Keele University Prospectus Undergraduate | 2016 | Page 214

SOCIOLOGY AND CRIMINOLOGY

Sociology
Overview

Sociology has been taught at Keele for over 50
years, combining world-class research with lively
and accessible teaching. We provide an intellectually
challenging and supportive space for you to engage
in debates about social issues and concepts at the
cutting edge of the discipline.
At the forefront of our teaching is an understanding
that we live in a world characterised by rapid social,
political, economic and cultural change. While
traditional institutions, such as the family, religion
and work, have been forced to adapt to the new
realities of global society, people’s lives carry on at
a local everyday level. Sociology aims to explore the
events that shape our personal lives and think about
how social institutions impact on our experiences
of community.
The central objective of Sociology is to link private
problems to public concerns in order to help
us to better understand our lives and respond
constructively to problems that might seem
otherwise impossible to resolve. But Sociology is not
just about contemporary life. By tracing the history of
social change, it is possible to see how ideas, such as
individualism, citizenship and class, began to emerge.
In this context, Sociology is an essential form of
knowledge for future generations because it offers us
the opportunity to think about aspects of our social
lives that we would otherwise take for granted.

Course content

First year
In the first year we provide an extensive grounding
in the key elements of the discipline of sociology,
and begin by looking at the core concerns: What is
the purpose of sociology; What is society; How do
societies function; What happens when societies
break down; How are societies divided up and
what impact can that have on the people who
inhabit them?
Social Inequalities in the Contemporary World
considers society as a site of conflict and
contestation. You will investigate the way different
inequalities, such as class, race, gender, age
and disability, cut across society and hinder the
emergence of a fair world. This is an essential area
for contemporary sociologists because it is only
by challenging dominant understandings of
inequality – that the