Module SOC3110 for 2020/1
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
SOC3110: Consumption and Society
This module descriptor refers to the 2020/1 academic year.
Module Aims
This module will provide you with an understanding of a distinctive characteristic of developed capitalist societies, namely the central role that consumption plays in the reproduction of social class and the construction of individual identities. The module will enable you to analyse and interpret the ways that consumption itself and the discourse of consumerism pervade all aspects of contemporary social life.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
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Module-Specific Skills | 1. Demonstrate competence in working with diverse theoretical and empirical approaches to consumerism; 2. Demonstrate knowledge of some of the recent developments in the world consumption from a sociological and/or social anthropological perspective; 3. Demonstrate a detailed understanding of how subjectivities are constructed through and performed in consumption; |
Discipline-Specific Skills | 4. Demonstrate an analytical understanding of Sociology, taking into account different sociological perspectives, modes of social analysis and their concomitant theoretical and conceptual frameworks. 5. Conceptualise social, psychological and personal issues in a specifically sociological manner. |
Personal and Key Skills | 6. Competently develop and deploy argument, grounded in theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence; 7. Demonstrate a capacity to focus on and comprehend complex texts, and identify problems of reliability in empirical evidence 8. Digest, select and organise material for written work and oral presentations, and write to set word length; 9. Participate confidently and competently in oral discussions; 10. Undertake independent research and capacity to work to deadlines; |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
Discussion of compulsory readings in seminars | Throughout term (5 minutes) | 1-10 | Oral commentary on discussion in seminars |
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 |
---|---|---|
50 | 50 | 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 | 50 | 2,500 words | 1-8, 10 | Written Feedback |
Examination | 50 | 1 hour | 1-8, 10 | Written Feedback |
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 | Essay (2,500 words) | 1-8, 10 | August/September reassessment period |
Examination | Examination (1 hour) | 1-8, 10 | August/September reassessment period |
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.
Slater, Don (1997): Consumer Culture & Modernity, Cambridge: Polity Press.
McCracken, Grant (1988): Culture and Consumption. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Campbell, Colin (1987): The Romantic Ethic and the Spirit of Modern Consumerism. Oxford: Blackwell.
Miller, Daniel (1998): A Theory of Shopping, Cambridge: Polity.
Featherstone, Mike (1991): Consumer Culture and Postmodernism, London: Sage.
ELE – http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/