Module SOC2110 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
SOC2110: Consumption and Society
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 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 foundational understanding of how subjectivities are constructed through and performed in consumption; |
Discipline-Specific Skills | 4. Demonstrate an analytical understanding of Sociology and/or Anthropology, taking into account different sociological and anthropological perspectives, some modes of social analysis and some of their concomitant theoretical and conceptual frameworks; 5. Demonstrate a foundational ability to conceptualise social, cultural, psychological and personal issues in a specifically sociological and/or anthropological manner; |
Personal and Key Skills | 6. Develop and deploy argument, grounded in theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence; 7. Identify problems of reliability and bias in empirical evidence; 8. Demonstrate a capacity to focus on and comprehend complex texts, and identify problems of reliability in empirical evidence 9. Participate in oral discussions with growing confidence and competence; 10. Undertake independent research and capacity to work to deadlines; |
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:
- The rise of consumer culture
- Consumption as distinction
- Consumption and the self
- Sites of consumption
- Advertising
- Consumption and the environment
- Anti-consumerism/alternative consumption
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 |
---|---|---|
24 | 126 | 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 lecture/seminars will consist of a lecture element introducing key theories and issues and a seminar element |
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | 2 | Examination revision session |
Guided Independent Study | 36 | Readings for seminars |
Guided Independent Study | 10 | Preparation for seminar presentation |
Guided Independent Study | 40 | Researching and writing the essay |
Guided Independent Study | 40 | Readings and revisions for examinations |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
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.