Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE IFS0205

 
TITLE Introduction to Humanities and Social Sciences 1

 
UM LEVEL 00 - Mod Pre-Tert, Foundation, Proficiency & DegreePlus

 
MQF LEVEL 4

 
ECTS CREDITS 5

 
DEPARTMENT Humanities

 
DESCRIPTION In this study-unit, learners will engage with the disciplines of political science, critical theory, and sociology and their methodologies and will be introduced to discipline-specific terminology, the basic concepts of each discipline, their background and the current state of knowledge, the theoretical frameworks of each discipline, as well as the themes in a broader context of social science.

Study-Unit Aims:

To present the terminology, themes, and concepts in international relations, archaeology, history, geography, political science, social studies, and critical theory in order to enable learners to bridge their existing knowledge with the requirements of undergraduate study-units in different fields of the social sciences.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- recognize the main themes and concepts pertaining to each discipline within the study-unit.
- use basic discipline-related terminology appropriately and effectively.
- name the main theoretical frameworks of each discipline.
- infer and clearly identify the overlap between disciplines.
- use knowledge gained to form personal understandings of the areas covered in the study-unit.

2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- identify author bias and author theoretical stance.
- critically engage with the foundational texts of the social sciences and coherently critique the texts.
- integrate awareness of the themes of inclusion in society.
- sustain written arguments related to history and the current state of knowledge of the study areas.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

- Fieser, J. & Stumpf, E. S. (2020). Philosophy: A Historical Survey with Essential Readings. New York: McGraw Hill Education.
- Haralambos, M., Holborn, M., Chapman, S. & Moore, S. (2013). Sociology: Themes and Perspectives. London: HarperCollins
- Bronner, S. 2011. Critical Theory: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press: Oxford. ISBN: 9780199730070.
- Hunt, E and Colander, D. 2017. Social Science: An Introduction to the Study of Society. 16th edition. Routlege: New York. ISBN: 1138654264.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture, Independent Study & Tutorial

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Presentation SEM1 Yes 10%
Presentation SEM1 Yes 10%
Assignment SEM1 Yes 80%

 
LECTURER/S Raylene Abdilla

 

 
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.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit