BA Sociology and Chinese

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

• Find out more from student finance
• Eligible UK students can apply for bursaries and scholarships
• Funding for EU and international students is on our country-specific pages
• Many students work part-time or complete a student internship

This course provides students with an understanding of theoretical developments and debates in urban sociology and critically examines accounts of urbanisation. It explores from a sociological perspective the transformations affecting city formation and life in cities, including the shift from industrial to post-industrial economies, globalization and extensive mobility, the emergence of global cities, mega cities and slums. We engage with a range of recent developments, from suburbanisation to regeneration and New Urbanism. The course examines the effects of design on use of space, and the practices and experience of living in a city. We investigate how power is performed through the built environment and the role played by the pursuit of security in the urban. The course engages critically with literature and cutting-edge developments in theoretical and substantive areas of urban sociology, from debates on inequalities, sociality and changing interactions in public spaces to an assessment of Sustainable Cities, Smart Cities and Sensor Cities. This course also enhances students' knowledge and skills in conducting independent social research, developing valuable transferable skills.

This course aims to: 

• examine sociological accounts of urbanization and the development of cities; 
• establish an understanding of the links between urbanisation and other social developments in areas such as the economy, industry and politics; 
• critically discuss urban human forms of sociality, for example interactions in public spaces; 
• provide students with an understanding of theoretical developments and current and topical debates in the field of urban sociology; 
• enhances students' knowledge and skills in conducting independent social research, developing valuable transferable skills.

On successful completion of this unit students will: 

• be able to account sociologically for urbanization and the development of cities; 
• have developed a complex understanding of the links between urbanisation and other social developments in areas such as the economy, industry and politics; 
• be able to critically discuss urban human forms of sociality and sociabilities, for example interactions in public spaces; 
• have a critical understanding of theoretical developments and topical debates in the field of urban sociology; 
• have developed knowledge and skills in conducting independent social research, and will be able to transfer the critical thinking and research skills acquired to a range of settings; 
• be able to apply these theories to their own experiences of living in a city.

Material will be delivered weekly in a lecture-style two-hour session, followed by an interactive one-hour workshop.

Weekly 3 hour (2hr Lecture plus 1hr workshop).

Non-assessed mid-term written coursework submission (between 400-500 words) and

Assessed essay, 2,500 words (100%)

This course includes 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.

• Amin, A. (2013). Telescopic urbanism and the poor. City, 17(4): 476-492 
• Amin, A and Thrift, N (2002). Cities: Reimagining the Urban. Cambridge, Polity 
• Farias, I and Bender, T (eds.) (2010). Urban Assemblages: How Actor-Network Theory Changes Urban Studies. Abingdon: Routledge 
• Graham, S. (2009). Cities as Battlespace: The New Military Urbanism. City, 13(4): 383 -402 
• Hutchison, R, Gottdiener, M and Ryan, MT (2015). The New Urban Sociology (5th ed). New York: Westview Press