Top reasons to choose this course
- The degree integrates theory, research skills and specialist knowledge in a collaborative and supportive environment.
- We value inclusivity and aim to support all students whatever their learning styles or needs.
- Join a vibrant community – the programme area sits within the School of Humanities and Social Science, all based in one building.
- Assessment methods vary for each module. All are coursework-focused and include the opportunity to write essays and book reviews, deliver presentations, create posters, vlogs and blogs, and develop case studies.
- The optional placement will give you hands-on experience and help you stand out to potential employers.
- Option modules enable you to tailor your degree to suit your personal career goals.
- Guest speakers will add to your learning and provide networking opportunities. Speakers have come from organisations including Eastbourne Foodbank, St Mungo’s, The Troubled Families Programme, Boing Boing and The Trust for Developing Communities.
- International exchange opportunities – in your second year you can apply to study at the University of Lyon 2, France; the Universidad Pontificia Comillas Madrid, Spain; or Örebro Universitet in Sweden.
Year 1
In your first year you will engage in the debates that underpin sociology as a discipline in a way that is stimulating whether you have studied the subject before or not. You will explore issues of social inequality and become familiar with the research methods necessary to investigate these issues.
You will also get a behind-the-scenes look at how sociological research is carried out.
Modules
- Sociological Imaginations
This module will introduce you to contemporary ‘sociological imaginations’ of the social world and will give you the opportunity to apply sociological theories and concepts to contemporary topics. You will develop your ability to think sociologically by first understanding key sociological concepts and then exploring how these are applied in contemporary sociological research examples.
- Contemporary Social Inequalities
This module will provide you with the theoretical and conceptual tools to confront normative/normalising explanations of difference and inequality. You will examine the ways that ‘differences’ and inequalities are formed and their consequences for everyday lived realities.
- Sociology Live: Interrogating Current Social Problems
This module offers a dynamic introduction to sociology as a ‘live’ discipline. It draws on ‘live’ social issues to explore the construction of social problems and examines how sociology is ‘done’ by offering unique insight into the working practices of our resident sociologists as they confront real life problems. You will contribute to the current ‘live’ debates of sociology by producing your own sociological accounts of the world in non-traditional forms, for example podcasts, blogs, vlogs or zines.
- Introduction to Researching Social and Cultural Life
This module introduces you to key aspects of research design and the principles of qualitative and quantitative research. You will look at the principles of social research (eg, research ethics, quantitative/qualitative divide) and identify appropriate research methods, then apply these to specific contexts (eg, evaluating existing work, proposing new work).
- Foundations of Sociology
This module will equip you with an understanding of traditional sociological theory and its applications today. You will study the foundations of sociology, including the key thinkers, debates and theoretical perspectives. You’ll also examine the development of classical ideas and the continued relevance for different sociological perspectives throughout the twentieth century as well as recent challenges to traditional sociological theory.
- Understanding Social Movements and Activism
Social movements exist when groups of people come together to try to create change. Our world has been shaped by feminist, worker, civil rights, anti-colonial, LGBTQ+, peace, environmental, fascist and nationalist movements. On this module you will have a chance to choose one of these movements, or one of thousands of other less well-known movements, to develop as a case study. Each week you will apply different theories to help you to understand why and how the movement emerged.
Our courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis in order to make sure that what you learn with us is relevant and that your course enables you to develop appropriate skills. When you apply to study with us, we will inform you of any new developments in your chosen programme through Student View.
Year 2
In the second year of your sociology degree you will critically engage with contemporary sociological theories and gain practical research experience in preparation for your third-year dissertation.
You will also begin to tailor your degree to your own interests through option modules. These modules include the opportunity to undertake a voluntary work placement with a local organisation where you can put your skills and knowledge into practice.
Modules
Core modules
- Theorising the Social World
This module introduces contemporary sociological and social theory, looking at debates around neo-liberalism and the individualisation thesis, including consumption, choice, freedom, notions of the self and globalisation. You will also explore the relevance of gender, race and intersectionality, social class and different notions of the self.
- Global Cultures
This module addresses globalisation from a socio-cultural perspective. It looks at global cultures from different theoretical perspectives drawing from sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, and global processes from a historical and contemporary viewpoint. Areas of study will include global capitalism and social inequality, mobility in the context of globalisation and local identities and global lives.
- Sociology and the Life Course
This module examines areas of significant sociological interest and introduces you to contemporary areas of study using different models of academic criticism and evaluation. Key topics covered include life course versus lifecycle; competing theories of childhood; cross-cultural perspectives on youth; debates around the changing nature of work in a global society; and debates within the sociology of death, including around euthanasia.
- Gender and Power
This module introduces you to the sociological study of gender, examining in particular the relationship between gender and power in society. Topics include an introduction to gender; examinations of feminism; explorations of masculinities and femininities; and analysis of the relationship between gender and everyday life, such as labour, the body, intimacy and violence.
- Social and Cultural Research Practice
In this module you will learn about qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods of research and then have the option to study either more advanced quantitative methods or more advanced qualitative methods. You will gain experience in the design and practice of research and the skills to develop a research proposal for your final-year dissertation.
Options*
- Community Engagement: Theory into Practice
At the heart of this module is a 50-hour voluntary placement within a local, not for profit organisation. You will explore community engagement theory, reflect on your personal values and aspirations and develop a range of transferable employability skills through both theory and practice.
- Sociology Skills
You will reflect on your own sociological skills and select a number of short courses to take, each of which addresses a specific skill. These might include reading sociology; writing a sociological literature review; essay crafting for sociology; thinking critically in sociological work; applying and generating sociological theory; literature searching for sociology; and interpreting the social world.
*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.
Placements
Spend a year on placement
Gain valuable experience and earn money during an optional placement year following year 2. You’ll return to the final year of your degree with added confidence, real-world experience and valuable contacts.
A placement year significantly improves your CV, giving you a distinct advantage over others when applying for jobs and starting your career. It will also help you to develop the softer skills such as communication and teamwork.
For the assessed part of your placement, you will create a reflective piece of work on professional practice and skills.
The university has links with a wide range of organisations including in health, culture and heritage, housing, councils, the police, the probation service, policy think tanks and charities.
Our dedicated Placements and Employability team will support you in getting a placement that meets with your interests and career ambitions. They can help with CVs and cover letter writing, applications, online testing and more. Plus, they’ll provide support and guidance when you’re on placement and make sure that everything is going well.
Other placement opportunities
In your second year the Community Engagement option module offers the chance to engage with a local not-for-profit organisation and gain valuable hands-on experience. It is a great opportunity to develop your vocational skills and get practical work experience while contributing to the wider community.
You will spend around 50 hours volunteering with an organisation, often working with vulnerable people in sometimes challenging situations. This will be supported and underpinned by organisational training, tutor support and in-class teaching covering theories of community engagement, organisational structure and culture, and reflective learning.
We will help you find a placement that is right for you from the range of local organisations who choose to work with our students.
You will benefit from guest lectures delivered by external speakers drawn from the wider community. You’ll also produce a portfolio where you will reflect on your experiences and learning with reference to practice examples and reflective theory.
The Community Engagement module also includes CV design, working on applications and interviews, developing reflective learning skills and time management.
Making an active contribution to the local community during your course will not only help you to better society but will also improve your knowledge and look great on your CV.
During the placement you could be carrying out a piece of consultancy or gaining practical experience in a specific context relating to an area of possible future work.
Previous students have had placements with organisations including:
- CCHF All About Kids
- Centre for Ecotherapy
- Connect
- Samaritans
- MS Society
- Fresh Start
- Alzheimer’s Society
- Sussex Prisoners’ Families
- Age UK
- YMCA
- MindOut
- Trust for Developing Communities
- Healthwatch Brighton & Hove
Final year
The final year enables you to explore areas of sociological interest and research within the school.
You will be able to specialise in subjects that really interest you, applying the concepts and theories learned during your studies, analysing research material and reaching your own conclusions.
Modules
Core modules
- Dissertation
This enquiry-based module requires you to write a fully developed, researched and evidenced academic dissertation on a topic of your choice related to your degree programme. You will demonstrate the research, data handling, critical thinking, organisational and writing skills you have developed over the course of your undergraduate study.
Options*
- Sociology Topic 1
This module will enable you to study an area of sociological interest structured around analysis of a significant issue related to current sociology. Drawing on the sociological knowledge you gained in your first and second years, you’ll apply concepts and theories to a specific topic and integrate research materials to reach your own conclusions. Topics could include childhood and society; race and ethnicity; religion and society; death and society; and class and conflict in contemporary Britain.
- Violence and Society
In Violence and Society, you will examine how patterns of power, control and dominance permeate society and impact on our social understandings and experiences of violence. You will gain an understanding of the key themes and issues around violence and its macro, cultural and embodied manifestations. By the end of the module, you’ll have a critical awareness of violence as constructed at different levels of society and in different arenas.
- Society and Outer Space
Drawing insights from across the social sciences and humanities, this module explores the argument that societies are produced in relation to the rest of the universe. It covers a range of work from anthropological perspectives on cosmology, through studies of the role of satellites in warfare, communications and surveillance, to analysis of space fiction and the representation of aliens.
- Class and Power
The study of social class and power is a central concern of sociology, and this module examines ways of measuring class and whether social mobility exists in modern Western societies. It will explore how successful classical sociologists were in theorising class and provide you with advanced social scientific perspectives on class and power. Content might include measuring social class; Marx on class and power; gender and class; race and class; and the underclass.
- Sociology of Globalisation
This module explores the emergence of globalisation and considers the implications of living in an increasingly globalised world. You will develop a critical appreciation of current theories, issues and debates around the subject and explore the way in which globalisation has arguably become the central idea in trying to understand the social changes that we are living through today.
- Class and Conflict in Contemporary Britain
In this module you will explore the new sociologies of class and apply them to examples of class conflict in contemporary Britain. You will engage with current debates within class analysis such as the role of the media in the reproduction of class disgust, the impact of gentrification on the lived experience of class inequality and the power of oppressed classes to revolt.
- Sociology Topic 2
In this module, you will study an area of sociological interest structured around the analysis of a significant issue appropriate to current sociology. Drawing on the sociological knowledge you gained in your first and second years, you’ll apply concepts and theories to a specific topic and integrate research materials to reach your own conclusions. Topics could include families and parenting; cities and society; sex and society; human rights; and health and society.
- Community, Belonging and Exclusion
This module brings together theories on community and belonging with practical examples of exclusion and marginalisation. You will examine these social issues through intersecting sociological lenses – including race, class, age, status, gender – and across multiple spaces and scales, including online communities, nation, cities and neighbourhoods. You'll be encouraged to engage critically with the places and communities that you are part of, as well as questions of power, inequality and exclusion.
- Utopian Theory and Practice
This module explores the relationship between Utopian thought and practice and introduces classical critiques of Utopianism that draw attention to its dangers, as well as work identifying its positive functions. You will critically evaluate these perspectives and the ways in which ‘the Utopian’ is being reimagined in contemporary theory and practice.
- Human Rights
This module explores the historical emergence and significance of human rights and the development of key institutions such as the United Nations. You will look at significant historical events and consider some contemporary rights issues such as free speech, minority rights, women’s rights and social justice. We will also focus on the events of 9/11 and the sidelining of human rights in the name of national security, global civil society and online rights issues.
- Sociology and the Climate Emergency
It is increasingly clear that the climate emergency must be addressed at least in part by social change. Social science, and sociology in particular, can help us understand this and work towards achieving such change. During this module you will look at the social aspects of the climate emergency and use sociology to understand the roots and consequences of climate change.
*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.
Lab facilities
Mithras House has a series of lab rooms which can be used for teaching on your course or in your independent research work.
Life lab
A skills-based lab for practice-based teaching, social work, psychotherapy and counselling, and employability. The Life lab is fitted with lounge furniture to provide a comfortable space for conducting qualitative research with larger groups. The lab can be used to conduct research activities with children of all ages and can be used for meetings and events. The room also contains a dedicated space to conduct assessed role play or interviews with children.
City lab
This is a qualitative research methods and creative methods resource for all students, staff and researchers, as well as research participants, including children, community groups and the general public. It can also be used for meetings and events. The City lab contains a kitchen, a teaching/meeting room with enhanced acoustic isolation and two meeting spaces that can be separated with a screen or combined to accommodate larger groups.
Design lab
Housing our extensive collection of historic dress and textiles, which are used in some teaching on our History of Art and Design courses, this has the space and equipment for you to work on textile projects. Displays created by students on these programmes are on view in the social spaces of the building.
Community lab
A space designed for collaborative student learning, this is used by students and staff involved in the university’s Global Challenges programme – our collective mission to contribute towards solutions to tackle the pressing issues facing our world.
Stats lab
A specialist workspace with computing equipment for statistical analysis and projects involving video and audio editing software. The lab contains eight acoustically treated booths for both recording and transcribing interviews undertaken as part of dissertation research and for recording and editing podcasts.
Applied cognition lab
A dedicated research space for psychological research involving measures such as electrodermal activity (EDA) and electroencephalography (EEG). The space is designed to allow the participant and researcher to sit at separate desks whilst psychophysiological data is being collected.
VR and eye tracking lab
The VR and Eye-Tracking Lab is used for psychological research using equipment, such as eye-trackers and virtual reality headsets. The space has adjustable lighting and a blackout blind for maintaining consistent lighting conditions during eye-tracking research, as well as sensors set up in the room to allow individuals to move freely around the room during virtual reality research.
Take a video tour of the labs with technicians Andrea and Grace
Meet the team
You will meet many lecturers during your studies, but most sociology degree teaching is delivered by the core team below, and you’ll get to know them well.