In your first year you'll study with our partner, ARU College. This module will provide you with the necessary skills to begin studying at level 4 in courses related to the humanities, social sciences, English, media and education. You will be introduced to the core skills necessary to succeed in higher education, including thinking critically, researching, and referencing appropriately, demonstrating appropriate numeracy and ICT skills, and communicating effectively verbally and in writing. In addition to these fundamental study skills, you'll be given an introduction to a broad range of disciplines whose skills and theories are widely applicable. You will study a variety of writing styles in order to recognise, deconstruct and replicate various forms of persuasive, analytical, and informative writing. You'll learn the basics of intercultural studies and how these theories can be applied to real-world problems. You will consider social perceptions held across Western cultures, and the difference between social and self-perception, participating in structured discussion and argument. You'll be introduced to the core principles of psychology and will explore various current applications of psychological theory. You will also be introduced to ethics and learn about some of the key theories and thinkers in the development of current ethical considerations in a range of scenarios. This module is made up of the following eight constituent elements: Interactive Learning Skills and Communication (ILSC); Information Communication Technology (ICT); Critical Thinking; Intercultural Studies; Psychology; Composition and Style; Ethics; Social Perceptions.
TV and radio news, the press and social media report daily on momentous concerns: the war in Ukraine, Covid-19, the climate crisis, Black Lives Matter, the pulling down of statues, Brexit, Northern Ireland, the abortion controversy and so on. But it is rare for the wider picture – the historical backdrop, the long view – to be given. These issues do not come from nowhere, nor are they ‘new’. Some have a long history, for example pandemics have been with us for centuries. You will examine the historical background to issues such as these by exploring their roots and precedents. It will enable you to understand these concerns more fully and thereby be able to engage more knowledgably in debates concerning these pressing issues of the day.
View the full module definitionThe way we communicate may depend on a wide variety of factors including the place we grew up in, our age, our gender, and so on and so forth. At the same time, the way others communicate with us may depend on their perception and understanding of who we are. This module introduces you to the field of sociolinguistics. It discusses the intersection between language choices in actual communication and the various factors that could influence them. The module is particularly focused on the social side of communication. In doing so, the module discusses different forms of communication including written (e.g. letters), spoken (interviews) and visual communication (e.g. linguistic landscape) in today’s contemporary societies. Key employability skills developed on this module include (i) improving knowledge of how acts of communication unfold, (ii) enhancing communication skills, and (iii) the application of basic IT skills.
View the full module definitionThis module provides an introduction to the study of Philosophy at degree level, and encourages you to explore some of the ‘big’ questions: the existence of God; the nature of knowledge; the nature of time; the nature of the self; free will; the mind, and the nature of ethical deliberation. You'll be actively involved in discussing and debating some of the key arguments about these questions through the study of contemporary philosophical work in this area. You'll also develop some key degree-level skills. These skills include: a) learning about the structure and ‘logic’ of argumentation (critical thinking); b) learning about how to engage in independent and reliable research (working in the knowledge economy) and c) learning how to structure and prepare essays and assignments (content curation). There will be corresponding interactive workshops to help structure and develop your skills in these areas. You'll get the opportunity to develop your writing and presentational skills, as well as gaining knowledge and understanding of the foundational issues in contemporary philosophy. This module will help you to become adaptable, flexible and analytical in your thinking, and to strengthen skills in developing creative approaches to problems.
View the full module definitionRuskin Modules are designed to prepare our students for a complex, challenging and changing future. These interdisciplinary modules provide the opportunity to further broaden your perspectives, develop your intellectual flexibility and creativity. You will work with others from different disciplines to enable you to reflect critically on the limitations of a single discipline to solve wider societal concerns. You will be supported to create meaningful connections across disciplines to apply new knowledge to tackle complex problems and key challenges. Ruskin Modules are designed to grow your confidence, seek and maximise opportunities to realise your potential to give you a distinctive edge and enhance your success in the workplace.
In this module you'll develop an advanced knowledge of politics and international relations, and you'll acquire the ability to apply the theories you learned, to interpret and understand power dynamics and political relations of the present world. You'll discuss concepts as ‘multilateralism’, and ‘legitimacy’ and keep on building the expertise that will help you to shape arguments and sustain your positions and opinions. After analysing questions pertaining to power relations, political agreements between states and within regions, and the role of international and global actors in shaping current decision-making process, you'll learn how to critically rethink and reflect about these topics to analyse reality. We'll expand, analyse and discuss theories, paradigms and concepts introduced in Year 1 at a deeper level, providing an extended knowledge of key issues in contemporary world politics.
This module addresses key topics in what is known as the ‘Culture Wars’. In this module you will become familiar with areas currently contested between different arguing camps around social justice, identity, inclusivity and attaining a society which recognises difference, including gender, race, sexuality, ability, class and economic status, species and ecology. In this course you will explore the linguistic and philosophical techniques of differing arguments around the role of power and prejudice invested in discussions on what it means to be ‘woke’, and specifically how these arguments fall into either/or structures which prevent full ethical inclusivity. By studying the diversity of definitions of differences, and the structures of language which bring them into being, you can look at the elements involved in the way society attributes value, and justice, to different individuals. The course will analyse language structures of difference from linguistic signs, philosophical discussions, and a variety of media including social media, mainstream news, as well as more experimental and personal narratives from different people telling their stories and ‘speaking truth to power’. You will be able to reveal the structures of power which benefit from fuelling arguments, and recognise the deeper value of diversity, justice and inclusivity.
View the full module definitionThis module will help you understand how peoples’ mobilities and migration shape, and have shaped, societies and individual lives in a current and historical context. You will explore different migration movements across nationstate borders such as the Syrian refugee crisis, EU migration, the ‘Windrush Generation’ and Kindertransport. The focus will be, in particular, on nation-states’ migration policies and the effect these policies have on migrants’ rights and experiences in different areas of social policy (e.g. employment, housing, education and migrant admission procedure). Therefore, you will be introduced to different theoretical frameworks which analyse nation-states’ responses to migration and migrant integration, which will equip you with skills to evaluate migration policies and to formulate recommendations for effective migrant integration strategies. You will be introduced to different local, national and international organisations and networks which deal with migration and integration and offer opportunities for volunteering, internships and/or employment.
View the full module definitionThis module will introduce you to practical and theoretical aspects of the study of intercultural communication. It offers insights into interpersonal communication in a culturally diverse world and will explore how to effectively build bridges between cultures. This module will benefit your social, academic and professional life where you are likely to meet people from diverse backgrounds. You will build on your own cultural and linguistic knowledge, sense of identity and communication skills. You will examine your own culture and gain insights into the way in which cultural assumptions affect judgements of the behaviour and communication codes of other cultures. The key theoretical, analytical and descriptive terms will be introduced in weekly lectures, you will then be given the opportunity to explore these topics in seminars. These seminars will encourage to reflect on your own experiences.
View the full module definitionBuilding on work you have done at Level 4, this Level 5 module examines ways of thinking about the social that are ‘critical’ in that they, in a variety of ways, challenge or decentre taken-for-granted assumptions and structures. In doing so, it will consider the ways in which knowledge of the social world is itself political. The module will show you how social theory can be both challenging and useful. The module is organised around four themes: Bourdieu and beyond: knowledge, culture, and the reproduction of inequalities; Intersectional approaches to social divisions; Humanity 2.0? Self, embodiment, and enhancement; and Reassembling the social: encompassing non-human actors. You'll develop your understanding and confidence of theories through close reading of primary texts. In the latter stages of the module, you'll have opportunities to apply the concepts and approaches we have learnt to real world issues in a series of theory mapping workshops.
View the full module definitionBuilding on the knowledge you gained in previous modules, here you'll engage in a more critical and analytic exploration of the notion of equality, including critiquing notions of justice and social justice. We explore the notion of community through the role of the individual and groups in communities and wider social arenas. You'll discuss what it means to hold rights, children’s rights and the link between being a rights holder and a responsible citizen. We also consider the notion of the individual, individual freedom and identity and the impact of culture on identity and life in a wider social arena. This module builds on concepts introduced at Level 4. It provides a more critical and analytic exploration of the notion of equality, including critiquing notions of justice and social justice. The module develops the notion of community through the role of the individual and groups in communities and wider social arenas. It explores what it means to hold rights, children’s rights and the link between being a rights holder and a responsible citizen. During the module students will explore the notion of the individual, individual freedom and identity. They will consider the impact of culture on identity and life in a wider social arena, as well as explore the concept of a global citizen, and develop awareness of social and professional responsibility to contribute to the creation of sustainable futures for all. At the end of the trimester students will have demonstrated an understanding of the interrelationship between key aspects of the module in relation to education. Students will analyse the role of education in promoting an understanding of equality, culture and citizenship. The module provides students with the opportunity to develop skills related to synthesising ideas from a variety of sources in order to demonstrate a well-structured line of argument within their writing. This module will support students to recognise the links between an educational settings and the community.
View the full module definitionIn this module you will examine the interaction between health and society and, more specifically, the relationship between health and illness and social institutions. The vulnerabilities, strengths and differences between human bodies are not only experienced by all of us in our daily lives but are increasingly at the forefront of political and social media debate and controversy as well as the targets of national and international trade, aid and inequality. You will look at how disability and ideas of the “healthy body” relate to neoliberal notions of individual agency and personal responsibility, often serving to legitimise forms of social stigma, marginalisation and inequality. You will also examine the ways in which medicine has been racialised. You will be taught by lecture and interactive learning sessions, and you will be required to engage with written and visual sources and numeric datasets for learning on this module. Within this learning environment, you will assume collective responsibility for applying course material to a specific topic in order to generate sociological understandings of health and inequality. You will be encouraged to engage with some challenging themes, thus building on a set of adaptability skills that will also create opportunities to engage with the wider university structure, and thus develop social capital.
View the full module definitionViolence and Confrontation aims to guide you through the key thinking and theory behind some of the most pressing issues facing criminologists and wider society today. Each week, you will explore theory framed within case study, allowing you opportunities to consider media, policy, and criminal justice system responses to types of violence ranging from hate crime to homicide and terrorism. You will also be considering the construction of race, gender, and sexuality, getting to the core of social issues which might incite violence. This module seeks to build your critical thinking skills as well as your analytical ability, granting you opportunities to question and debate with your fellow students within seminars, as well as undertake active learning tasks. By the end of the module, you will be able to both apply theory and critique instances of violence through a new modern lens
View the full module definitionOn this module, you'll study the development of the United States during the 20th century as it gained superpower status, investigating social and political change from the Progressive era through to Ronald Reagan's presidency. You'll consider such key figures as Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Al Capone, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Richard Nixon, with topics including US foreign policy, imperialism, the New Deal, McCarthyism, the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War and Watergate. You'll evaluate themes such as the continuities and changes in foreign policy, the development of the reform tradition as well as the problems of race. This module builds on you work in 'The Growth of the USA,' teaching you to draw upon the history of the United States in order to understand the country's present status. You’ll attend a combination of lectures and seminars. Your teamwork and oral skills will be promoted through group discussion during seminars, helping to prepare you for employment by encouraging your interaction with colleagues. You’ll develop the ability to offer cogent written analysis and informed analysis under pressure. You can also tale this module by distance learning.
View the full module definitionThis module gives you the opportunity to undertake valuable and rewarding learning and career development opportunity. The School of Humanities and Social Sciences Professional Placement module provides you with the chance to embark on a work placement, where you can gain important skills and experiences which will support your career planning and your personal development. This module supports you to explore your career aspirations and opportunities, immerse yourself in a work environment, and then critically reflecting on the experience. The module requires you to independently research, select, and secure a work placement where you can apply the knowledge and skills from your degree to-date. You'll commit to a regular schedule of work, and regularly reflecting on the experience through a Placement Diary. At the end of the placement, you'll reflect and evaluate your work experience, and your own career goals. You'll be supported throughout your work placement by academic staff, as well as guidance from the Placements/ Employability and Careers team. The Professional Placement module is a great opportunity to explore your graduate career options, enhance your CV, develop your career plans, and put your degree skills and knowledge to work.
In this module you’ll investigate popular culture and its relationship to 'official' or 'high' culture. It explores issues of identity, resistance and consumption, focusing on specific case studies, including, for example, subcultural practices and style. You’ll explore the relationships between taste, style and ideology through an analysis of modes of consumption and products, such as shopping, music, film and tv, dress, eating, and leisure activities. We’ll look at contemporary icons and what they indicate about forms of resistance, diversity and identity. The social metaphors a cultural group may employ in terms of the spectacular and the public are considered against the more silent and private strategies of consumption involved in, for example, fashioning of the body and identity. The module thus deals with popular culture both on the terms in which it asserts itself and in the wider framework of a politics of pleasure and possibility.
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From the music hall to reality TV, from Victorian melodrama to the soap opera, in this module you'll discover how popular culture has changed in Britain over a two hundred year period. In so doing, you'll be able to understand your favourite cultural forms in a historical context. We will look at the growth of media (online social media, newspapers, magazines, film, radio, television) and understand them as ways of interpreting culture. Arguments about popular culture as social control and the emergence of mass culture in Britain will be explored. We will discover the extent to which a popular culture (created by the common people) exists or has existed. This module might be of specific interest to those considering going into media related professions but would also suit those with a more general interest in popular culture. Employing complex forms of analysis, you'll apply cultural theory to historical situations. Teamwork and oral skills are promoted through group discussion and this helps to prepare students for employment as it encourages interaction with colleagues. Assessment will test out your ability to develop solve complex historical problems in a critical and analytical way.
View the full module definitionViolence, Gender and Victimisation will take you on a deep dive into issues surrounding gender-based violence and harms. You will examine violence in the context of gender and wider societal responses, examining social norms, policy challenges and criminal justice responses. You will critically consider current and potential barriers and complexities in the response to gender-based violence and reflect on current policy guidance.
View the full module definitionIn this module you'll consider how spirituality and religion have diversified and changed in a globalised society, and explore changing patterns of belief, practice and association. You'll have the opportunity to investigate aspects of spirituality, such as mindfulness and meditation, and new personal rituals, such as fixing ‘love locks’ on Paris bridges, or setting up roadside memorials. You'll explore how traditional religions have adapted and changed in a more’ liquid’ society, for example, by going online; but also how some religious groups have reacted against globalisation. And you'll discover new secular forms of belief and practice and learn about the rise of people identifying as of ‘no religion’. You'll look at how sociologists have historically examined religious beliefs, practices, movements and institutions in order to understand more about the implications of these for individuals, societies and communities. But you'll also learn how as contemporary sociologists we can continue to explore and understand the cultural and political significance of religion and spirituality and their interaction with secular world-views within the context of globalisation. You'll have the opportunity to undertake structured skill development in presentation and debate, and in written analysis. These skills contribute to future employability skills and relate to other outcomes on your degree. This module is taught by interactive sessions and may include visits to places of spirituality and/or religion, such as mosques, churches and meditation centres.
View the full module definitionThis module introduces you to the development of Britain in the twentieth century. You'll examine changes in politics and social structure; in particular, you will focus on the development of the party political system as well as class, gender, sexuality and the economy. You'll examine key political and social figures such as David Lloyd George, Winston Churchill, the Beatles and Margaret Thatcher. You'll consider domestic policy issues, and Britain's global position - particularly regarding Europe. There is an emphasis on the way that the reform tradition came to embrace the welfare state. You'll also examine the impact of Total War on twentieth century society, as well as unemployment, consumerism and the changing roles of women. You'll find it useful for understanding many current social and political controversies as it explores how Britain today came into being. The module employs a combination of lectures and seminars. Teamwork and oral skills are promoted through group discussion during seminars, and this helps to prepare you for employment as it encourages interaction with colleagues. The module will deepen your analytical skills by focusing on more complex arguments than at Level 4. It will develop your ability to engage in autonomous learning and problem solving, thereby preparing you for Level 6.
Crime has been a problem for authorities since the dawn of time; however, what constituted a ‘crime’ and how people thought that criminals should be prosecuted has been everchanging. In this interdisciplinary module, you'll consider the history of crime, policing and punishment from the 1600s to present day. Through a range of primary and secondary sources, you'll explore how ideas of crime and attitudes to offences such as murder, rioting and drug use has changed and evolved throughout the centuries. You'll learn about how past societies detected and tried to prevent crime, as well as punished criminals such as through imprisonment, hanging, whipping and transportation. Case studies including Jack the Ripper, the Bloody Code and knife crime of the modern era will be brought in from week to week so that we can explore continuities and changes in crime across history to the present day.
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This module is designed to prepare you to take your interests and skills into the ‘real world’. You'll learn about different research approaches used in academic research as well as how research can be used to inform policy and interventions to make a difference in wider society. The initial focus will be on assessing how academic research is designed to investigate some of the most pressing issues in contemporary societies. In doing so, you'll be trained in how to select and use different types of research designs and methods to answer research questions. You'll then take the research knowledge and skills you have developed and apply them to a ‘real world’ scenario. In this part of the module, you'll work with an external organisation to investigate an ongoing issue, and in doing so you'll gain valuable experience working with professionals relevant to your degree. Having gained skills and experience in both academic and applied research, this module ultimately prepares you for your final year undergraduate major project (UMP) as well as providing you with key transferable skills to help you onto the career pathway of your choice.
Knowledge of a foreign language can be a major asset both in your academic and professional life. The Anglia Language Programme offers you the opportunity to study a foreign language as part of your course.
The individual Major Project will allow you to undertake a substantial piece of individual research, focused on a topic relevant to your specific course. Your topic will be assessed for suitability to ensure sufficient academic challenge and satisfactory supervision by an academic member of staff. The project will require you to identify/formulate problems and issues, conduct research, evaluate information, process data, and critically appraise and present your findings/creative work. You should arrange and attend regular meetings with your project supervisor, to ensure that your project is closely monitored and steered in the right direction.
This module will support you to communicate your final-year dissertation research beyond the traditional dissertation format, helping you to develop your abilities to create, adapt, select, and communicate your ideas and arguments to a range of audiences through a variety of creative and digital forms and formats. You'll be supported to develop creative or digital output such as artworks, podcasts, films, posters, exhibitions, or installations, based on the research of your final-year major project or dissertation. This module will also guide you to reflect on degree journey more generally, as you review and consolidate a range of transferable, professional skills, competencies, and confidences that you will be able to articulate, evidence, and take forward into your graduate future.
View the full module definitionWe live in a world dominated by media. Our first port of call when we want to know something is to Google it. Landmark books have shaped and influenced wide-ranging historical and contemporary issues such as the French Revolution, feminism and Black Lives Matter. Social media has played a central role in presidential elections, as well as been linked to a decline in people’s mental health. In this module you'll learn about the past, present and future of media and its role in society. Media is very broadly defined here to include the publishing industry, the internet, social media, TV, radio and many more. Each week, we will focus on one particular form of media and consider its history, before moving on to analyse its role in today’s society and its future. To do this, we will use a wide range of case studies relating to elections, referendums, conspiracies, celebrity culture, censorship, and many more. You'll develop a keen awareness of the importance of media from this and have a sound understanding of how the industries look today. This will put you one step ahead of many candidates on the job market as digital proficiency and understanding media is vital to many positions and businesses.
View the full module definitionGlobal Feminisms will introduce you to the plurality and diversity of feminist thoughts and debates, practices and activism(s). The heterogeneity of feminist action and strategies on a range of issues will be emphasised to enable learning on historic and contemporary feminist movements. An intersectional approach will be adopted to highlight how feminists have engaged with anti-race politics alongside challenging norms around gender and sexuality. You'll be exposed to feminist knowledges and scholarship on issues viz. women’s political participation, gender-based violence, trans identities and rights, sex work, etc., as well as learn about different forms and strategies of feminist activism. You'll also learn about feminist research methodologies and epistemological approaches to understand what it means to ‘see’, ‘think’ and ‘do’ sociology using a feminist approach. Teaching will comprise a combination of lectures and seminars and will involve guest speakers who are feminist activists and scholars across diverse contexts nationally and internationally, facilitating connections with a global network of academics and practitioners in the study of the sociology of gender. You'll be able to connect theory and practice through ‘real-world’ applications of feminist knowledges and pedagogies, including a feminist manifesto and critical case study of a feminist global campaign. Through this, you'll develop communication skills, computer literacy, creativity, critical thinking, decision marking, planning and organisation, problem-solving, project and time management, and research skills. Specifically, you'll learn to evaluate feminist campaigns, strategies and policies which you can draw on to enhance employability in the statutory and voluntary sector, among others.
View the full module definitionIn this interdisciplinary module, you'll learn about the evolution of the British welfare state from a social, cultural and political perspective over some five centuries of history (c. 1601-present). We'll consider how authorities have approached the ‘problem’ of poverty and used various forms of assistance to help people in need, from workhouses, to pillories and whipping, to the NHS, old age pensions and universal credit. We'll consider changes in welfare from multiple perspectives to include policymakers, social reformers, paupers, the sick and the unemployed. Through this, we ask: has our treatment of the needy become more or less compassionate over time? To what extent is today’s society fair or repeating the same mistakes of previous generations? What is the future of the welfare state?
View the full module definitionWhat can we learn from studying celebrities and celebrity culture? While the very idea of celebrity is often denigrated and dismissed as so much cultural fluff, it is a profoundly important and socially significant subject – perhaps now more than ever. This module offers you a unique chance to dig into the world of celebrity culture -a topic that has deep cultural and social significance. You'll examine what celebrity means in a 21st-century mediascape from the ‘insta-famous’ to YouTubers, from reality TV presidents to young environmental activists, from film stars to sporting icons. Drawing from a range of academic literature, this module seeks to define and interrogate the notion of ‘celebrity’ across different historical and national contexts, from pre- to post-digital eras. You'll explore fraught political and range of spheres including film, TV, music, politics, and sports.
View the full module definitionDeconstructing the education system will help you to gain greater understanding of the complexities of how the education system works and how the parts of a system are related to one another and to society. You will explore policy, practice and curriculum in the UK and across the globe. Learning about education systems in other countries and making a comparison with your own will enable you to view educational issues systematically. If you have an interest in working in the educational sector overseas after graduating, this will also allow you to develop country-specific knowledge. This module builds on the year one and two modules (Key Paradigms 1 and 2) by exploring policy, practice and curriculum in the UK and across the globe. Through learning about education systems in other countries and making a comparison with their own, students will be able to analyse educational issues systematically. This will provide students with opportunities to accommodate new knowledge and principles which can then be applied across education systems. It will support them to critically justify teaching and learning opportunities for all children, considering current educational issues such as assessment, inclusion and behaviour management as part of the analysis. The module provides a broad perspective on how educational policy across the globe differs and interrelates. It will also allow students with an interest in working in the educational sector overseas after graduating to develop country specific knowledge. This module will support students to develop a greater understanding of the focus on assessment, inclusion and behaviour management within schools and as national priorities.
View the full module definitionThis module introduces you to a range of C20th and C21st literary representations of exile. To be in exile is to be banished from one’s home, to be displaced and/or estranged from one’s country, family, community, and even one’s self. Exile takes many forms: it can be literal or metaphorical; it can be enforced or self-imposed. Through close readings of novels, graphic novels, poetry, autobiography, and short stories, many of which were written by authors in exile, you will explore various forms of exile writing and consider various conditions and contexts of exile, including politics, race, sexuality, gender and disability. At the start of the module, you will be introduced to a range of theories of exile; you will explore these theories each week in relation to the selected literary texts and related themes of memory, home, identity, community, nostalgia, self, and language.
View the full module definitionThis module‘s focus will move chronologically but also thematically from 1880 to 2000. We'll open by examining late nineteenth-century concerns with the ‘new woman’, the male homosexual, and newly defined sexualities. We'll then move on to consider first-wave feminism, and the First World War in relation to issues of gender. A subsequent focus on the interwar period will cover the emergence of the ‘flapper’, anxieties about male effeminacy, male body building and the development of miscegenation fears – all fuelled by the ever-growing popular press. The effects of gender-differentiated (un)employment in this period will be analysed as well as the development of birth control, taking the work of Marie Stopes as a central focus. We'll examine the trial of The Well of Loneliness and the slow emergence of the idea of the lesbian. We'll investigate women’s role during the Second World War, including drawing on the reportage of Mass-Observation. For the post-war years, we'll consider relations between, and reaction to, British women and African-Caribbean men. The 1950s’ Wolfenden Report offers an opening to the discussion of male homosexuality and prostitution in this period and beyond. The so-called swinging ‘60s and sexual ‘permissiveness’ will be followed by an examination of the rise of the Women’s Liberation Movement and Gay Liberation in the 1970s. We'll look, too, at how feminism developed on from the 1970s up until the turn of the century. This overview of the history of gender and sexuality in modern Britain in the period 1880-2000 will allow you to appreciate how sexuality needs to be understood as socially constructed and regulated, as well as always historically specific. The module will also enable you to appreciate the shifts in the ways in which men and women have conceived of their appropriate ‘roles’, paying attention to differences of class, race, ethnicity, geographical location, sexuality and age. Analysis of certain primary sources will enrich this understanding. The module is taught through lectures and seminars, and is assessed by an oral history essay and the report of an in-class presentation.
View the full module definitionWhat role, if any, does the concept of evil play in our moral vocabulary? Is it a narrowly theological notion or does it usefully describe certain kinds of act and/or character? On this module, you'll examine contemporary accounts of evil, as well as looking at the concept of evil in the history of philosophy from Leibniz to the present. In addition to considering theoretical discussions of evil, you'll also consider phenomena such as war and terrorism and ask whether the concept of evil helps us to understand them. You’ll be taught by lecture and seminar, and expected to undertake self-managed learning.
View the full module definitionEnvironment, Nature and Society explores the relationship between social and natural worlds and, in the process, considers sociological debates about how best to engage with biological knowledge. You will address the following interlocking questions: - How can sociological approaches take account of the ways in which people are at once social and biological beings? How can we fully integrate non-humans into an account of social life and social change? How are recent developments in the life sciences challenging existing views and experiences of group identity, self, life and kinship? What are the likely social causes and consequences of world-wide environmental catastrophe? To answer these questions, you will be required to consider both the future of the discipline of Sociology and the future of society.
In this module you'll examine the development of political systems and societies after the Second World. You'll assess different forms of governments across the globe and consider how citizens related to these systems. You'll consider the new political frameworks that emerged after the Second World War, including the UN and the EEC, focus on the emergence of new democracies after the war, and examine the political systems in Eastern Europe, China, and Africa. You'll then examine case studies of particular countries to explore systems that fall between democracy and dictatorship. The focus here is on theocratic Iran, apartheid South Africa and Russia in transition after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The module concludes with an assessment of the 1990s and the construction of the post-Cold War world. You'll build your knowledge of the political history and society of individual countries as well as their place in the world after 1945, and you'll develop the ability to critically examine how change in these countries developed. You'll develop your analytical skills and your ability to engage in autonomous learning and problem solving.
On this module you will explore a set of urgent issues in the context of contemporary media, focusing on ‘fake news’, conflict and law. In the first part of the module you will explore different definitions of, as well as contemporary discourse around, ‘fake news’, before addressing specific examples of this phenomenon. We will consider ‘fake news’ from a range of perspectives, including politics, technology, and journalistic practice, and explore possible ways of offsetting the problem of ‘fake news’. We will then turn attention to representations of war and conflict in media, and specifically how different media forms have sought to stage and document social conflict. In this context, we will address a range of media depictions of war and conflict across inter alia print, sonic and audio-visual forms. Examples will be drawn from British and international contexts and from contemporary and historical settings. In the third and final part of the module you will explore specifically legal issues surrounding the creation, use, consumption, and circulation of media. These include an address to intellectual property rights, offering a detailed survey of copyright, trademark and patent law with a special emphasis on how they apply to media. We will also consider issues of privacy, surveillance and cybercrime.
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This module explores the importance and significance of computer-mediated communication, digital media and contemporary communication methods. It explores how new technologies have changed the way we communicate with others. You'll be introduced to a wide range of theories and theoretical and analytical frameworks. As well as critical sociolinguistics and critical discourse analysis, this will also include more pragmatic approaches to the study of digital communication. You'll understand how these approaches could be meaningfully used to analyse real and authentic digital texts. The key employability skill developed in this module is the development of digital communication skills, which are of contemporary relevance and popularity
View the full module definitionKnowledge of a foreign language can be a major asset both in your academic and professional life. The Anglia Language Programme offers you the opportunity to study a foreign language as part of your course.