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www.essex.ac.uk/sociology | Sociology
How will I be taught? We teach through a combination of large-group lectures and smaller-group seminars and classes. You will be asked to prepare for seminars and classes in a variety of ways – from making notes on set reading, to giving a brief presentation on a particular topic, to reporting back on a given research task. A number of your modules have their own accompanying websites where you can download relevant readings, PowerPoints, podcasts and YouTube clips, and contribute to online discussions.
In your first year, you will take a combination of compulsory and optional modules (combinations vary according to course). You will take Sociology and the Modern World, which explores how social scientists and cultural theorists have made sense of major social changes. You may also take Researching Social Life, which will introduce you to different research methods. Depending on your course, you might also take one or more of these modules:
n Introduction to Media, Culture and Society;
n Sociology of the New Europe; n Crime, Media and Culture; n Introduction to Politics; n Introduction to Management; n Discovering Psychology; n The Making of the Modern World, 1789-1989.
First-year modules make use of well-known textbooks, many written by Essex sociologists! These include: Sociology: A Global Introduction (John Macionis and Ken Plummer), Key Sociological Thinkers (ed Rob Stones) and Criminology: A Sociological Introduction (Eamonn Carrabine et al). These books are a testimony to our commitment to combining high-level research with high-level undergraduate teaching.
In your second and third years, you will also take a combination of compulsory and optional modules (again, combinations vary according to course). Optional modules include: The Body in Modern Society; Race, Class and Gender; Mass Media and Modern Life; Social Anthropology – Birth and Sex and Death; Globalisation; Youth Culture: Crime
Consumption and the City; Japanese Culture and Society (note that modules can change from year to year).
In your final year, one of your tasks will be to design and complete a research project. This is a real high point within the course as you will have the chance to frame your own research question, practice using research methods in real-life settings, and work on a one-to-one basis with a tutor who will supervise your progress. In the build-up to the project, you will complete research design modules and also attend a special day in the Essex iLab, an interactive multi-media workspace. As part of this, you will ‘pitch’ your project proposal to a panel of academics who give (mostly friendly!) feedback. Recent topics have included boys’ GSCE achievements, teenage gangs and ethnicity, fashion and identity, families after divorce, and the social impacts of Facebook.
How will I be assessed? We work hard to ensure that you have the chance to demonstrate the different skills you have learnt. Assessments come in a range of forms: essays, research reports, tests, presentations, project designs and exams. You will be given detailed feedback on all your written work and you will also be encouraged to discuss ways of improving your performance with tutors. Final degree results are based on a combination of your second- and third- year grades.
What can I go on to do with a degree in sociology?
A good sociology course opens many doors, especially one from a recognised centre of excellence like Essex. As one of our graduates, you will leave with the specific skills that many employers now routinely demand. These include the ability to gather, process, analyse and present information from a variety of sources and, moreover, to do this to deadlines and often as part of a team.
You will, however, also leave with an invaluable understanding of the broad factors that drive social change in modern life – the factors that, for example, shape the socialisation of young children, that
generate new kinds of politics (think Obama!), that create new markets or that influence consumers. Much of this will depend on which of our courses you choose but answers to these kinds of questions are of major interest to many different kinds of employers.
As a result, our graduates work in many different fields. Recent destinations include project management, fundraising, auditing, marketing, case-work, youth and community work, voluntary sector management and lobbying. Others go on to take a further postgraduate qualification in teaching, journalism, law, counselling, health or accountancy.
We also offer our own postgraduate programmes at Masters and PhD level. For further information on all the courses we offer and life within our Department (including podcasts by our recent graduates), please visit:
www.essex.ac.uk/sociology.
Undergraduate Prospectus 2012 | 207
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