BASS Social Anthropology and Philosophy / Course details

Year of entry: 2024

Course unit details:
Contested Foundations of Social Thought

Course unit fact file
Unit code SOCY10421
Credit rating 20
Unit level Level 1
Teaching period(s) Semester 1
Available as a free choice unit? Yes

Overview

This course will provide a basic but comprehensive introduction to some of the intellectual traditions within sociology with a focus on the origins of the discipline. The course will provide the student with the necessary conceptual tools to understand the distinctive origin and nature of sociology as an academic discipline and as a wider cultural presence within modernity. In all cases emphasis will be placed upon the specific historical context of particular writers and theories. It will be argued that the emergence of sociology and the social sciences in general represents an intellectual response to the cultural and material problems of capitalist industrial societies in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The course will equip students with the concepts and information necessary to grasp the main themes of the classical sociological tradition.

Aims

This course will provide a basic but comprehensive introduction to some of the intellectual traditions within sociology with a focus on the origins of the discipline. The course will provide the student with the necessary conceptual tools to understand the distinctive origin and nature of sociology as an academic discipline and as a wider cultural presence within modernity. In all cases emphasis will be placed upon the specific historical context of particular writers and theories. It will be argued that the emergence of sociology and the social sciences in general represents an intellectual response to the cultural and material problems of capitalist industrial societies in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The course will equip students with the concepts and information necessary to grasp the main themes of the classical sociological tradition. The objectives of the course are to provide students with some basic conceptual resources for tackling substantive and theoretical material in their 2nd and 3rd years.

Learning outcomes

The objectives of the course are to provide students with some basic conceptual resources for tackling substantive and theoretical material in their 2nd and 3rd years

Teaching and learning methods

Lecture-style material will be delivered weekly through a mix of up to one hour pre-recorded (i.e. asynchronous) content and one hour live (i.e. synchronous) lecturer-led classes. Additionally, weekly one hour small-group tutorials will be delivered on-campus as long as government guidelines allow, otherwise they will be delivered online.

 

 

Assessment methods

Method Weight
Written exam 100%

Feedback methods

All sociology courses include both formative feedback – which lets you know how you’re getting on and what you could do to improve – and summative feedback – which gives you a mark for your assessed work.

Recommended reading

K. Morrison
Marx, Durkheim Weber

A. Giddens
Capitalism and Modern Social Theory

I. McIntosh (ed)
Classical Sociological Theory

J. Hughes, P.Martin & W.Sharrock
Understanding Classical Sociology

I. Craib
Classical Social Theory

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Assessment written exam 2
Lectures 20
Tutorials 10
Independent study hours
Independent study 168

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Peter McMylor Unit coordinator

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