Sociology |
www.essex.ac.uk/sociology | E
admit@essex.ac.uk | T +44 (0)1206 873666
The combination of these elements – theories of social life, ways of researching social life and the personal, local and global forces shaping social life – make sociology a distinct and stimulating discipline.
What is the
Department like? Our Department is large, diverse and friendly, and has an excellent reputation. We are among the UK’s highest ranked sociology departments, placed joint first overall in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (a performance which puts us ahead of LSE, Oxford and Cambridge). The 2008 RAE has emphatically substantiated our position as the leading social science university in the UK. At Essex you will work with and be taught by world-class scholars. As one of our students, you would be able to study modules drawing on:
First in the UK for research.
Why study sociology? Sociology is the study of the different kinds of social tensions, interactions and networks that make up everyday life. It asks why individuals, groups, cultures and peoples are the way they are and how they might be different.
The study of sociology started nearly 200 years ago: however, its central questions are very much alive today. What holds societies together? Do people pull together because they have to or because they want to? How do societies change or adapt? Why do some societies flourish and others break down? What motivates so many people to migrate from their own societies to others? Why are some places more able to integrate new-comers than others?
Sociology combines two key ways of thinking about social life. Firstly, it poses broad theoretical questions about the world. Secondly, it provides a practical means of investigating and answering those questions. Sociologists are skilled at, for example, interviewing, conducting focus groups, designing surveys,
204 | Undergraduate Prospectus 2012
observing organisations, evaluating data and handling basic statistics. These different kinds of research methods allow sociologists to address research questions that are vital to many fields, from poverty, crime, education and health, to consumer cultures, media industries, gender relations and psychosocial dynamics.
Sociology has always had a global focus and continues to ask global questions. Consider for a moment how much your own life is bound up with different global processes and power relations in terms of the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the music you listen to, the films you watch, the online networks you belong to. Consider, too, the new kinds of global risks (as well as opportunities) created by climate change, bio-technologies or international finance systems.
Sociology is an enquiring, critical and practical social science that addresses these kinds of global issues and fosters the kinds of research that can change things for the better.
n cultural sociology (creative and media industries, advertising, global cinema);
n economic sociology (financialisation, risk management, consumption, innovation);
n gender (the body, sexuality, families, labour markets);
n citizenship (human rights, welfare rights, migration, national identity);
n social psychology (communication, organisational dynamics);
n social theory (classical and contemporary thinkers);
n social history (social change, life histories);
n criminology (crime, criminal justice).
Essex sociology connects with global concerns. We have experts on Britain, Europe, North America, Latin America, Japan and East Asia which means that our modules cover a broad geographical spectrum. In addition to this, we encourage you to take advantage of study abroad opportunities to spend a year, term or a vacation outside the UK (even if you are not studying a language). Recently, our students have spent time at universities in the United States, Sweden, Majorca and Malta. Those who opt to stay on for a Masters degree with us also have the opportunity to spend a term at Hong Kong University.
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