology 6th Ed. UK, Polity. Supplementary Reading: - Haralambos, M. & Holborn M. (2008). Sociology: Themes and Perspectives (8th Ed.) UK, Harper-Collins. - Kivisto, P. (2011). Key Ideas in Sociology (3rd Ed.). US, Sage. - Macionis, J.J. and Plummer K. (2012). Sociology: A global introduction. (4th Ed.) UK, Prentice Hall. - Mills, C.W. (1959, 2000). The Sociological Imagination. New York, Oxford University Press. - Ritzer, G. (2007). Contemporary Sociological Theory and its Classical Roots – The Basics. 2nd Ed. New York, McGraw Hill. - Slattery, M. (2003). Key Ideas in Sociology. Nelson Thornes. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Angele Deguara |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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