Social Science

Core Modules

Year 1

• Social Problems and Social Policy

  This module explores contemporary social issues, including poverty, inequality, unemployment and discrimination. You will learn about the foundations of the welfare state as well as social policies in areas such as education, housing, health and family life. Key questions to be discussed include: What are the most important social problems in contemporary society? Is the welfare state in crisis? Why are young people more vulnerable to unemployment? How does the media influence our perceptions of social problems?

• Perspectives on People in Society

  This module will explore and examine how human behaviour and experience are influenced by social and interactional experiences and contexts across the lifespan. You will identify and critically analyse literature and research evidence on human experience and development to understand how life events and social contexts impact on people’s experiences. You will explore sociological, social psychological and ecological perspectives, focusing on understanding the person in their environment and will analyse and critique the intersections between developmental and life experiences, and the social contexts in which they occur. Own and others’ behaviours will furthermore be examined, reflecting on biases and assumptions in everyday life.

• Introduction to Politics and Government

  This module will introduce you to the academic study of politics and to the ‘real world’ of contemporary politics. As a foundational course, it will give you all the essential tools to understand the nature of politics and analyse the way different political systems work. You will be introduced to key concepts such as politics, power, rights, ideologies, democracy and representation, and will learn about the different actors, institutions and processes that make up politics today.

• Issues in Ethics

  This module will introduce you to key theories and problems in ethics. Ethical theories examined may include deontology, utilitarianism, moral sense theory, and virtue ethics. Theoretical issues may include the nature of value, theories of rights and responsibilities, and the role of competing conceptions of human nature. Practical topics may include euthanasia, abortion, poverty, personal relationships, equality, animal ethics, and punishment. The precise topics covered may vary from year to year, according to staff availability and interests.

   

• Law in its Social Context

  This module is intended to introduce you to the ways in which the law functions in a social context. It is especially concerned with the ways in which law enables or acts as a barrier to equalities, human rights and social inclusion for a variety of social groups or at different points across the lifespan. This will be pursued in the following indicative areas: Introduction to the English Legal System, Sources of Law: Statute and Case Law; Equalities and Human Rights; Children and the Law; Families and the Law; Disability and the Law; Care, Vulnerability and the Law; Asylum and the Law.

• Academic Integrity

  This module will describe the key principles of academic integrity, focusing on university assignments. Plagiarism, collusion and commissioning will be described as activities that undermine academic integrity, and the possible consequences of engaging in such activities will be described. Activities, with feedback, will provide you with opportunities to reflect and develop your understanding of academic integrity principles.

   

Year 2

• Contemporary Welfare States

  Lectures will introduce the welfare state and its development from antecedents to the contemporary welfare state and emerging welfare state theory. Perspectives from the right, left, feminist, green and critical race theory will be introduced. Welfare state models will be introduced to afford an international and comparative approach. The module will also analyse the contributions of welfare delivery environments such as devolution, the EU and Brexit, globalisation and migration.

• Research Methods for Social Scientists

  This module provides you with an introduction to the philosophical issues in social research. You will look at ethics in social research and theory, quantitative versus qualitative methods, sampling, observation, interviewing, media analysis, and questionnaire design. You will be given the opportunity to work through the research process on a topic of independent study of your choosing.

Year 3

• Research Project/Dissertation

  In this module you will demonstrate practical and applied social research skills.  You will choose a specialist topic and work with an allocated supervisor to undertake a research project.  You will critically assess different approaches to research, implement a research plan and evaluate research findings. There will be 3 dissertation workshops (one in the summer term of Year 2, and one each in the autumn and spring terms of Year 3) to support you to focus your research project, undertake a literature review and engage with research ethics in data collection and analysis.

Optional Modules

Below is a taster of some of the exciting optional modules that students on the course could choose from during this academic year. Please be aware these do change over time, and optional modules may be withdrawn or new ones added.

Year 2

• Crime and the Law

  This module gives an overview of the substantive rules of criminal law within a wider social debate as to the nature of crime and the responses of the State. In particular, the course covers the general principles of criminal liability by examining a range of offences against the person and offences against property as well as assessing the available defences that limit or negate criminal liability.

• Sociology of the Family

  Students will critically discuss the role, function and nature of the family in contemporary society as well as examining changing patterns of family life. The course also explores how social identities and different social positions (for example those related to class, gender, or ethnicity) impact upon the experience of family life. Families will also be discussed in relation to other areas of social life including education, the workplace and the community. Students will engage with questions such as: To what extent does the nuclear family remain seen as the ‘ideal’ family type? What are the experiences of lone-parent families in contemporary society? How easy is it for families to balance paid work and family life? What is the relationship between the family and social policy? The course will familiarise students with contemporary research related to families and family life and equip them to critically evaluate this material.

• Introduction to Social Care

  This professionally oriented module addresses students’ employability skills with providing them with foundational level competences (knowledge, skills, values and agency) in social care. The emphasis within this module is empowering, holistic, person-centred, individual level care which will be contextualised from the perspectives of professional multi-agency practice, diversity and service user involvement. The aim is to help the students to engage both with the theories and practices of person-centred social care and develop their communicative, dialogic skills and ethical sensitivity. This module includes practice placement of 40 hours during term 2 coordinated by the Royal Holloway Volunteering Team. Students can opt to volunteer in diverse health care setting as well depending on their professional interests.

• Youth in Society: The Sociology of Youth & Youth Culture

  The aims of this module are:

  • To present an overview of key areas in the sociology of youth.
  • To cover the changing conceptions and meaning of 'youth' within western society.
  • To detail and examine the changing social and economic position of the young
  • To show the various ways in which wider society has sought to define the young and constructed social institutions (education, juvenile justice etc) to deal with the young as a distinctive social group in society.
  • The importance of the young as a cultural force in modern society
• Madness and Society

  This module will introduce you to key topics in madness studies. We will review different approaches to understanding and responding to madness. A key theme of the module will be the relationship between social factors and ideas of madness — and the roles of key state agencies and professional groups. We will consider how concepts of madness have changed over time and how they differ across cultures. We will also explore the relationships between social stress, social division and stigma and conceptions of madness.

• Perspectives on Ageing and an Ageing Society

  This module will builds on the Level 4 module, ‘Perspectives on People in Society’. The lectures will introduce key theories, perspectives and diverse contexts for ageing in society, including family, work, care and caring, risk, citizenship and belonging. Students will also be introduced to the roles of key state agencies and professional groups working with older people in the welfare state. The seminar series will support students to gather a social history from an older person and to critically analyse this using theory and knowledge from the lecture series.

• Politics Outside the West

  This module is a key bridge between the first year modules in comparative politics and international relations and the third year modules in the politics of Africa, China, Latin America, the Middle East, and South Asia. It is designed to equip you with a critical understanding of the most important features of the history of international development which build the foundations of our modern world: the transition from empires to states, colonialism, de-colonisation, and the subsequent post-colonial political issues facing the Global South. This means you don’t necessarily learn about politics “outside the West”, as if it’s a phenomenon separate from the West, but, instead, develop ideas of politics and international relations from the vantage point of the Global South, including its prominent political thinkers.

• Democracy in Britain

  Democracy in Britain explores the theory and practice of modern British politics. It’s designed primarily to familiarise students with the ways in which British democracy has evolved, how it operates today and some of the challenges that confront it. You’ll gain knowledge of the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the political system and you’ll learn about how and why the system operates in the way it does, the quality of contemporary democratic governance and key features of political behaviour in Britain. The first half of the module will focus on the character, development and institutions of Britain’s ‘traditional’ democratic system. The second half will focus on dynamic elements of British democracy, including political parties and party competition, political and especially voting behaviour, and attitudes towards democracy.

Year 3

• Sociology of Health and Illness

  In this module you will develop an understanding of different sociological approaches to the study of health and illness, with an awareness of the social patterning and causes of ill health. You will critically examine debates in the sociology of health and illness, considering factors such as social class, gender and ethnicity.

• Housing and Homelessness

  The aim of this module is for students to be able to reflect on work placement experience in the wider context of career planning. Content of the module itself is very simple, the student being responsible for their own research and reflection, as guided by the Careers Service. Required preparatory work for the course is attending two workshops provided by the Careers Service, along with undertaking of a short-term work placement.

• Race, Ethnicity and Migration

  In this module you will develop a historical and sociological understanding of the study of race, racism and ethnicity, with an awareness of the way in which these interact with other social divisions and inequalities. You will anylse the extent to which race and ethnicity are central to how society is organised and structured, with knowledge of the models of race relations and the relevance of geography and politics.

• Critical Perspectives on Children, Families and Communities
• Interpersonal violence and harm

  This module will provide students with a broad overview of violence and harm as committed by individuals or groups within society. Several forms of violence will be examined within the course including but not limited to intimate partner violence, stalking, sexual violence, and elder abuse. In addition to examining the nature and prevalence of violence and harm, the course will also examine the ways in which violence and harm are assessed, managed and communicated by professionals who work with perpetrators and victims of violence. Concepts related to violence or the prevalence and nature of violence such as psychopathy and gender will also be examined. Through a group presentation students will have the opportunity to learn about and present on an additional form of violence not covered in lectures.

• Parliamentary Studies

  This final-year half module offers students the opportunity to obtain an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the British parliament and its place in British democracy. It will help students to evaluate the work and role of Parliament and parliamentarians, appreciate ongoing debates about contemporary legislative practice, and engage critically with previous academic scholarship in this area. It will also help students to develop their own awareness and experience of conducting research.
  The course covers Parliament’s development and place in the British political system, its internal organisation and operation, and the work and behaviour of individual Members of Parliament. It is co-taught with officials from Parliament, who will provide students with practical and vocational teaching about the work, processes and business of Parliament based on their own experiences.
  The course will be delivered through 9 weekly three-hour sessions, each of which will be organised around a lecture and a variety of complementary seminar activities, including discussions, debates and practical exercises. Most of the third hour each week will be set aside to supporting students with the assessment. The tenth week will involve a visit to Parliament: this is partly to see parliamentarians in action, and partly to enable students to collect additional material for their research report.