Sociology BA Honours

This module traces the changing terms of debate around race and racism in sociology and sociological thinking. It has two primary aims; firstly to deconstruct and decolonise ‘white sociology’ and second, relate understandings of racism and racialised power relations to new and emerging forms of xenophobia in individual lives, institutions, and in the digital world. You'll also focus on how race interacts with other options in the programme.

This module will enhance your study and communication skills, preparing you for your academic path and encourages you to become an independent learner, taking control of your thinking and learning. Part of this transition is finding your voice as a student; exploring what you care about in the field and developing a personal engagement with it.

This module introduces the foundations of sociological theory and encourages you to appreciate central questions and ideas that have shaped sociology’s development as a discipline. You'll also recognise the way these continue to shape the way sociologists engage with today’s social world. This module serves as foundational knowledge for future modules.

This module introduces the ways in which we can understand inequality from a qualitative research perspective. You'll learn how ethnography and interviews as qualitative research methods are used by sociologists to study social inequality and produce diverse findings about divisions in society. You'll then be equipped with the practical skills to carry out ethnography and interviews yourself, a skill that will be further developed during your second year.

This module supports you to develop a ‘sociological imagination’ and identify the relationship between personal lives and social structures. You'll be encouraged to discuss the world around you and to summarise your experience of it. You'll be asked to identify links between social actions and social structures and to consider how choice and agency are always shaped, restricted and facilitated by race, gender, age, dis/ability, and other social factors. You'll be equipped with the analytical skills to utilise and develop across your degree.

This module introduces the importance of sociology and sociological enquiry in the community. You'll have the opportunity to focus on current social issues facing the local community, to better understand the ways in which social issues are framed, narrated and can be explored. You'll focus on both cause and effect, and through debating, discussing and engaging, explore how we think about social issues at the local, everyday level. You'll also explore the urban environment around the University, becoming part of the community of sociologists at Middlesex and beyond.

This module introduces the study of contemporary society. You'll learn core approaches to understanding contemporary society, by studying social structures, institutions and the social relations that comprise it from a global and intersectional lens.  Each week you'll be introduced to new contemporary topics, learning how they are debated, researched and theorised from varying sociological perspectives. You'll be able to bring your learning together from previous modules and apply theory to contemporary topics.

This module will give you a broad understanding of theoretical debates regarding the antecedents and consequences of social stratification and inequality. You'll learn to use secondary data analysis to answer questions related to social stratification and inequality issues. In seminars, you'll work with secondary data from ONS and surveys and use this data to describe specific instances of social inequality in Britain and other countries. You'll also gain the key skills to successfully undertake research method modules which can set you apart to future employers.

This module gives you the knowledge and skills to use SPSS for data analysis and thematic analysis to analyse qualitative data. You'll have the opportunity to propose a methodological research project on a topic of interest and produce a mixed method project. Part of the project involves forming a conversational guide, collecting and analysing data, and writing a report. You'll be prepared to undertake qualitative and quantitative research for your dissertation and study advanced research methods during your studies.

The module provides skills and capacities for you to use social theory in order to think creatively and constructively about ways in which the social and political world is changing today. You'll develop your knowledge of key thinkers, gained in Year 1, by linking with your everyday life experiences. The module will bring social theory into focus and you'll understand how societies are changing, linking with the evolution of founding theory, by building on the knowledge of key theories that frame modern sociology.

This module will develop your understanding in how we can use sociological thinking to work towards bringing social change. You'll consider theories of social change and how they are utilised by social groups and movements and how different actors use sociological ideas to respond to social issues and problems. Through engaging with organisations and work practices, campaigns and campaign groups, you'll gain practical skills that will foster your ability to engage in wider actions for social change around issues that concern you.

This module introduces the changing ways family, intimate and personal lives have been understood by sociology. You'll explore changing ideas of family structures and practices, and explore ‘family’ as a social institution, considering how it is shaped by government policy, social attitudes, religious practice, social spaces and institutions. You'll gain broader understandings of intimate and personal life that include our relationships with friends, animals, colleagues, and ourselves.

The module will develop your understanding of a range of paradigms for the study of religion and religious experience and relate these to the place of religion in contemporary societies as well as in your life. The relation between religious experience, self and society is the focus of this module and it's explored through empirical, interpretive, ethnographic, critical, philosophical, psychoanalytical and theological frameworks. You'll also develop the skills and knowledge required to undertake future works in related modules and/or a dissertation.

This module allows you to gain a comprehensive understanding of the ways in which digital media is embedded in everyday life; for networking, political action and forming identities; leaving our online and offline lives interrelated. The ongoing digitalisation of society presents important topics of investigation that range from everyday social, personal and political life.

This module supports your personal and professional development by providing work experience opportunities within a community-based setting. You'll explore the links between academic study and community engagement in order to integrate and apply theoretical knowledge to real world issues. You'll gain processes for structured reflection and develop an understanding of community concerns, cultural competence and ethical and social responsibilities. This module allows you to cultivate a range of skills and knowledge to be applied to further studies and employment.

*You can take this module for one term only over the course of your degree

This module will develop your understanding of theoretical perspectives on race and social justice in relation to lived realities. You'll engage in detailed discussions of white power and privilege across different spaces, racism and intersectional oppression to understand the theories of race, power and privilege. You'll then focus on the power of the state and legislation, providing a critical reflection through interdisciplinary scholarship. You'll be prepared to engage with race and social justice topics for your dissertation as well as continuing into further study or employment in the field.

This module introduces contemporary issues in housing, welfare, education and care and supports you in analysing policy making and implementation. You'll consider how people respond to policy and challenge policy decisions that impact their lives. You'll study the history and development of the welfare state in the UK and the changes that have since taken place in government ideology, provision, and economics. You can develop your interest in the module themes in third year options that explore education, work and health in depth.

This module aims to develop understanding of a range of digital and visual methods for conducting research and analysing data primarily through digital ethnography, semiotics and content analysis and to introduce innovative digital methodologies being developed to study digital media problematising them from a methodological and ethical position. You'll be equipped with the practical skills needed to undertake visual and digital research and the knowledge needed to do this in an ethical way, useful for work and study environments in the future.

This module will enable you to critically review sociological perspectives on gender and sexuality. Drawing upon a range of theoretical frameworks, you'll critically review the ways in which gender and sexuality have been positioned within sociology.  You'll be encouraged to critically analyse everyday experience using theoretical material. You'll explore the ways in which gender and sexuality are intertwined with race, religion, age, dis/ability, class and other categories and enables you to draw on sociological theory to evaluate the social world.

This module provides a critical understanding of violence as an organised form of action involving both state and non-state actors. From the work of the likes of Marx, Tilly, Mann, Arendt and Fanon, organised violence emerged as a key element in modern state-building in Western countries and the global South. You'll look at how in today’s world organised violence is equally central not only to the forging of political entities but also to their reproduction. This module is recommended for those who aim to work in human rights, conflict and peace, and terrorism areas.

This module is to introduce a range of topics and theoretical and empirical debates within the field of health and disability studies from a sociological life course perspective. You'll be encouraged to reflect on everyday social situations and challenges people across the life course with disabilities experience; and to engage in how they are shaped and framed by social, economic and political explanations of health and disability. You'll be able to apply sociological insights developed in this module to health and disability studies and to health care professions you may enter after graduation.

This module will equip you with the Sociological and Criminological concepts necessary to explore personal and collective experiences of radicalisation and extremism, to critically assess current policy and practice responses to this development, and to propose future policy directions. In so doing, you'll engage with urgent societal questions around security and insecurity and will serve as a resource for those looking to undertake research or employment in areas relating to community support and prevention of violent extremism.

This module uses the workplace as a site of learning and professional development. It fosters the growth of key employability skills and a critical understanding of work place policies and practices. A central theme of this module is reflective practice and you'll be engaged in a process of action and reflection. The module also supports the meaningful integration of theoretical knowledge and placement practice, and a critical awareness of ethical and professional behaviours. You'll also cultivates a range of skills and knowledge useful for further studies and employment.

This module aims to synthesise your learning from previous modules and gives you an opportunity to study independently and investigate a topic in depth, in accordance with the Sociology Benchmark Statement. It fosters academic curiosity; an inquiry-based approach, and the employment and application of research skills thus facilitating the development of a higher level of theorising.