HC1CSI-Contemporary Social Issues

Module Provider: School of Health and Social Care
Number of credits: 20 [10ECTS credits]
Terms in which taught: Spring
Module Convenor: VJ Thurtle
Pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Module version for: 2008/9

Email: v.j.thurtle@reading.ac.uk

Aims:

• To help you sociologically analyse contemporary social issues.
• To impart the excitement of the sociological imagination.
• To examine the practical consequences of some key sociological studies.
• To help you think about the changing relationship of individual and society.

Assessable learning outcomes:
Assessable outcomes
By the end of the module, you should be able to show the relevance of sociology for an understanding of contemporary social problems. You will be able to show that issues that at first seem entirely economic or ethical also have deep social roots which affect how people reason about ethics or about finance. You will be able to discuss sociologically the changing relationship between the rights of individuals and the responsibilities of society. You will also have some understanding of how sociological research can affect actual policies, often in unintended ways.

Additional outcomes:

Outline content:
A key question in sociology is the relationship of the individual to society. There are good reasons to think this relationship is currently changing - this is the theme in this course’s analysis of a number of contemporary social issues. Are new forms of sociality emerging? What responsibilities do individuals today feel they have to society, and society to them? What role can sociology play in ethical and political decisions about the rights both of individuals and of society?
The actual topics covered are selected for their contemporary relevance. They also reflect the lecturer’s own research interests. By the end of the course you will have gained some sociological perspectives on issues that are regularly in the news. Topics covered currently may include:

Changes in the role and functions of the Family
Globalisation and the nature of the state
Migration and the global village
The Nature of professions
Education- for the individual or for the good of the community
Crime and Deviance - why are prisons full?
Health care for all? Provided by whom?
Institutions v Community Care and Control
The age divide and the demographic time bomb
Religion: fundamentalism and its role in society
The internet: new forms of community or social isolation
Disability and inclusion
Death and Dying

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:
Attendance at weekly lectures is compulsory. There is required weekly reading, and using Blackboard you are required to do short weekly assignments based on the reading.

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Lectures		10
Tutorials/seminars		10
Practicals
Other contact (eg study visits)
Total hours		20
Number of essays or assignments		1
Other (eg major seminar paper)			1 exam

Assessment:
Coursework:
An essay of 1500 words
Relative percentage of coursework:
30%

Penalties for late submission:
Not applicable.

Examinations:
A written examination (essay format) will comprise 70% of marks

Requirements for a pass:
A mark of 40% overall.

Reassessment arrangements:
By written examination only in September.