Bachelor of Arts (BA)

BA Sociology and Chinese

Study the discipline of sociology alongside Chinese language and culture.
  • Duration: 4 years
  • Year of entry: 2025
  • UCAS course code: TL32 / Institution code: M20
  • Key features:
  • Study abroad
  • Study with a language

Full entry requirementsHow to apply

Fees and funding

Fees

Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,535 per annum (subject to Parliamentary approval). Tuition fees for international students will be £26,500 per annum. For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.

Policy on additional costs

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

Scholarships/sponsorships

Residence abroad support

We offer dedicated financial support packages of up to £2,000 for residence abroad students, based on household income.

You will be automatically assessed for this, based on your Student Finance financial assessment - you just need to make sure you apply for a financial assessment in the academic year in which your residence abroad will take place.

RWS Brode Scholarship

You may be eligible for this scholarship if you fulfill the following conditions:

  • your qualifications were achieved at a state-funded school in the UK;
  • your total household income does not exceed £60,000 (as verified by the Student Loan Company);
  • you achieve high marks in your A-levels (or equivalent qualifications), usually AAB or above;
  • you apply to (and remain on) either a single honours Language course, or a dual-language course.

Awards will be made according to a sliding scale, benefitting those who have achieved the highest marks relative to backgrounds.

You will be automatically assessed for this after you have registered on your degree.

You simply need to make sure you allow the University access to your records when applying for your student lLoan (we cannot otherwise assess your eligibility).

Bursaries and Scholarships

Course unit details:
Sociology of Human Animal Relations

Course unit fact file
Unit code SOCY30041
Credit rating 20
Unit level Level 3
Teaching period(s) Semester 1
Available as a free choice unit? Yes

Overview

This course explores the significance of human-animal relations for understanding human societies. With reference to the diverse and often controversial roles of animals in modern societies, as pets or companions, as objects of consumption, as zoological exhibits, as laboratory animals and as agricultural machines, it examines the important but often invisible role of nonhuman animals in human social life.

Aims

Throughout history nonhuman animals have played key roles in human societies. In different historical periods and in different cultures animals have been key sources of calories, clothing, labour power, physical protection and companionship, as well as cultural symbolism, identities, mythology and religious beliefs. In late modern societies, animals and the various products derived from their bodies continue to play a huge role in both material and cultural aspects of human social organisation. This has led to the argument that it is necessary to understand social life as comprising more than just the interactions between human beings, and this course takes up that argument. The course will trace how human-animal relations have changed over time, and how these changes have been connected to social transformations, with an emphasis upon changing human-animal relations in modernity. The deeply ambiguous and contested place of animals in modern societies will be explored in depth, with reference to the diverse roles of animals in different locales, from the home to the farm, from the zoo to the laboratory. In this way the course will combine 'macro' and 'micro' approaches, exploring the nature of human-animal interactions in everyday life as well as in rationalised modern systems of production and consumption.  

Learning outcomes

On completion of this course unit students will be able to: - Assess the importance of human-animal relations for understanding human social life. - Explain how the relations between humans and nonhuman animals have changed over time in relation to social transformations. - Understand the diverse and ambiguous roles of animals in a range of social institutions and locales. - Identify the changing ideological function of animals in various modern discourses and cultural forms.

Teaching and learning methods

Weekly lecture and separate seminar/workshop comprising group discussion of key readings organised around questions on the text.

Employability skills

Other
This course develops skills in conceptual and analytical thinking, critical evaluation of ideas and arguments, synthesis of information from multiple sources, and oral presentation. The course content deals with issues around human relations with animals which are relevant for a range of public and private sector organisations, from animal welfare, wildlife and conservation groups to zoos, agricultural producers, veterinary services and scientific research organisations.

Assessment methods

Formative assignment (non-assessed, mark and feedback provided): Mock/practice exam in same format as summative exam.  

Summative assessment (assessed, 100%): 48 Hour Online multi-format exam combining a range of question types, including, for example: multiple choice questions, short answer questions, and longer form answer questions.          
 

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

Margo DeMello (2012) Animals and Society: An Introduction to Human-Animal Studies.

Samantha Hurn (2015) Humans and Other Animals: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Human-Animal Interactions.  

Arnold Arluke and Clinton Sanders (2009) Between the Species: Readings in Human-Animal Relationships.  

Leslie Irvine (2008) If You Tame Me: Understanding Our Connections with Animals.  

Kay Peggs (2012) Animals and Sociology.  

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Assessment written exam 2
Lectures 20
Practical classes & workshops 10
Independent study hours
Independent study 168

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Richie Nimmo Unit coordinator

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