BA (Hons) Sociology and History

The free market principles of neoliberal capitalism expose males and females to new uncertainties about social life, and unprecedented dimensions of risk. In the consumer society of late modernity, economic insecurity, high levels of crime, rampant individualism and deviance, are accepted norms rather than aberrations. This module explores the impacts that economic changes have on wealth disparities, and maintaining inequalities, amongst different social groups. Who are the winners and losers of consumer capitalism? How do social actors negotiate risk? What are the neoliberal penalties and consequences of being unable to compete in society’s market situations? Why are the poor demonised under the rhetoric of responsibilisation? These are some of the questions examined in this module, within the context of power and its application to racialised, gendered and classified social groups.

The final decades of British rule in India were tumultuous times. From the iconic civil disobedience campaigns of Mahatma Gandhi to violent revolutionary activity, the imperial state was rocked by protest. At the same time the international legitimacy of colonial rule was dissolving in the wake of the Bolshevik revolution, the rise of the United States of America and the turmoil of the two World Wars. This module examines the ‘local’ and ‘global’ dimensions of decolonisation in South Asia, exploring the history of anti-colonial activism alongside the experiences of ordinary people who lived through the end of empire. In doing so, students will learn about the importance of gender, caste, class and religion in anti-colonial politics.

The module will explore how social science perspectives are imperative if society is going to respond to the urgent environmental challenges we face today and bring about the social change needed to address them. It will explore the concept of consumerism and how reframing citizens as consumers has helped drive unsustainable economic growth within the developed world. It will review how sustainability relates to sociological concepts such as social justice and equality, and how this relationship is fundamental to The United Nation’s Goals for Sustainable Development. You will analyse the relationship between the social and the natural world, through the theory of ‘entanglement’ which will be used to map your own pattern of more sustainable living. At the end of the module you will have a critical understanding of how knowledge drawn from sociology can contribute to the debate about – and the building of strategies to enhance – sustainability, and bring about change to the environment-society dynamic.

Changing the world, or trying to, has a long history. This module will focus on British campaigning and social action since the the anti-slavery movement of the late-eighteenth century. Students will explore how those campaigners faced similar challenges and adopted similar tactics to those seeking to expand democracy, to provide aid to those in war zones, to end poverty, racism and starvation at home and around the world. Equally, students will be introduced to ongoing debates about the contradictions and complexities of attempts to do good. In addition to learning about the history of humanitarian efforts to relieve suffering and improve society, locally and globally, students will take a deep dive into their own small-scale research project on a single case study from the modern British history of humanitarianism and protest.

For this module, students will undertake an independent project, support by a member of the teaching team, about a topic of their choice. Students have three options for their project. Option one is a secondary research dissertation, option two is a primary research dissertation, and option three is an applied research project with a not-for-profit organisation.

The module provides you with the opportunity to explore a historical topic or a topic related to the use of the past independently and in depth. It is normally taken during the final semester of study, thereby allowing you to draw on the skills developed and honed throughout your earlier studies. The choice of research topic should be guided by your interest as well as the feasibility of undertaking the project given the availability of relevant primary and secondary sources and the expertise of potential supervisors. The findings of your Independent Study are usually presented in the form of a written dissertation. However, in the spirit of inclusivity and creativity, alternatives are possible with the approval of the supervisor and the module leader. In seeking approval, you will need to demonstrate that it would still be possible to meet the module’s Learning Outcomes. Approval for any alternative should be secured before work on the Independent Study begins. The discussion of feasible topics, possible supervisors and modes of presentation will normally have started at Level 5 in the ‘Research in Action’ module.

Most people do not learn about the past in university lecture halls and seminar rooms. This module offers an introduction to the field of public history, broadly defined to cover encounters with the past outside of the academic discipline. Students will learn to be critical consumers of representations of the past in museums and at heritage sites, in fiction, on screen and online, as well as community history projects. After surveying different public history approaches to the past, students will undertake and reflect on their own small-scale original project in curating historical materials or presenting historical insights for non-academic audiences, depicting the past in creative work or on a short-term placement. In doing so, students will be encouraged to think critically about the limits and the potential of non-academic encounters with the past.

The module examines the key themes of family, gender and sexuality in Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, using a variety of online and documentary sources to examine both ‘normative’ and ‘transgressive’ behaviour within British society.

This module focuses on global issues and trends in the twenty-first century. We will explore the increased interconnectedness of states, societies and peoples and the economic, political and social impact of this interdependence. Case-study material will be drawn from many different parts of the world and is likely to include finance, communication and information technology, the role of the nation state, environmental problems and resistance to globalisation.  

    Migration is a fundamental feature of the contemporary world.  Its social and economic effects are self evident; its political ramifications frequent.  This course will provide an overview of key concepts and issues in the study of migration.  The organisation will be split into two interrelated sections.  The first will consider the key motivations why people move from one country to another.  Here the course will look at definitions, push and pull factors in migrant flows and migration in history.  Second, it will look at immigration and British society.  This will section will pay particular attention to immigration to the UK since 1945: Irish and New Commonwealth immigration, Immigration Control and contemporary asylum and Eastern European immigration.

The module draws upon successive generations of English-language scholarship and a wealth of contemporary sources in translation to explore the genesis, development and murderous outcome of policy towards the Jews and others targeted by the Nazi regime. It first examines the Nazi persecution of German Jews and other racial and social enemies in Germany in the inter-war years, then charts the transition to systematic mass murder across occupied Europe during World War Two. Throughout the module students will study the motives and actions of the perpetrators of these crimes, and attempt through extensive engagement with the source record to piece together the experience of the many who suffered at their hands.

This module examines the history of youth culture and popular music in twentieth century Britain. The focus will be both chronological and thematic. Sessions will explore the emergence of youth as a social problem, examine the relationship between youth culture and popular music, analyse the relationship between history, sound and place. It also explores the ways in which youth cultures and popular music have reflected, challenged, and informed shifting notions of class, race, gender, sexuality, and regional/national identities. Throughout the module students will engage with a range of written sources along with recorded music, performance, and cinematic representations of youth culture.