BA (Hons) Sociology & Chinese

In this module you'll cover the basics of beginner’s level Mandarin within 12 weeks. You'll learn to comprehend and talk in very simple Chinese words and patterns, paving the way for you to further your study of Chinese.
By the end of the module, you should:

• have a basic knowledge of Chinese Pinyin, basic grammar and simple sentence patterns
• be able to recognise around 300 Chinese characters
• be able to approximately comprehend simple, basic and very limited language materials closely related to personal or everyday life
• be able to introduce oneself or make oneself understood by others on very limited simple vocabulary with the help of body language or other means
• be able to copy simple characters or words, fill in information that is closely related to personal life or provide very brief written answers to relevant questions in very simple basic vocabulary

You'll take part in introductory grammar classes, tutorials, drills and conversation classes, and study the written language in simplified forms. Teaching will focus on developing your skills in listening, speaking (through individual and group presentations and role play), reading, grammar and writing.

The main objective of this module is to continue to work on basic sentence patterns, grammar and ways of expressing yourself, helping with your acquisition of basic modern language through attention to the spoken forms of the language and to their written equivalents, so as to gain greater knowledge of Chinese language, culture and social life. You’ll work with written text in both Chinese characters and Pinyin.

By the end of this module, you should:

• have a good command of basic Chinese grammar and sentence patterns recognise around 800 Chinese characters, and have a basic working knowledge of the vocabulary based on those character
• be able basically to understand a brief conversation or exchange that is closely related to personal or everyday life
• be able to describe basic information about yourself and others in very simple Mandarin
• be able to write short messages on familiar topics for general social purposes

You’ll take part in grammar classes, tutorials, drills and conversation classes and study the written language in simplified forms. Teaching will focus on developing your skills in listening, speaking (through individual and group presentations and role play), reading, grammar and writing.

This module aims to introduce you to the ‘sociological imagination’. What is distinctive about Sociology? With a focus on knowledge and power, the module looks at how Sociology has developed, with an emphasis on the study of relations between individuals and groups in modern industrial societies.

This module is primarily concerned with the relations between culture and social processes, and approaches these in a number of ways: by outlining various sociological uses of ‘culture’, by identifying the role of culture in examples of macrosocial phenomena (eg education, consumption, the city), and by discussing microsociological analyses of the role of culture in social interaction.

You will have the opportunity to appreciate various forms of Chinese literary works including poetry, prose and fiction. You will be expected to develop critical reading and thinking skills by analysing a range of images in literary works and discussing particular aspects including feminism, poliitcs and the historical and cultural impact of the work.

You will have the opportunity to appreciate various forms of Chinese literary works including poetry, prose and fiction. You will be expected to develop critical reading and thinking skills by analysing a range of images in literary works and discussing particular aspects including feminism, poliitcs and the historical and cultural impact of the work.

Through guided reading, discussions and tutorials you will develop your understanding of Chinese early world-views as well as some of the fundamental concepts of Confucianism and Taoism on nature, society and life. You will have the chance read the classical works of Confucius, Mengzi, Chuang Tzu and others, and think critically about the ways in which classical Chinese philosophies such as Confucisianism and Taoism are embedded in Chinese people's lives today.

Through guided reading, discussions and tutorials you will develop your understanding of Chinese early world-views as well as some of the fundamental concepts of Legalism, Mohism and Buddhism on nature, society and life. You will have the chance read the classical works of Hanfeizi, Mozi and Buddhism works and others, and think critically about the ways in which classical Chinese philosophies such as Legalism, Mohism and Buddhism are embedded in Chinese people's lives today.

All sociologists have had to deal with some conflict between the idea of sociological knowledge as scientific, guided by reason, and human subjectivity, which gives us differing conceptions of what is real or true. This module looks at some problems in finding out about the social world, dealing with values, and interpreting social reality or realities. 

This begins by focusing on how culture has been conceived in the major traditions of sociological thought and moves on to consider the significance of the development of mass communications research and cultural studies for a sociology of culture

This module looks at central questions in Sociology about how to study of society. It focuses in particular on issues of agency and structure; holism and individualism; continuity and change; public and private; structure and self; laws, observation and interpretation.

Exploring the sub-discipline of historical sociology, the module focuses on the formation of the modern state out of earlier types of political organisation, and different ways of understanding state power. It examines processes such as: revolution; the development of nationalism; the nature of imperialism; post-socialism; and the rise of fascism.

With migration frequently presented as a situation of ‘crisis’, this module considers broader contexts and longer histories of migration to and within Europe, and will consider the academic field migration as an inter-disciplinary field of study.

Exploring contemporary literature from writers and theorists working in a European context, the module will present students with starting points from which to consider migration using core sociological concepts, particularly of place, ‘race’ and power.

The module will follow a migration pathway, with focus points considered through lenses of leaving, moving, arriving and staying:

• Leaving - We will examine those legal frameworks and international agreements relevant to migration, and will explore the uneasy distinction between so-called forced migration and economic migration.
• Moving - We will consider borders and immigration controls, border theories, and the differentiated legal statutes of migrating people as linked to colonial and postcolonial relationships.
• Arriving - We will reflect on notions of displacement, exile, integration strategies and policies, representations of migrants and racism, and examples of activism with and by migrants. Staying – We will look at migration and cities, and focus on experiences of young migrants in particular.

This module is about the relationships between vision, sensuality and the production of truth, knowledge, and identity in Euro-American cultures. It asks: how do historically and culturally specific ways of seeing and sensing shape ways of knowing (epistemology) and ways of being (ontology)? What are the relationships between vision, sensuality and power?

What are the epistemological, methodological and ethical demands that are made upon sociology in its encounters with the visual and the sensual? Through discussion of topics such as Deigo Velázquez' 1656 painting Las Meninas, the camera and photography, and the visual manipulation of identity through ‘passing’, the module will provide a forum for thinking about the pleasures, dangers and contingencies present in visualising the social world. 

Conventional ways of demarcating economic, power, and cultural relationships have long relied up notions of "North and South", "first and third", "east and west", "colonial and post-colonial." These means of envisioning the world and of tracing the intersections among diverse places, times, and peoples, while maintaining some salience, no longer seem to grasp what is really taking place.

The module, in particular, explores the emerging relationships between Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and Africa—articulations that have been elaborated over a long history but which now take shape in new and powerful ways.

Additionally, there are a plurality of "worlds” that enjoin different actors and spaces that cannot be easily defined according to geopolitical understandings--where information infrastructure, design, telecommunications, and travel combine to create new possibilities of transaction. The module looks at how these worlds affect our understandings of sociality, actors, and collective life, in general, and the shape and operations of emerging powers in particular.

This module is concerned with the historical development of citizenship and human rights, especially in relation to the nation-state and the international states system. It is also concerned with the value of human rights, explored through consideration of any or all of the following topics: Are human rights cosmopolitan? Is there a human rights movement? Does the enforcement of human rights increase democracy? Are human rights structured so that they necessarily privilege certain groups as ‘human’?

Globalisations is both a dominant discourse of powerful actors on the world scene, as well as the main target for one of the most vibrant new social movements. This module aims to develop a critical and historical understanding of the issues which inform contemporary debates on globalisation.