School of Sociology and Criminology  
 
 
SOC-10009 Social inequalities in the contemporary world  
Co-ordinator: Dr Dana Rosenfeld    Room: CBC0.016, Tel:33932  
Teaching Team: Dr Rebecca  Leach, Ms Deborah  Tagg, Prof Bill  Dixon, Dr Siobhan Holohan, Dr Emma  Head, Dr Andy  Zieleniec, Miss Jo-Anne  Watts, Miss Natalie  Soleiman,  Garry  Crawford  
Lecture Time: See Timetable...  
Level: 1 Credits: 15 Study Hours: 150  
School Office:
 
 
 
Programme/Approved Electives for
Criminology Single Honours (Level 1)
Available as a Free Standing Elective
Yes
Prerequisites
None

Barred Combinations
None

Description

This module explores social inequalities in both a British and a global context. The module focuses on major social inequalities, such as class, ethnicity, gender and age and considers how these shape societies and the life chances of individuals. The module encourages students to consider sociological accounts of existence and persistence of social inequalities and to challenge common-sense and individualised explanations.

Do social class and poverty affect your life chances?
Women are associated with nature, and are hence inferior, men with culture, therefore superior - how do sociologists view this?
How do racism, prejudice and xenophobia create barriers to social mobility?
To what extent has Britain become a more equal society since the election of a Labour government in 1997?
Is there any evidence that the deep-seated inequalities that have been addressed in this
module are being reduced or is British society becoming even more unequal?

The lectures will focus on
Understanding social inequalities
Social class - researching and explaining class differences
The end of class?: The excluded rich and the underclass
Gender and sex - masculinities, feminities
Gender in a global context
Ethnicity and race
Age and social divisions

Formative Assessment and Tutorial Activities
Presentation in a small group - feedback will be provided by your tutor
Talis Aspire Reading List
Any reading lists will be provided by the start of the course.

http://lists.lib.keele.ac.uk/modules/soc-10009/lists
Aims
  • To enable students to consider the forms of stratification of social life in contemporary societies
  • To enable students to consider the role of gender, ethnicity, social class, and age in shaping our life chances
  • To introduce students to sociological explanations for inequalities which challenge individualist and common-sense understandings
Intended Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this module will be able to:
  • Express knowledge of the diversity of types of social inequality in the contemporary world
  • Demonstrate an appreciation of the social origins of inequalities
  • Show knowledge of the ways that policy decisions impact upon social inequalities through reference to both historical and contemporary examples
  • Show an understanding of the diverse scalings of social inequalities
  • Critical engagement with individualized and culturally specific explanations for major disparities in life chances from a sociological perspective will be achieved by assessments
  • Show evidence of reflection on own learning and the ability to conform to academic conventions
  • Demonstrate the ability to rehearse social theories and ways of theorizing social inequalities through oral presentations
  • Demonstrate the ability to interpret quantative data representing patterns of social inequalites, and compare these to findings of qualitative research to develop an understanding of the contribution of different methodological approaches to sociological research
Study hours
20 Contact hours - 10 lectures and 10 tutorials
40 hours tutorial preparation
45 hours prepartion for group presentation and report
45 hours preparation for unseen exam
Description of Module Assessment
01: Individual Report weighted 50%
Individual report on group presentation
1500 words on a particular aspect of social inequality
02: 2 Hour Unseen Exam weighted 50%
1 2 hour unseen examination, 3 questions to be answered
Version: (1.06B) Updated: 03/Mar/2013

This document is the definitive current source of information about this module and supersedes any other information.