Module SOC1048 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
SOC1048: Social Analysis I
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Module Aims
You will learn about the significance and fecundity of basic theoretical ideas and principles for thinking about and investigating the social world sociologically and social scientifically. In addition to attaining a basic familiarity and understanding of the core ideas in classical social theory, the module aims to demonstrate and promote further reflection on their continuing relevance both to the foundations of the social sciences and to our lives and the wider world in which we live.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
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Module-Specific Skills | 1. explain and illustrate different modes of social analysis and their concomitant theoretical / conceptual frameworks; 2. exhibit awareness of the historical, social and political origins of classical social theory and modern society; 3. Think critically about social, psychological and personal issues and develop your social imagination; |
Discipline-Specific Skills | 4. reason and construct written arguments in a sociological manner; 5. use evidence, analysis and argument in a sociological manner; 6. read classic and contemporary textual material both in terms of historical situatedness and wider significance to the discipline; |
Personal and Key Skills | 7. formulate and discuss core theoretical ideas and apply them to various social issues; and 8. challenge 'common sense' assumptions about individual and social reality; 9. demonstrate the ability to work independently, within a limited time frame, and without access to external sources, to complete a specified task. |
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: Social imagination & common sense; Revolution and Enlightenment.
- Marx: Dialectic, ideology, and science; Historical materialism; Alienation and exploitation.
- Beyond Marx: Contemporary debates and methods to study Surveillance Capitalism.
- Durkheim: The reality of social facts; The origin & development of modern society; Theory of Suicide and anomie. Contemporary methods and challenges to Durkheim’s ideas.
- The social construction of reality? Constructing ourselves and others; Nature/Culture divide. Three methodological challenges to interrogate the ‘social construction of everything’ in the work of contemporary sociologists.
- Reading Week.
- Weber: Science, value and meaning; The spirit of capitalism and rationality; Ideal types, value-neutrality and Verstehen. Beyond the ethics of conviction and responsibility, a review of contemporary Weberian sociology and its methods.
- Arendt and Foucault: Biopower; Biopolitics; Freedom and Action. Contemporary work on Biological citizenship, its methods and theoretical contributions.
- Feminism: Race; Gender; Citizenship & Power. How feminism and the notion of care are shaping current sociology, its methods and conceptual repertoire.
- Bodies and Embodiment: Theorising corpses, shamanism and modern science. Using our conceptual and methodological toolkit to understand our bodies and environments.
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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27 | 123 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
Category | Hours of study time | Description |
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Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity | 22 | 11 x 2 hours weekly lectures. |
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity | 5 | 5 x fortnightly 1 hour tutorials. |
Guided Independent study | 33 | Course readings |
Guided Independent study | 45 | Preparation for essays, library, research |
Guided Independent study | 45 | Exam revisions |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
In-class presentation | Every two weeks | 1-3, 4-5, 7-8 | 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 |
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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 |
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Essay | 50 | 1,500 words | 1-8 | Written feedback |
Examination | 50 | 1 hour | 1-9 | Exam mark + comments on request |
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 |
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Essay | Essay (1,500 words) | 1-8 | August/September reassessment period |
Examination | Examination (1 hour) | 1-9 | August/September reassessment period |