Module SOC3097 for 2018/9
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
SOC3097: Environment and Society
This module descriptor refers to the 2018/9 academic year.
Module Aims
This module explores how science, technology and society interact to determine what counts as an environmental problem. The aim of the module is to familiarize you with a wide range of environmental problems and methodologies to analyse them. An important focus will be the role of science and divergent understandings of nature in the analysis of environmental issues. You will learn how interdisciplinary approaches to controversies over environmental problems may complicate the debates and read popular media reports of environmental issues more critically. We will discuss the meanings, political uses, and abuses of uncertainties in science, the affirmations of risks and the relationships between environmental and social justice.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. Demonstrate a clear understanding of different approaches to environmental problem and different roles of science. 2. Critically asses conflicting meanings of scientific evidence, social responsibility, uncertainty in science and politics, and critically assess the depiction of environmental problems in popular media and the relationship between social and environmental justice |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. demonstrate critical awareness and understanding of a range of social scientific, historical, and philosophical perspectives; 4. identify the core theoretical assumptions 5. apply a range of theoretical and interpretive perspectives to the task of sociological and anthropological analysis; 6. demonstrate appreciation of the strengths, weaknesses and limitations of different and competing social scientific, historical, and philosophical perspectives. |
| Personal and Key Skills | 7. reflect on, and examine critically, taken-for-granted social, cultural and ethical assumptions, beliefs and values; 8. analyse, evaluate, and communicate, clearly and directly, a wide range of explanatory and interpretive theoretical perspectives; assess evidence, marshal facts and construct arguments |
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 topics:
Introduction: Nature and the Environment in Science and Technology Studies
GM Foods
Climate Controversies and Consensus
Un/natural disaster
Scientific Uncertainties and Environmental Health
Wilderness Discourses and Social Natures
Environment and Social Justice
Making Species: Natives, Aliens and Endangered
Biodiversity: Concepts, Discourses and Practices
Experts, Laypeople and Other Animals
BSE Crisis – a British Example of “Risk Society”
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | 128 | 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 activity | 22 | The module will be taught a combination of lectures and seminar based discussions, meeting for two hours each week. It is essential that students complete all assigned readings before class and be prepared to discuss them in class. The seminar portion consists of student presentations, group discussions or film presentations and media analysis. |
| Guided Independent study | 56 | Readings for seminars |
| Guided Independent study | 10 | Preparation for seminar presentation |
| Guided Independent study | 62 | Researching and writing the essay |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
How this Module is Assessed
In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.
Formative Assessment
A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Participation in seminar discussions; presentations of reading summaries | Weekly | 1-8 | Verbal feedback |
Summative Assessment
A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay proposal/ plan | 20 | 1000 words | 1-8 | Written feedback |
| Research essay | 80 | 3500 words | 1-8 | Written feedback |
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 |
Re-assessment
Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay proposal/ plan | Essay plan/ outline (1000 words) | 1-8 | August/September assessment period |
| Research essay | Research essay (3500 words) | 1-8 | August/September assessment period |
