Module SOCM027 for 2019/0
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Postgraduate Module Descriptor
SOCM027: Social Theory
This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.
Module Aims
To provide a thorough and rigorous discussion of some of the main theoretical traditions and paradigms in sociology.
To illustrate theories through the use of empirical research and examples.
To foster your capacity to engage with techniques of analytical and critical inquiry.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
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Module-Specific Skills | 1. Demonstrate a thorough understanding of classical and contemporary social theories 2. Engage critically with classical and contemporary social theories 3. Interpret the social world through the prism of social theories and theoretical accounts |
Discipline-Specific Skills | 4. Demonstrate detailed awareness of the concepts/theories used by sociologists and anthropologists 5. Demonstrate in writing the capacity to apply theoretical models and conjectures generally 6. Use empirical and historical case-studies to enrich and test social theories |
Personal and Key Skills | 7. Critically engage in complex arguments verbally and in small groups. 8. effectively communicate in written form complex arguments and ideas |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following themes:
Theme 1: Epistemology
Theme 2: Structure/Agency
Theme 3: Everyday life
Theme 4: Power and inequality
Theme 5: Post-humanism and the ontological turn
Each theme will be discussed via the medium of empirical research and/or examples
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
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22 | 278 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
Category | Hours of study time | Description |
---|---|---|
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | 22 | 11 x 2 hour seminars |
Guided independent study | 150 | Preparation for essays |
Guided Independent Study | 128 | Preparation and reading for seminars: 128 hours |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Inglis, D. and Thorpe, C. (ed) (2012) An Invitation to Social Theory, London: Sage
Stones, R. (ed) (2008) Key Sociological Thinkers, 2nd ed., Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Gane, N. (ed) (2004) The Future of Social Theory, New York: Continuum
Giddens, A. (1971) Capitalism and Modern Social Theory, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Rabinow, P. and Sullivan W.M. (eds) (1979) Interpretive Social Science: a reader, Berkeley: University of California Press