Course summary
The 21st Century has witnessed rapid social changes, in terms of our personal relationships, communities, politics and the technology we use. Our MA Sociology degree offers the tools to understand the drivers of this change as well as the challenges these present to our societies. Sociology provides distinct insights into the contested character of contemporary processes of global, national and local transformations, and how these transformations are driven by and reflected in the complexity of individual identities and allegiances. The MA Sociology programme has a strong theoretical core, which critically examines the major sociological traditions as tools for understanding contemporary social transformations. We will take these traditions and combine them with cutting edge theoretical frames to explain social phenomenon that are reshaping our societies, such as: the rise of new technologies and social media; the rise of new forms of populist politics; widening socio economic inequalities; increasing forms of individualisation. The programme will appeal to those who want to better understand complex shifts and transformations within our societies. Alongside social theory, the MA Sociology programme offers a suite of optional modules that examine a range of social issues and divisions, such as crime, migration, poverty and inequality, race and ethnicity. You will approach these issues by pursuing distinctively sociological questions of the relationships between individuals, groups, institutions and wider social processes; the dynamics of stability and change and the distribution of power. This will be paralleled by training in the analysis of empirical sociological research, the design of research programmes and the methods for collecting, interpreting and presenting sociological data.
Modules
Core Modules: Transforming Identities (20 credits); Transforming Societies (20 credits); Dissertation (60 credits). You will also be able to chose from a range of optional modules.
Assessment method
Your degree will predominantly be assessed through a range of coursework, such as traditional essay, policy reports and dissertation - currently two of our modules utilise written examination as a mode of assessment. You will be offered the opportunity across core modules to complete formative assessments and to receive feedback which can be used to develop your writing style, structuring and critical reasoning, without the mark carrying into your degree classification.
Entry requirements
For entry onto this programme you will normally have an undergraduate degree of at least a 2:1. Applicants with a 2:2 degree classification will be considered on a case by case basis, if you have extensive related work experience. Speakers of English as a second language will be required to hold an IELTs 6.5 with no less than 6.0 in each band or equivalent qualification.
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
No fee information has been provided for this course
Additional fee information
Provider information
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT