| CODE | SOC2051 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Contemporary Social Issues | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Sociology | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Study-Unit Aims: This study-unit aims to teach students on how to use their theoretical studies in sociology to reflect on a set of contemporary issues. Students will be requested to identify a set of specific issues which they consider ‘hot’ and ‘important’ for Maltese society, for the Mediterranean region, or for the world in general. A session will be dedicated to each issue agreed upon. Each session will start with an exhaustive presentation by the lecturer, or if considered appropriate, by a group of students themselves. This will be followed by a discussion of the main sociological concepts or theories available to sociologists to appraise the issue using an interdisciplinary perspective. Issues which have a social policy dimension will also involve a discussion of this dimension and its applicability to the local context. The study-unit will be conducted with a focused empirical orientation. The main objective of this study-unit is to stimulate participants to concretise their sociological knowledge in sociology and to bridge the duality of social issues as they exist objectively (i.e. evidence in society) with the subjective dimension (i.e. public opinion about them). Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Kornblum/Joseph J. William (2001) Social Problems. Prentice Hall, 10th ed. - Gregg Lee Carter (2001) Analyzing Contemporary Social Issues: A Workbook with Student CHIP Software. Allyn & Bacon. - White J (1994) (ed) Contemporary Moral Problems, West Publishing Company, Minneapolis, 4th ed. - K.J. Neubeck & M.A. Neubeck (1997) Social Problems: A Critical Approach , 4th ed. - Krause Elizabeth L. (2005) A Crisis of Births: Population Politics and Family-Making in Italy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. - Anna Hickey-Moody, A & Peta Malins, P. Deleuzian encounters : studies in contemporary social issues. Basingstoke, New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2007. - Peet, P. Radical geography : alternative viewpoints on contemporary social issues. London: Methuen 1977. - Broockman, D. E. Approaches to Studying Policy Representation. - Legislative studies quarterly, 2016-02, Vol.41 (1), p.181-215. - Karwacki, A & Błędowski, P. Unemployment as a Contemporary Social Issue – Sociological and Economic Aspects. Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii PAN, Komitet Socjologii PAN, Wydział Filozofii i Socjologii UW: Studia socjologiczne, 2020-04-01 (1), p.135-164. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Mario Vassallo |
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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 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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