Sociology

Department statement

We offer a wide-ranging curriculum that includes options to study cutting-edge issues as well as the fundamental social processes that have traditionally been sociology’s concern. Our teaching, at every level of study, reflects the top-quality research strengths of a department that has consistently ranked within the top three in the country since 2008 (Research Excellence Framework rankings). Over the last two years we have particularly focused on enhancing the range of optional modules for students to engage with, bringing in exciting new courses such as Environment and Society (year 1), Decolonising Sociology (year 2), The Sociology of Mental Health, and Illness and Race, Racism and Education (both year 3), and Cultural Criticism: Sources for a Public Sociology (PGT).

We have just introduced a new specialist Masters programme on Social Network Analysis and are currently working on a further programme focusing on sociological approaches to environment, climate and sustainability. These new developments add to a programme that already offered students the possibility of focusing on key social issues such as inequality, personal life, education, work and class or protest and social movements. This ensures that our graduates leave the department with up-to-date substantive knowledge on the specialisms of their choice, as well as a range of key intellectual and practical skills. Sociology graduates have gained key skills in the design and conduct of social research, and in the ability to make sense of multiple, sometimes contradictory, sources of information in order to come to a balanced, well-informed view of some of the most complex issues facing contemporary societies. They can communicate evidence and robust conclusions through various media. And they can demonstrate, through their chosen specialist options, their relevant expertise in a range of areas that offer potentially rewarding career paths.

At the programme level we have increasingly sought to decolonise and green our curriculum, and students now encounter critical social thought and research in relation to these areas throughout their degrees. This adds to what was already a robust preparation in making sense of key citizenship issues around diversity and inclusion/exclusion, awareness of inequalities and so on. Such ideas are heavily rooted in sociological scholarship, and by providing an up-to-date, research-led curriculum we ensure our students graduate with a keen awareness and ability to navigate such issues.

We are continuing to develop our assessment structures, but we believe there are already some key, valuable practices built into our course units. Our assessment methods are heavily focused on relatively lengthy texts of various kinds, centred, as is traditional, on scholarly essays and the dissertation. However, students do encounter different types of written assessment throughout their degrees including writing research design documents and research proposals (all UG years and PGT), various forms of empirical research report (all UG years and PGT), as well as case studies (UG3 Power and Protest), blogs (UG1 Global Social Challenges; UG2 New Media), portfolios (UG2 Decolonising Sociology; UG3 Identity, Power and Modernity), and visual materials (UG3 Visualising Society). We also assess our students on verbal presentations (UG2 Family, Relationships and Everyday Life; UG3 Dissertation) and have just instituted a new poster presentation assessment for UG1 Researching Culture and Society. Together we think these assessment forms allow students to focus on a variety of communicative skills as well as offering a robust basis for assessment.

In the shorter term, our efforts are focused on:

1. Making a success of the MSc Social Network Analysis, which received its first cohort in Sept 2022.
2. Improving our skills offer through Sociology Futures and the Sociological Writing Academy.

We are also focusing much effort on developing a new Masters programme in the sociology of environment, climate and sustainability. While that will draw on some of our existing course units, it will also involve the provision of several new course units which should have a positive impact also for our other Masters programmes.

Information about studying Sociology at The University of Manchester

People in the Sociology Department