School of Sociology and Criminology  
 
 
SOC-10013 Modernity and its Darkside  
Co-ordinator: Dr Jane Parish    Room: CBC0.011, Tel:34232  
Teaching Team: Ms Deborah  Tagg, Dr Andy  Zieleniec, Miss Jo-Anne  Watts, Miss Claire  Lewendon,  Garry  Crawford  
Lecture Time: See Timetable...  
Level: 1 Credits: 15 Study Hours: 150  
School Office:
 
 
 
Programme/Approved Electives for
Criminology Single Honours (Level 1)
Media, Communications and Culture Dual Honours (Level 1)
Media, Communications and Culture Minor (Level 1)
Sociology Dual Honours (Level 1)
Sociology Major (Level 1)
Sociology Minor (Level 1)
Sociology Single Honours (Level 1)
Available as a Free Standing Elective
Yes
Prerequisites
None
Barred Combinations
None
Description

The idea of the modern individual and society is tied to wider social and political understandings about the world that we live in. As our understandings of the world change, so do ideas of who we are and what our place in the world is. In this module we examine some of the key themes and concepts associated with the $ùmodern&© individual and the wider context within which some are labelled as modern and others traditional. Key themes include a study of the enlightenment period, the birth of commercial society, modern state and the idea of citizenship. We then turn to look at the dark side of modernity - what is classed as abnormal, supernatural and irrational and societies attempt to control the pathological and paranoid desires of its members.

Who is the modern individual?
Can a group of individuals, composed of different ideas and beliefs, avoid conflict and rule
themselves?
What is classed as abnormal, supernatural and irrational by society and what attempts does
society make to control this?
Have the ideas developed in modernity been used to destroy rather than develop society?

The lectures will focus on
Modernity and Individualism
The Enlightenment Individual
The Political Individual
The Economic Individual
The Sociological Individual
The Irrational Self
The Consumer
The Holocaust and the Irrational Individual
Normalisation and Contemporary Individualism
The Post Modern Individual

Formative Assessment and Tutorial Activities
Students each week, with guidance from the group tutor, will write a creative paragraph outlining the significant themes of the lecture/seminar, as they have undertood them. This will be added to each week with each lecture so that a narrative is reflexively constructed illustrating how the student has pieced together the course and what they have understood.
Talis Aspire Reading List
Any reading lists will be provided by the start of the course.

http://lists.lib.keele.ac.uk/modules/soc-10013/lists
Aims
  • To introduce students to key sociological ideas about modern social relations and modern individuals
  • To develop analytical skills and to explore the relationship between sociology and the enlightenment
  • To enable students to begin to make critical judgements about the history of freedom and repression
Intended Learning Outcomes
  • Express knowledge of the inter-relationships between social relations, social structure and individual
  • Demonstrate an appreciation of the social origins of the scientific, political and economic individual
  • Show how sociology emerged as a reflection of modernisation and how it countered the individualising tendencies of the western world with the claim that social relations are no less real than individuals
  • Display comprehension of the ambivalent nature of the modern rational self conceptualised in classical sociology, psychological theory and twentieth century social theory
Study hours
20 contact hours - 10 hours lectures/10 seminar hours per week
40 hours preparation and writing of essay
50 hours preparation and writing of reflexive diary
40 hours tutorial preparation time
Description of Module Assessment
01: Essay weighted 50%
1500 word essay
02: Creative Brief weighted 50%
Reflexive diary
Students each week, with guidance from the seminar tutor, will write a creative paragraph outlining the significant themes of the lecture/seminar, as they have understood them. This will be added to each week with each lecture so that a narrative is reflexively constructed illustrating how the student has pieced together the course and what they have understood.
Version: (1.06B) Updated: 03/Oct/2013

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