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Core modules:

Data Visualisation: Coding and Design

This module consists of three key elements. The first is principles of good graphic design, combined with how graphical representations of data can be used to lie and mislead. The second is learning how to make a wide range of graphs, maps, and figures, for different audiences using a modern and powerful programming language. The third is interpreting visual representations of data, whether from other sources or by students on the module themselves, and using them to answer substantive research questions. This is a hands-on module that allows students to create, understand, and apply data visualisations in the context of social science research. Learners will develop fundamental coding, graphic design, and data literacy skills in parallel during the module, and apply these to real-world data visualisation scenarios.

20 credits

Digital Media and Society I: Core Concepts

Students taking this introductory module will be introduced to core concepts, issues, and debates about the production, use and social impacts of digital media and information technologies in society. Students will learn to develop an understanding of the core theoretical and conceptual approaches to understanding digital media and its impacts on society. Students will also be taught fundamental applied skills in digital media content production, design, and distribution, and will apply these skills in coursework.

20 credits

Introduction to Media and Communication

This module provides students with an introduction to the complex, dynamic, and fascinating relationship between the media and our contemporary society. It will take students back to some of the earliest academic media theories, later arriving at discussions of cutting-edge communication-related debates. The module covers a wide range of topics, including:

Media ownershipAudience studiesMedia and democracy'Effects' of media and human behavioursCelebrity and influencer culturesSocial media governance

The module will enable students to reflect on taken-for-granted assumptions about the media / society relationship. Students will apply this knowledge to case studies and examples of contemporary media forms, content and institutions, and in doing so they will develop media literacy skills.

This module aims to:A1: Introduce students to the relationship between media and societyA2: Explore and reflect on the strengths and limitations of core sociological theories relating to media in societyA3: Explore a range of empirical media in society case studiesA4: Introduce students to the forces that influence media production and consumptionA5: Introduce students to the role of the media in contemporary social and cultural lifeA6: Assist in the development of independent research and writing skills.

20 credits

Introduction to Digital Methods Research

This unit introduces students to methods for carrying out research, sometimes referred to digital methods. It provides hands-on practical opportunities to try out in practice. Digital methods are techniques for researching digital cultures and content. Students will explore online surveys and interviews, or virtual ethnography. They will use new methods devised especially for researching digital content like: social media content, likes and shares; blog posts and comments; hyperlinks; search engine results. Students on this module will learn about the tools, techniques and processes of digital methods, and they will be introduced to the ethical questions that they raise.

20 credits

Digital Media and Society II: Contemporary Issues

In this module, students will build upon the learning developed in Digital Media and Society I: Core Concepts.Students will apply the theories and concepts acquired in the prerequisite module to emerging issues, debates, and social concerns, with a focus on the impact that digital systems and AI technologies have on a range of areas, including (but not limited to) wellbeing, the environment, and various industries. Students will implement the technical skills acquired in the prerequisite module in a content management system, learning how to create and customise a range of digital content formats, including AI-generated material. Students will also engage with each others' work in a constructive and industry-relevant fashion.

20 credits

Optional modules:

Understanding and challenging inequality: Sociological and policy debate

Social inequalities and social divisions are fundamental challenges and complex problems in modern societies. This module aims to develop your understanding of societal inequalities and divisions, and of societal debates and actions to challenge and transform societal discourses, relations and structures that underpin social inequalities and divisions. Drawing on multidisciplinary sociological and social policy perspectives and debates, the module will develop your understanding of the complexity of contemporary inequalities and divisions, and the range of political and collective actions required and pursued to address these. You will engage with theoretical, research and policy perspectives about the ways in which the distribution of resources, status, opportunities and life chances in society is associated with economic, social, political and cultural dimensions of inequality and division. You will learn about the ways in which collective actions, transformative social policies and societal activism seek to challenge these dimensions of inequality and division.Ìý

Three key themes will guide your module learning: inequality, justice and injustice; inclusion and exclusion; and local and global relationships. Engaging with these themes, the module will explore a range of sociological, political and social policy issues with module delivery tailored each year to the School's/Department's research expertise providing students with cutting edge learning based on the module team's specialist and current research and policy fields. Each year the module will explore several substantive topics and issues including, for instance, social welfare and social justice; childhood, family life, care and intergenerational relations; migration and transnational relations; crime and criminalisation; the digital world and risks; and decolonisation and neo-colonialism. The module builds on the Semester 1 Part 1 Social Inequalities and Division module to develop students' understandings of the causes, nature and extent of inequalities and divisions in contemporary society; and debates and actions concerned to promote equality, justice and inclusion.

20 credits

Theories of Society

This module aims for in-depth investigations of decisive advances in sociology's theoretical inquiry into social relations, conditions, and processes. You will receive guidance in interpreting key concepts and ideas in a range of different contributions to social theory and in analysing the configurations of those concepts and ideas.

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The module will support you in developing the skills to engage closely with complex primary socio-theoretical writings in order to understand, reconstruct, and articulate their essential logical steps and arguments. Moreover, the module seeks to encourage and facilitate critical assessments and discussions of the successes and limitations of different socio-theoretical works. It aims to foster a comparative perspective on the similarities and differences between the theories of society under inspection.

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The module will enable you to recognise social theory's potential to help make sense of persistent problems and challenges posed by social relations and conditions as well as to help envisage ways of addressing those problems and transforming the social world.

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A series of lectures will set out and scrutinises the conceptual configurations, inferences, and arguments presented in socio-theoretical writings. The corresponding series of seminars will provide an environment for you and your fellow students to collaborate in in-depth interpretations, analyses, and critical discussions of the course content and in honing your skills to reconstruct and compare a variety of socio-theoretical arguments

20 credits

Sociology of hope, community and social justice

This module aims to introduce and develop students' understanding of the concepts of hope, community and social justice and their related theoretical contexts, challenges and debates.Ìý

Drawing on multidisciplinary sociological and social policy perspectives and debates, the module will develop students' knowledge and critical understanding of the concepts of hope, community and social justice and the range of historical and contemporary political and collective actions that have been shaped by transformative approaches and/or pursued these 'better world' ambitions.Ìý

The module will adopt a thematic approach to facilitate students' understanding of what hope, community and social justice mean and how these have been defined as well as ensuring students have familiarity and confidence in navigating the theoretical approaches, empirical studies and substantive 'real world' case studies/topic areas associated with these thematic categories.

20 credits

Making Sense of Education: Facts, Fiction and Data

Politics, practices and media discourses related to Education, frequently invoke 'evidence' or statistical reasoning in an attempt to persuade. These approaches can be deliberately misused or accidentally misleading. This module will equip you with the knowledge you need to become a discerning data user and critic through a mix of active learning, seminars and computer workshops. You will develop practical skills to support your engagement with 'evidence' throughout your studies, explore a range of issues in qualitative and quantitative research design, and create a foundation for your future development as a critical researcher.

20 credits

Reporting Institutions

This module aims to help students understand how the world works - how the levers of power operate in international, national and local politics and how they can use this information and understanding to hold those in power to account on behalf of readers, viewers and listeners.

20 credits

Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics

There's more and more data around us - in the media, used by politicians or governments, generated by users and businesses. Whether you are a data analyst, social researcher, journalist, or simply an informed citizen, understanding how data is used—and sometimes misused—is a crucial skill. In a world increasingly driven by data, the ability to critically interpret and evaluate statistical claims is more essential than ever.

This 20-credit module aims to demystify data and help you develop your analytical and critical thinking skills regarding data and statistics used in research, businesses, politics, and the media. Through engaging teaching, active learning and examples from research, politics, and the news media, the module will enable you to develop the knowledge and skills you'll need to understand, analyse, and interpret data with confidence, and tell good from bad data.

The module is comprised of weekly lectures as well as interactive computer workshops and is assessed through a written data communication task and a multiple-choice exam — both designed to reflect the types of assessments commonly used in recruitment and relevant workplace scenarios.

20 credits

We have two themed routes as part of this course - Journalism, Media and Communication, and Marketing and Consumer Society. We've grouped the modules we recommend choosing for your preferred route. These modules are available to all students. They are only a recommendation to those looking to theme their studies, not a requirement.

Journalism, Media and Communication route:

Reporting Institutions

This module aims to help students understand how the world works - how the levers of power operate in international, national and local politics and how they can use this information and understanding to hold those in power to account on behalf of readers, viewers and listeners.

20 credits

Marketing and Consumer Society themed modules begin in subsequent years.