BA Sociology and Italian / Course details

Students take a total of 40-60 credits in Sociology.

You will study our core Sociology unit, SOCY10440 Researching Culture & Society. In addition, you will study optional units (total 20-40 credits), such as:

• SOCY10441 Media, Culture and Society;
• SOCY10462 Global Social Challenges.

You will also study an additional 60 credits of Modern Language and Culture course units in your modern language subject.

Students have four contact hours per week with their nominated Italian teacher as part of a course specifically designed to build confidence in comprehension, writing, speaking and listening skills.

Post-A-level students have three hours consolidating and building competency on specific language points. All first year students also have an additional linguistics hour, introducing them to the history and structures of the Italian language.

Culture units cover topics from the filmic and literary to the historic and linguistic, all of which reflect academic staff research interests.

You will take only the language units relevant to your level of language in each year of study.

Students take a total of 40-60 credits in Sociology.

You will study one of the following core Sociology units (total 20 credits):

• SOCY20091 Qualitative Social Research Design & Methods;
• SOST20012 The Survey Method in Social Research.

In addition, you will study optional units (total 20-40 credits), such as:

• SOCY20501 Social Thought from the Global South;
• SOCY20012 Sociology of Popular Music;
• SOCY20962 Racism and Ethnicity in the UK;
• SOCY20232 Sustainability, Consumption and Global Responsibilities.

You will also study an additional 60 credits of Modern Language and Culture course units in your modern language subject.

In Year 2, the core language component builds on the grammar topics covered in Year 1, in order to prepare you for the year abroad. Both the post-beginners and post-A-level language modules have three contact hours per week, in addition to working on set assignments and undertaking private study.

Your course units in second year are more specialized than in first year, allowing you to explore a diverse range of subjects and approaches. Current options include the Italian Renaissance and Italian Fascism.

All Italian culture units have three contact hours per week and are augmented by materials and content placed in the units' Blackboard virtual learning environment.

Italian modules are assessed by a variety of different coursework assessment types, including essays and commentaries, book reviews, reports, presentations, and innovative digital projects such as group curated exhibitions.

In the third year, all students will complete a year studying abroad in an Italian-speaking country.

Students take a total of 40-60 credits in Sociology from course units such as:

• SOCY30920 Dissertation A (20 credits) or SOCY30930 Dissertation B (40 credits);
• SOCY30061 Urban Sociology;
• SOCY30091 Changing Social Attitudes;
• SOCY30141 Body and Society;
• SOCY30181 Sociology of Cultural Participation and Cultural Policy;
• SOCY30191 Material Culture: The Social Life of Things;
• SOCY30241 A Sense of Inequality;
• SOCY30042 The Sociology of Human-Animal Relations.

You will also study an additional 60 credits of Modern Language and Culture course units in your modern language subject.

In Year 4, you build on the linguistic authenticity acquired abroad in the core language unit, and can choose from a range of specialized content course units. The final year language course develops your core skills to an advanced level, including translation into English, writing different kinds of target-language texts, and oral work including discussion of texts, debates, and presentations. The language component of the course comprises three contact hours per week, in addition to working on set assignments and undertaking private study.

Course units available in final year are closely related to the research interests of individual members of staff, in areas such as romance linguistics, Renaissance Florence, Italy and the Grand Tour, book history, and the political and cultural history of Italy.

You will also be able to undertake a research-orientated dissertation in Italian (often using the primary sources held in the Rylands Library, which has outstanding Italian holdings), and can participate in the Italian department's mentoring and outreach programmes.

Fees for entry in 2021 have not yet been set. For entry in 2020 the tuition fees were £9,250 per annum for home/EU students, and are expected to increase slightly for 2021 entry.

Practical support and advice for current students and applicants is available from the Disability Advisory and Support Service. Email: dass@manchester.ac.uk