Sociology

This course focuses on the Spanish Social Services System in the context of the European welfare state. It examines the object, concepts, mechanisms of action, and modes of provision of the Spanish Social Services System within the social and democratic state of law. 

This course provides a social policy perspective on a range of issues which impact upon family life. Topics include definitions and ideologies of family; changing family structures; lone parent families; contraception and abortion; homosexuality; and strategies for policy change. Students learn to identify major theories on the family; engage in an analysis of central developments in family life in Ireland; be conversant with major policy developments relating to family in Ireland; and have an understanding of the diversity of family forms in contemporary society, and the ability to critically discuss them.

This course explores microsociological theories of the self, social identity, and social interaction, drawing particularly on Symbolic Interactionism and Goffman's dramaturgical theory. It shows how the ostensibly private world of individual selfhood is created and shaped by social processes, culture, and interaction order.

The course aims to help students understand the causes of crime, the fundamental concepts and types of criminal policies, and develop a rational perspective on the role of criminal law and policy. It encourages students to focus on major social issues, enhance their legal awareness, and acquire knowledge for crime prevention, ultimately contributing to a stable and harmonious society.

Students will embark on an exploration of riverbanks, lake environments, coastal regions, and island communities, seeking to capture the myriad ways they access and inhabit these areas in the 21st century. In the growing wave of island and coastal studies, students will also consider how coastal societies offer important examples of behavioral and cultural evolution, with religious icons, cultural ideas, linguistic patterns, and stories told and retold, featuring connections to water. Students will learn how these regions serve as natural conduits for migration, fostering cultural exchanges, and the flourishing of innovation and social networks. These include the fishing First Nations and Inuit communities in northern Canada and Greenland, the societies living in the depths of the jungle along the Congo River, and even Hong Kong’s coasts and communities such as those in Mui Wo, Tai O, Lei Yue Mun, Aberdeen, and Sai Kung.

This course is an interdisciplinary introduction to Korean culture from the "opening" of Korea in the 19th century up to today. It travels chronologically through Korean history with a changing disciplinary focus. The course builds a robust knowledge fundament of Korean culture, including insights into multiple disciplines, including history, literature, film, historiography, geography, anthropology, and sociology.

TBA

This course looks at the vast socio-economic changes that have occurred in China, the most populous and fastest-developing country in the world, a country that was a "blank sheet of poverty" in 1949 and is the second largest economic power in the world now.  

The course considers the nature of deviance, crime, and criminality in South Africa, from both historical and current viewpoints. The following questions are reviewed: How much crime is there in South Africa? Who are the victims of crime and who are the offenders? Why is crime in South Africa so violent? These discussions draw freely from international, criminological debate, and locate those debates within a developing context. The course explores responses to crime in the South African context by considering what has and is being done by the state and non-state to engage with crime? What is the thinking behind (violent) crime control and prevention programmes and initiatives? How effective have these initiatives been? These discussions focus on crime policies that have been developed as well as community and private sector initiatives to address issues of crime and violence. DP requirements: Completion of all written tests, essays and assignments. Assessment: Coursework counts 50% and one two-hour examination counts 50% of the final mark. Course entry requirements: SOC1001F, SOC1005S, or any 1000-level social science course.