Perspectives

BSc (Hons) Sociology SH 346 (Specialisation: Gender Studies) (Under Review)

1. Objectives

The programme aims at providing students with a sound knowledge of Sociology and Gender Studies.

The programme is designed to promote analytical skills in the study of human behaviour, gender analysis, social institutions and social change.

The scheme of study offers adequate background for a number of professions requiring social and gender analysis in a changing society, both in the public and private sector. The programme also offers adequate background to those who wish to pursue further studies/research at postgraduate level and beyond either locally or abroad.

2. General Entry Requirements

In accordance with the University General Entry Requirements for admission to undergraduate degree Programmes.

3. Programme Requirements

Credits in English and Mathematics at GCE ‘O’ Level and Any 2 ‘A’ Level

4. Programme Duration

Normal
Maximum
Degree:
3 years
5 years

5. Minimum Credits Required for Degree Award – 103

Breakdown as follows:

CREDITS FROM

Core Modules
Electives
Dissertation
Degree
66
27
10

6. Credits per Year

Minimum 18 credits, Maximum 48 credits, subject to regulation 4.
7. Assessment

Each module will be assessed over 100 marks with details as follows (unless otherwise specified):

Written examinations for all modules, will be carried out at the end of the academic year except for placement (unless otherwise stated). Relevant information will be provided to the students prior to delivery of the modules.

Continuous assessment may be based on laboratory work, seminars and/or assignments and should include at least two (2) assignments/tests per module.

An overall total of 40% for combined Continuous Assessment (CA) and Written Examination (WE) components would be required to pass a module, without minimum thresholds within the individual CA and WE components.

8. Submission Deadline for Dissertation

Final copy: Last week day of March of the Academic Year by 4.00 p.m at latest.

9. List of Modules - BSc (Hons) Sociology (specialisation: Gender Studies)

Code
CORE
Module Name
Hrs/Wk
L+P
Credits
SOCI 1000Y(1)
Introduction to Sociological Thought
3+0
6
SOCI 1001Y(1)
Social Stratification and Inequality
3+0
6
SOCI1002Y(1)
Family and Population Issues
3+0
6
SOCI 1007Y(1)
Sociological Data Analysis
3+0
6
SOCI 2008Y(3)
Sociology of Work and Leisure
3+0
6
SOCI 2002Y(3)
Education and Society in the Developing World
3+0
6
SOCI 2003Y(3)
Sociological Theories
3+0
6
SOCI 2004Y(3)
Social Research Methods
3+0
6
SOCI 3001Y(5)
Sociology of Globalisation
3+0
6
SOCI 3002Y(5)
Deviance and Society
3+0
6
SOCI 3006Y(5)
Race and Ethnicity
3+0
6
SOCI 3000(5)
Dissertation

10
ELECTIVES

SOCI 1105(1)
SOCI 1108(1)
Introduction to Sociology
Gender and Societal dynamics
3+0
3+0
3
3
SOCI 1109(1)
SOCI 1103(1)
SOCI 1104(1)
SOCI 1110(1)
Gender and Health
Sociology of Health and Quality of Life
Sociology of Peace
Social Movements & Social Change
3+0
3+0
3+0
3+0
3
3
3
3
SOCI 2107(3)
Feminist Theories
3+0
3
SOCI 2205(3)
Social Responsibility
3+0
3
COMS2103(3)
Gender, Communication and Media
3+0
3
SOCI 2207(3)
Gender Mainstreaming
3+0
3
SOCI 3111(5)
Gender, Citizenship and Democracy
3+0
3
SOCI 3206(5)
Men, Masculinities and Identity
3+0
3
SOCI 3112(5)
Gender Impact Analysis
3+0
3
SOCI 3207(5)
Gender, Sexuality and Diversity
3+0
3

PLACEMENT (optional)

WBL 1000(1)
Engaging in Work-Based Learning In the Practice Setting
6 Weeks
2

10. Programme Plan - BSc (Hons) Sociology (specialisation :Gender Studies)

YEAR 1
Code
CORE
Module Name
Hrs/Wk
L+P
Credits
SOCI 1000Y(1)
Introduction to Sociological Thought
3+0
6
SOCI 1001Y(1)
Social Stratification and Inequality
3+0
6
SOCI 1007Y(1)
Sociological Data Analysis
3+0
6
SOCI1002Y(1)
Family and Population Issues
3+0
6

-

ELECTIVES
Choose THREE electives

SOCI 1105(1)
SOCI 1108(1)
Introduction to Sociology
Gender and Societal Dynamics
3+0
3+0
3
3
SOCI 1109(1)
SOCI 1103(1)
SOCI 1104(1)
SOCI 1110(1)
Gender and Health
Sociology of Health and Quality of Life
Sociology of Peace
Social Movements and Social Change
3+0
3+0
3+0
3+0
3
3
3
3
PLACEMENT

WBL 1000(1)
Engaging in Work-Based Learning
In the Practice Setting
6 Weeks
2
YEAR 2
Code
CORE
Module Name
Hrs/Wk
L+P
Credits
SOCI 2002Y(3)
Education and Society in the Developing World
3+0
6
SOCI 2003Y(3)
Sociological Theories
3+0
6
SOCI 2004Y(3)
Social Research Methods
3+0
6
SOCI 2008Y(3)
Sociology of Work and Leisure
3+0
6
ELECTIVES
Choose THREE electives

COMS 2103(3)
Gender, Communication and Media
3+0
3
SOCI 2107(3)
Feminist Theories
3+0
3
SOCI 2205(3)
Social Responsibility
3+0
3
SOCI 2207(3)
Gender Mainstreaming
3+0
3
YEAR 3 Code
Core
Module Name
Hrs/Wk
L+P
Credits
SOCI 3001Y(5)
Sociology of Globalisation
3+0
6
SOCI 3002Y(5)
Deviance and Society
3+0
6
SOCI 3006Y(5)
Race and Ethnicity
3+0
6
SOCI 3000(5)
Dissertation
-
10
ELECTIVES
Choose THREE electives

SOCI 3111(5)
Gender Citizenship and Democracy
3+0
3
SOCI 3112(5)
Gender Impact Analysis
3+0
3
SOCI 3206(5)
Men, Masculinities and Identity
3+0
3
SOCI 3207(5)
Gender, Sexuality and Diversity
3+0
3

11. Outline Syllabus

YEAR 1
CORE MODULES:
SOCI 1000Y(1) - INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGICAL THOUGHT
The emergence of sociology as a discipline, the political economy of the Enlightenment: Industrial Revolution and Intellectual Revolutions. Early Founders: Saint Simon and August Comte; Political—Philosophical Foundations : Montesquieu and the Marxian Watershed. Classical Thinkers : Herbert Spencer and George Simmel ; Emile Durkheim; Max Weber and V. Pareto. Development of Sociological Thought : Contribution of American Writers-Veblen, Cooley, Mead, Park and Sorokin; Contribution of Continental Writers—Mosca, Mitchell. Manhein, W. I. Thomas and F. Znaniecki ; Modern Thinkers-Talcott Parsons, Robert Merton, C. W. Mills.

SOCI 1001Y(1) - SOCIAL STRATIFICATION & INEQUALITY
Conceptualisation of stratification and inequality, criteria used for categorisation and ranking, Forms of Stratification: slavery, caste, feudal and class systems, Measuring social class, Theoretical approaches on stratification, Inequality and class. Emerging Class Structures of Developing Countries and Those of Advanced Industrial Societies; Globalisation and the Trans National Capitalist Class. Challenging the Significance of Social Class, Class Identity and Class Consciousness; Social class and life chances, Distribution of income and wealth, Class Analysis of Poverty; Theoretical Perspectives of Power and Inequality; State policies to overcome poverty, Strengthening welfare state to meet MDGs goal.

SOCI 1002Y(1) - FAMILY & POPULATION ISSUES
Exploring the global varieties of family, theoretical perspectives on family, socialisation, gendered identities, mate selection and marriage, marital dissolution, horrors of family life, work and family, family stress, crises and resilience. Study of population, theory of population growth, population size and composition (family planning, ageing population).
SOCI 1007Y(1) - SOCIOLOGICAL DATA ANALYSIS
Data collection, organisation and presentation of data, measures of central tendency, measures of dispersion, index numbers, time series analysis, probability, quantitative data analysis: types of variables, univariate analysis, bivariate analysis, multivariate analysis, statistical significance, qualitative data analysis: general strategies of qualitative data analysis, basic operations in qualitative data analysis, narrative analysis, secondary analysis of qualitative data, combining quantitative and qualitative methods, Introduction to quantitative methods: Excel & SPSS.

ELECTIVES

SOCI 1105(1) - Introduction to Sociology
Understanding of patterns of human behavior and changes in our society. Forms of social structure -- groups, organizations, communities, social categories (such as class, sex, age, or race), and various social institutions-such as kinship, economic, political, or religious- which affect human attitudes, actions, and opportunities; Culture, socialization practices, social interaction, gender, family and marriage, population, Social Stratification and Schooling.

SOCI 1108(1) - GENDER & SOCIETAL DYNAMICS
Introduction to gender and the basic concepts. Gender studies and theories. Feminist theory. Women in development (WID) and Gender and Development (GAD) approaches. Men and masculinities. Women and gender in development policy and practice. Contemporary trends in the sociology of gender: globalization, the media, the body, sexuality, education, power, work, violence and development.

SOCI 1109(1) - GENDER AND HEALTH
Women’s empowerment and gendered health issues. Gender and reproductive health. Sexual and reproductive rights and abortion. Gender and HIV/AIDS. Gender and domestic violence. Culture, tradition and the gender dimensions of their impacts on health. Gendered behaviour, masculinity and health. Gender inequities and health in the developing world.

SOCI 1103(1) - SOCIOLOGY OF HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE
The concept of health and quality of life, measuring health and quality of life, well-being theories, social determinants of health and well-being, medical power and knowledge, the social construction of medical knowledge and its social implications, the social and cultural meanings of illness, illness and sick role behavior, the delivery of health care and social care, healthy active ageing and the life course, inequalities in health and use of health care services.

SOCI 1104(1) - SOCIOLOGY OF PEACE
Definitions of peace and conflict, Types of peace and conflict, Theories of peace, Causes and consequences of conflict, Violence in the private and public sphere- elusive peace, youth violence and peace, Development and peace, The rights approach to development, human rights and peace, Diversity management/intercultural dialogue and peace, Truth and Justice commissions’ potential for peace, Religions and peace –terrorism and its multiple faces, Case studies- the international political economy and peace, Governance and peace, The role of the UN in the maintenance of peace, Gender and peace

SOCI 1110(1) - SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND SOCIAL CHANGE
The concept of social movement. Social movement theory. When and why do social movements occur – the civil rights movement, anti-colonial movements, feminist and women’s movements, labour movements, youth movements, environmental movements, religious movements, fundamentalist and terrorist movements, ethnic and nationalist movements, peace and anti-war movements. Who joins or supports social movements and why. Consequences and outcomes of social movement action.

PLACEMENT (optional)

WBL 1000(1) - ENGAGING IN WORK-BASED LEARNING IN THE PRACTICE SETTING
The placement aims to give students practical experience on Mauritian society. It can be effected at the end of Semester 2 of Year 1. The placement must last for a minimum of 6 to 8 weeks full-time. After the placement, the student must submit a placement report for assessment at the end of Semester 2 of Year 1.

YEAR 2

CORE MODULES:

SOCI 2002Y(3) - EDUCATION & SOCIETY IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD
Formal and informal education, History development of formal education in Mauritius, Socialisation and education, Conflict, Functionalist and symbolic Interactionist and feminist perpectives on education, Education reforms, Free education and drop out rate, Social class and educational success, Gender and Educational attainment, Ethnicity and education, Education and social mobility, New educational challenges; importance of learning life skills, education and development of society.

SOCI 2003Y(3 ) - SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES
Philosophy of Social Science - empiricism, realism and interpretivism, Positivism and antipositivism, Ontology epistemology and methodology, Value free in Sociology. Introduction to classical authors: Durkheim, Marx and Weber. Functionalism, Marxism, Symbolic interactionism, Emergence of phenomenology, Critical Sociology: a brief outline with reference to the works of Horkheimer, Adorno, Marcuse and Habermas. Introduction to post modernism.

SOCI 2004Y(3) - SOCIAL RESEARCH METHODS
The role of and importance of research, the research process, theory building and theory testing, the research design, operationalisation of concepts, selecting a problem and reviewing the research, the qualitative and quantitative methods in social research, writing a research proposal, data collection and ethical concerns, the issue of validity and reliability in social research, sampling and generalisability, methods of measuring social behaviour, building scales, conducting focus group discussions and interviews, constructing questionnaires, data analysis, SPSS, Atlas ti.

SOCI 2008Y(3) - SOCIOLOGY OF WORK & LEISURE
Conceptualising work and leisure; Theoretical perspectives on Work; Industrialisation and changing nature of work; Changing work patterns; Anomie, Alienation, Bureaucracy and Job Satisfaction; Trade-Unions and Industrial Relations; Gender and Work; Unemployment and its impact; Balancing work and Family Life; Importance of leisure; Gender, Class and Leisure; Sociological problems in Leisure; Globalisation of Leisure.

ELECTIVES

COMS 2103(3) - GENDER, COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA
Gender as a social construct, communication intersecting with culture and gender , relationship between gender and communication in the contemporary world, gender differences in verbal communication and non-verbal communication, theories of and processes of gender specific communication, socialising agents, theories of mass media, gender stereotyping in media, representation of men and women in media, men, masculinity and media.

SOCI 2107(3) - FEMINIST THEORIES
The concept of patriarchy. Feminist theories: liberal feminism, socialist feminism, radical feminism, post-modern feminism and post-structuralism. Post-colonial feminist critiques and theorisation: race, class and gender; essentialism and difference. African feminism. Feminism, ‘post feminism’ and change.

SOCI 2205(3) - SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Emergence and Evolution of Social Responsibility; Social Responsibility and its impacts; the business and society relationship; shareholder and stakeholder theory; Managing Stakeholder Relations; Social Performance, Monitoring and Accounting; Social Responsibility, profitability and socially-responsible investment; CSR in the Mauritian context; Case Studies.

SOCI 2207(3) - GENDER MAINSTREAMING
Approaches to mainstreaming gender equality, steps in gender mainstreaming, women-specific actions, legal and political commitments: CEDAW, Beijing Platform of Action, Millenium Declaration Goals. Gender analysis at different levels: macro-level, meso level and micro level.

YEAR 3

CORE MODULES

SOCI 3001Y(5) - SOCIOLOGY OF GLOBALISATION
Concept of globalisation, history and characteristics. Theories of development – modernisation and dependency theories. Theoretical debates on globalisation. Export oriented industrialisation in developing countries, the new international division of labour. The global system, transnational practices, transnational corporations and developing countries. Dimensions of globalisation: social, cultural, political, economic. Globalisation and social movements. Globalisation and social problems: resurgence of religion, ethnic violence and terrorism, environmental degradation.

SOCI 3002 Y(5) - DEVIANCE AND SOCIETY
Crime and deviance, Measuring the extent of crime and deviance, Crime and Delinquency : Causes of Crime-Theories concerning the treatment of Criminals-White Collar Crime and organized crime.Problem of Juvenile Delinquency-Remedial measures and programme. Problem of Child Abuse : Types and Causes of Child Abuse-Areas of Child Labour-Remedial measures and programme. Women Issues : Gender based Violence - Nature and Forms-Discrimination - its Institutional and Social aspects-Remedial measures and programme. Challenges of Old Age : Nature of the problem – physiological, psychological, Social and Economic aspects-Remedial measures and programme.

SOCI 3006 Y(5) - RACE & ETHNICITY
Theories of Race and Ethnicity, Symbolic and Institutional Racism, Prejudice and stereotyping against minority groups, Race Relations in multi-ethnic societies, racial and ethnic divisions in Mauritius, Ethnicity and nation Building, Identity politics, Racism and politics, Markers of ethnicity: Language and religion, Ethnocentrism and cultural relativity in modern societies, Ethnicity and development, Ethnicity and social cohesion, Ethnicity and the Labour market, Ethnicity and sports, anti-discrimination strategies and racial policies, Managing ethnic diversity

SOCI 3000 - DISSERTATION
At the end of the third year of the programme, the students will be required to submit a project dissertation. The title of the dissertation has to be approved by the Sociology Unit and a project supervisor identified by the Programme Co-ordinator. The final copy should be submitted by the last working day of March and the dissertation length should be in the range of 8000–12000 words.

ELECTIVES

SOCI 3111(5) - GENDER, CITIZENSHIP AND DEMOCRACY
The concept of citizenship and its gender dimensions: equality and difference debates, public/private debates. Barriers to developing women-friendly citizenship. Gender and the state. Political citizenship: ideas and presence, democracy and representation. Women and politics – theoretical debates.

SOCI 3112(5) - GENDER IMPACT ANALYSIS
Introduction to types of evaluation, introduction to impact assessment, introduction to gender analysis frameworks, devising gender sensitive indicators, types of indicators, Overview of gender impact assessment as a tool, purpose of a gender impact analysis, steps involved in conducting a gender impact assessment, strength and weaknesses of the tool.

SOCI 3206(5) - MEN, MASCULINITIES AND IDENTITY
The construction of masculine identities in relation to; work, leisure, class, sexuality, race, age, health, crime, parenting and media representations of masculinity. Theoretical frameworks on masculinity, the "new" men's movement, feminist scholarship, recent accounts of masculine identity. Masculinity in developmental contexts.

SOCI 3207(5) - GENDER, SEXUALITY AND DIVERSITY
Introduction: Studying Sexuality. Modern Conceptions of Sexuality and the Rise of Sexology. Social construction of sexuality and the body. Debates around Sexuality: AIDS; the Age of Consent; Prostitution. The 'Sex Wars': Sexuality and Feminism. Transgender Sexualities. Sexuality as a Discourse: Queer Theory. Intersecting Sexualities: Class, 'Race' and Gender.

June 2012