Sociology Sociology with Criminology Sociology with ... · Sociology . Sociology with Criminology ....

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Sociology Sociology with Criminology Sociology with Foundation Sociology with Criminology with Foundation Pre-course Information AY2017-2018 School of Law and Criminology 1

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Sociology

Sociology with Criminology Sociology with Foundation Sociology with Criminology

with Foundation

Pre-course Information AY2017-2018

School of Law and Criminology

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Table of Contents

Welcome Note ……………………………………………………….3 Introduction from Course Leader…………………………………...4 What will I Study …....................................................................5-8 Module Summaries…………………………………………….....9-22 Other information ……………………………………..……….. 23-25 Reading Lists ………………………………………………………..26

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Welcome to Sociology at the School of Law and Criminology at the University of West London

Dear Student, Welcome to the School of Law and Criminology (SLC) at the University of West London. We’re glad that you have chosen to study the varied and interesting area of Sociology. SLC has appealed to a wide variety of students with differing interests and career destinations. Our reputation, strong links with industry and related professions means we can provide you with a sociology degree geared towards helping your progress towards the profession of your choice! Here at SLC you will meet students from all walks of life and different countries. We hope you will take full advantage both socially and academically of what the Law School offers. Past events have included social events, careers fairs and trips to the United States. The point of this pre-course information is to answer some of the FAQ’s (frequently asked questions) that you may have, please take time to read this carefully. We look forward to meeting you! All Academic and Administrative Staff at the School of Law and Criminology

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Introduction from the Course Leader Hello and welcome to SLC. I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to you as Dr Daniele Alge. I am the course leader of the sociology degrees at the University of West London. Therefore if you have any issues I am your first port of call. The Head of the School of Law and Criminology is Philip Ells and the Deputy Head is Dr Philipp Elliot-Wright. This pre-course information is designed to introduce you to the structure of the degrees. This, with the programme handbook which you will receive at induction, will act as valuable reference documents throughout your period of study at the University of West London. If you have any further questions or need more information about the course or the University, please do not hesitate to contact me. I wish you every success. Dr Daniele Alge Course Leader – Criminology and Sociology Email: [email protected] Telephone: 0208 231 2421

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What you will study (Level 3 for Foundation students only) BA (Hons) Sociology Level 3 modules

• Personalised Learning • Understanding Justice • Introduction to Law and Order • Understanding Society • Introduction to Deviance and Punishment • Academic Performance

Level 4 modules • Classical Sociology: Themes and Perspectives • Investigating Society and Culture I • Social Problems • Social Institutions • Diversity, Crime and Justice • Social and Cultural Identities

Level 5 modules

• Contemporary Sociology: Themes and Perspectives • A Sociology of Deviance • Political Ideas and Ideologies • Investigating Society and Culture II • Media, Crime & Culture • Reflections on Work in the Sociological Field

Level 6 modules

• Dissertation • The Global Age

Plus THREE options from: • Applied Sociology • Collective Identities and Social Movements • A Sociology of Sport • Religion and Society • Human Rights and Social Justice

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• Gender and Sexuality • Race, Ethnicity and Nationality • Penology • Cyber Society • Popular Culture

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BA (Hons) Sociology with Criminology Level 3 modules

• Personalised Learning • Understanding Justice • Introduction to Law and Order • Understanding Society • Introduction to Deviance and Punishment • Academic Performance

Level 4 modules

• Classical Sociology: Themes and Perspectives • Investigating Society and Culture I • Social Problems • Introduction to Criminology • Introduction to the Criminal Justice System • Social and Cultural Identities

Level 5 modules

• Political Ideas and Ideologies • Contemporary Sociology: Themes and Perspectives • Investigating Society and Culture II • Reflections on Work in the Sociological Field

Plus TWO options from:

• Theories of Criminal Behaviour • A Sociology of Deviance • Media, Crime & Culture • Youth Crime and Justice

Level 6 modules

• Dissertation

Plus FOUR options from: • The Global Age • Applied Sociology • Collective Identities and Social Movements • A Sociology of Sport

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• Religion and Society • Gender and Sexuality • Race, Ethnicity and Nationality • Cyber Society • Popular Culture • Philosophical Foundations of Criminology • Comparative Criminology • Penology • Human Rights and Social Justice • Victimology • Cyber Crime

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Module Summaries Level 3

Personalised Learning

The Personalised Learning module is intended to equip you with the specific skills you need to progress successfully onto level 4 first year undergraduate study. The module is highly flexible and is designed to cater to your individual learning needs. You will begin the module with a consultation with a tutor who will discuss the options available with you. Based on an initial diagnostic and needs analysis you will decide, with your tutor, which options to choose. This module is linked to your subject specific tutor group. Understanding Justice

This module aims to give students an overview of a range of issues relating to justice and introduces students to key perspectives on justice, equality and rights. Legal, philosophical and moral aspects of justice are considered, and as well as studying the structure of the administration of justice in England and Wales and internationally, students will have the opportunity to apply concepts of justice to broader themes, such as killing, stealing and lying. Introduction to Law and Order

This module aims to give students an overview of a range of issues relating to law and order. Students will study key approaches to understanding the meaning of law and order, and its role in society. The module will then consider the ways in which law and order is maintained (including the extent to which it can be justifiably maintained) as well as the way in which the legal process adjudicates on law and order. Introduction to Law and Order then considers challenges to law and order in the form of civil disobedience, both nationally and internationally, as well as the impact of surveillance on the future of the law and order agenda.

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Understanding Society

The module aims to introduce you to an understanding of society from a sociological perspective through the understanding of key sociological concepts, social theories and methods. In so doing, it is hoped to facilitate the development of your sociological and theoretical ‘imagination’, stimulate awareness of diversity, fragmentation and change as core features of contemporary social life, and provide conceptual frameworks that can enable you to make connections with ideas encountered in other modules.

Introduction to Deviance and Punishment The Introduction to Deviance and Punishment module provides an introduction and historical background to the penal system of England and Wales. Penology (which underpins the entire module) is a branch of Criminology that is concerned with sentencing, prisons, re-offending prisoner rehabilitation, as well as why and how we punish. The first half of the module focuses on deviancy and why it is often confused with criminality. The second half of the module will focus on punishment and explore the history of the English prison system, national penal policy and the operation of prisons. Academic Performance

The Academic Performance module is designed to help you to develop the critical thinking and study skills that will allow you to become a successful and independent learner. The module will reflect a real world situation in which you will be asked to place yourself in the position of a panel member at a court case. Throughout the duration of the module you will assess a range of materials in a variety of formats, before coming to a decision based on all that you have read and heard. The purpose of the module is to give you the opportunity to develop a range of skills that you will be able to demonstrate in your own subject specific studies.

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Level 4 Introduction to Criminology

The module introduces the student to criminology, the control of crime and to some of the key criminological theories and methods. It intends to develop the students’ criminological and theoretical imagination by demonstrating that crime and its control is the intricate inter-relationship between the state, the offender, the public and the victim. The module also provides conceptual frameworks that will enable the student to make connections with ideas encountered in other modules.

Introduction to the Criminal Justice System

The aim of this module is to promote a greater appreciation of criminal procedure with a particular focus on understanding of the way the criminal justice system operates in practice. We will examine the criminal justice process as a whole, identifying the important pre-trial, trial and post-trial stages that a typical criminal case goes through. The principles and the logic/illogic of adversarial justice and key principles that underpin the system of criminal law in England and Wales will also be fully explored.

Social Problems

The module introduces the student to key contemporary social problems. It intends to provide you with an understanding of some of the social issues that have entered into the public discourse as social problems. The module addresses such contemporary social problems as illicit drug use, the impacts of legal and illegal migration, crimes of the powerful, social exclusion and cyberbullying.

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Diversity, Crime and Justice

This module aims to equip students with knowledge and understanding of diversity issues within the criminal justice system. The module will draw on contemporary research on the criminal justice system of England and Wales, as well as comparisons with the USA and other selected jurisdictions. The key indicators of diversity to be covered will be gender, race and socio-economic status, although other issues such as religion and nationality will also be considered. Social Institutions The aim of this module is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the theoretical debates surrounding social institutions, demonstrating that although generally social institutions work together, they can often have competing interests. The student should understand the interconnectedness of social institutions both in terms of how one informs/influences the others and how their boundaries overlap. It will show how institutions are the main apparatus for socialisation and the transmission of culture. The module will illustrate that as well as being necessary for the fluid functioning of society; institutions can also be mediators of discrimination and oppression. Classical Sociology: Themes and Perspectives This module is designed to examine the contributions of classical sociological theory to the understanding of the main structures, processes, and contradictions of modern capitalist societies. The social sciences emerged, in the 19th century, as the intellectual outcome of vast processes of socio-political and economic change. They were the product of the intellectual labour of thinkers deeply engaged in political life, seeking to understand the nature of the emergent social order: capitalism.

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Social and Cultural Identities The Social and Cultural Identities module provides an introduction to the relationships between two of the dominant themes in contemporary social sciences, which are social and cultural ways of understanding identity formation. These themes are central to our understanding of ‘self’ and ‘other’ and are at the heart of the ‘discursive turn’, which is one of the most significant developments in our understanding of how language and symbolism give meaning to everyday social arrangements. Indeed, one of the issues highlighted within the discursive turn is the fact that it forces us to challenge the traditional criteria for self-identity, belonging and group membership in a rapidly shrinking global world. This means that the criteria such as class, gender, age, ethnicity, sexuality, occupation, political affiliation, which would be used to understand your structural placement in society in the past, are now unstable and always in flux. This has resulted in looser and more fluid social and cultural identities that can be regarded as a form of ‘Cosmopolitanism’, which involves the transcendence of narrow local or national forms of identification in favour of belonging to the world or humanity as a whole. Investigating Society and Culture I The aims of this module are to provide tools and skills to help students produce sound inferences about social life and to develop students’ capacity to evaluate published research involving quantitative investigation. This module is an introduction to statistics suitable for sociological analysis. The module focuses on both descriptive and inferential statistics, techniques to analyse data, and the use of SPSS, a software package used for social statistical analysis.

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Level 5 Theories of Criminal Behaviour The module introduces the student to the main theoretical debates occurring within the discipline of criminology. It examines the three broad levels of criminological explanation: the individual, the situational, and the structural (both social and cultural). Thus the different theories within criminology that locate their main explanation for criminal behaviour at one (or more) of these levels are explored. Youth Crime and Justice The module has been designed to enable students to develop a comprehensive and critical understanding of the contemporary youth justice system. The module will examine the legal rules applied to the needs and deeds of young people in trouble with the law. An introduction to the legal parameters as applied to the youth justice field will initiate learners into how the system operates in the 21st Century. During the course of the module, students will be assisted to understand the developments of, and influences on, the modern youth justice system. Media Crime & Culture The module has been designed to enable students to develop a comprehensive historical and critical understanding of the main stream media and how it influences our views on crime, especially cultural crimes. These can be the ready association of Asian men as ‘groomers’ and abusers of ‘white girls up north’, or the paedophilia that is associated with white men, black youth as hoodies and thugs, or the threat of the ‘Islamic terrorist’ hiding next door. During the course of the module, students will be assisted to understand the developments of, and influences on, everyday social arrangements that are mediated through various forms of media outlets.

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Reflections on Work in the Sociological Field In a competitive job market, understanding how the work market functions, along with gaining employability skills, are key to secure employment. During this module, students will undertake a work-based learning internship with an organisation; they will be supported in developing effective professional practices through training in generic and specific employability skills and through developing independent reflective learning practices; they will enhance their professional development in the context of their own working environment. This module will allow students to identify, agree and plan their own learning within their work or voluntary work environment and to achieve it by way of agreed learning activities. Students will focus on an overall self-evaluation of their skills, work development and experience. Students are required to research, secure and undertake a period of work experience or industrial placement in a business or organisation appropriate to their degree. Students will be expected to reflect upon this work experience critically and to apply their experience to theoretical concepts covered in their specific course. A Sociology of Deviance Who decides what is deviant? Does the labelling of deviant behaviour and the treatment of deviants serve a function in society? How do types of deviance shift and alter in historical contexts? How have those labelled deviant responded? What are the ethical implications for studying individuals who have been labelled deviant? These are some of the foremost questions that will drive our inquiry into the sociology of deviance. This is a module about how societies define some things as normal, and what happens when individuals or groups go against those definitions. The first part introduces some basic theories of why norms arise and why some people may go against them, or be labelled as doing so. It emphasises the fact that standards of normality and deviance always involve issues of power and unequal opportunity. The second part looks at the special case of deviance and crime in the UK, covering explanations focused on biology, family history, group association, physical environment, community disorganization, illustrating the central role of power, and also racial and gender ideologies. The third part of the course applies the same theories to ‘deviant’ but non-criminal subgroups, with examples from sex/sexuality/gender, youth and music, religion, and extremist politics.

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Contemporary Sociology: Themes and Perspectives This module provides students with some of the major theoretical developments in twentieth and twenty-first century sociology in explaining the key questions of social order, social change and the relationship between the individual and society. Students will also be expected to make the theoretical link between classical theorists and the more contemporary social theorists who have been influenced by them. Political Ideas and Ideologies Provide students with a critical understanding of the major political ideologies and ideas that have influenced Western societies since the nineteenth century. Students will examine different aspects of these broader ideological categories including Social Democracy, the Third Way, the New Right, Neoliberalism and Social Darwinism. Investigating Society and Culture II This module introduces students to the basic tools and concepts of qualitative social research. It focuses on several qualitative research methods used regularly by sociologists – narrative, phenomenological, ethnographic and case study research. The central goal of this course is preparing students to design sound qualitative methods projects.

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Level 6 Dissertation The main aim of the module is to pursue, systematically and in depth, a personal interest in a particular topic utilising the techniques and skills of investigation acquired in the previous years of the course. The study may be based within a specific area of the course or may be interdisciplinary in nature. It aims to cultivate independence of thought and develop their ability to find, interpret, and present material according to prescribed methods of investigation. Philosophical Foundations of Criminology

This module looks at the philosophical ideas that underpin much criminological thought. Through a number of areas of inquiry within philosophy such as ontology, epistemology and ethics, students will study key foundational philosophical and criminological ideas such as human nature, evil, free will, right from wrong, truth and what is real? The module examines important questions of crime from different philosophical standpoints. Comparative Criminology The module approaches a wide range of debates and newly emerging issues in the area of criminology from an internationally comparative perspective. It aims to facilitate an in-depth understanding and critical exploration of key criminological issues beyond nation-state limits by comparing crime patterns and societies’ responses to crime, criminal justice policies and relevant theoretical developments across diverse historical, cultural and geopolitical contexts.

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Penology The aim of this module is to introduce the main ideas, concepts and perspectives that are found in modern Western penology. Penology’ is the study of punishment. The module will try to address questions such as Why should offenders be punished? Why do we have a penal system? Why does punishment take different forms in different societies and at different stages in history? This module encourages students to think critically about the multiple purposes and debatable effectiveness of our contemporary modes of punishment. Victimology This module aims to equip students with a knowledge and understanding of contemporary Victimology. Students will study the rise of the victims’ rights movement, the current law and policy relating to victims of crime in England and Wales, as well as the nature and scale of victimisation. The module will also address issues relating to specific categories of victim, such as victims of violent or sexual offences, and the ways in which victims can - or should - be compensated for their experiences. The module will include a comparative element and students will also learn about issues affecting victims in the United States and other jurisdictions where relevant. Students will be exposed to a range of materials, including empirical studies, theoretical academic literature, policy document, legal materials and online sources and will have the opportunity to develop their research and analytical skills. Cyber Crime The module aims to introduce learners to the emerging field of cyber criminology and the concept of cyber crime. Participants will have the opportunity to study why individuals engage in cyber-related criminal activities, examine what makes cyber crime different and the ways in which technology may be subverted or abused by offenders. Adopting a socio-legal approach, the module also seeks to provide critical frameworks for the

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understanding and evaluation of legal and law enforcement responses to cyber crime. Human Rights and Social Justice The module aims to develop students’ awareness of debates that dominate human rights and social justice scholarship. Adopting an interdisciplinary perspective, the module goes beyond a narrow legal framework and fosters a critical understanding of the application and vulnerability of human rights discourse in the context of competing ideas about political, economic, religious, cultural and social issues. Students will explore through a number of case studies whether human rights can challenge established social structures and remedy social injustices. Collective Identities and Social Movements This module focuses on four aspects of social movements: i) the social organisational bases of mobilisation; ii) cultural framing and collective identities; iii) political opportunities and interactions among allies, opponents and state agencies; iv) the dynamics of contentious action itself. Case studies are used to illustrate general mechanisms and processes of social movement and collective action formation. The objective of the module is to develop students’ understanding of social movements through sociological theory and research, and to encourage informed reflection on their own activities or observations of protest, contention and social movements. The sociological purpose of this module is to acquaint students with the social understanding and nature of identity, otherness, difference, and social construction of the enemy. Movements, groups, and individuals that use a conceptualisation of enemies as rhetoric, mobilisation strategy, and organisation tools will also be a consistent theme of the module.

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Religion and Society

The module aims to provide an exploration of the sociological study of religion, thus enabling students to develop broader and deeper understanding of the relationships between religion, social structure and change. Contemporary issues across a range of societies will be explored in terms of the role played by religion in the process of social change and/or the impact upon religious practice of societal transformation.

A Sociology of Sport This course will explore the structural and cultural relationship of sport to society. Particular attention will be given to issues of deviance and sport. The goals of this course will be to provide students with a sociological understanding of sport that will compliment and challenge their everyday knowledge of sport; these goals will be achieved through a mixture of lectures, discussions, readings, assignments. A concerted effort will be made to acquaint students with the genesis of contemporary sport, as well as key sociological theoretical approaches within that can act as a frameworks for understanding more practical examples of deviance in sport. Gender and Sexuality This module aims to provide students with a critical understanding of the ways in which social processes shape men’s and women’s lives in contemporary societies. It explores how gender intersects with other aspects of identity, like sexuality, age and ethnicity, and looks into the ways in which gender relations are reproduced in social institutions. The module encourages learners to approach the study of gender critically from a historical, social, cultural and political perspective.

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Cyber Society The module aims to engage learners in the wide range of debates and concerns surrounding the computer-mediated social interaction, which is becoming increasingly prevalent in the organisation of everyday life. The module seeks to provide critical frameworks for the understanding and evaluation of the emergence of virtual communities, the cultures constructed amongst Internet users and the influence of the explosion of the use of computer-mediated communication on traditional conceptions of identity, work, learning, body, lifestyle, politics etc. Popular Culture This module aims to provide students with a critical understanding of the ways in which social theorists and scholars have interpreted the significance of a wide range of topics of study in the sociology of popular culture. Students will examine what popular artefacts reveal about the social context in which they emerged and explore the fluid boundaries between ‘high’ and ‘popular’ culture. The module aims to encourage learners to think critically about these concepts by applying sociological theories to contemporary examples. The Global Age This module aims to enable students to critically analyse the meaning and implications of globalisation as one of the principal dynamics of the contemporary world. Through a comprehensive grounding in the theoretical and conceptual claims made in its name, students will explore globalisation in relation to a range of pressing social, political, economic and cultural questions. As such, students will be enabled to critically reflect upon the potential of globalisation to produce change in the key contours of social life, and upon the implications of these changes for present and future theory in the field.

Applied Sociology This course examines the ways sociology can be applied to solve social problems. Special attention will be given to the contributions which

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sociological knowledge can make to decision making in various social structures and to the ethical issues involved in applied sociological research and intervention.

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Other Information The course is taught through lectures and seminars. Lectures typically last two hours and some lecturers will allow you to record their lectures but always ask. Seminars are designed to reinforce that which you have covered in lectures. They usually last one hour. Your module (subject) leader will have set a number of questions which you have to prepare for your seminar. It is not always possible to ask questions in the lecture so this is your chance to clarify any matters. Please do not be afraid to ask questions, that is why we are here. The timetable You will note the days you are in and will have worked out that this adds up to a commitment of some 12 hours. However you will be expected to put in at least a further 12 hours preparing for seminars and researching. Long experience has taught us that those who regularly attend pass. Course Representatives In about week three of teaching you will have the opportunity to either stand as a representative or vote for a colleague. The role of the rep is to pass on your views at course meetings which are usually held once a semester. However if you are experiencing problems with a lecturer inform your personal tutor or the course leader, Dr Daniele Alge. Personal Tutors Each of you will be allocated a personal tutor. This person is here to check you are coping with the demands of the course and to provide any help you may need. Everything said is treated in confidence. Your tutor is equipped to deal with a wide range of problems from the academic to personal. The University itself has a wide range of advisors to assist you. Disability Support Support for disabled students is available. If need be please discuss this further with your personal tutor.

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The student handbook This explains in painstaking detail matters like course regulations, disciplinary codes, registration etc. The Course Handbook The course handbook which is available online is an essential guide to the Sociology programmes that you have chosen to study. The information inside includes the teaching and learning strategy, the course assessment structure, contact details, marking grids and module summaries. Module study guides and learning materials Each module leader will provide you with a module study guide (MSG) which will be available to download using blackboard the virtual learning environment. This contains vital information about the module. Within this you will find the module leaders contact information – email and phone number. It will also provide you with a week by week guide to the module topics to be studied and the seminars. Crucially the method of assessing the module will be there. You will also be provided with learning materials. These vary from module to module. Some are very detailed others simply provide an overview of topics you will be covering. In addition to these you should note that you are required to read the relevant text books and prepare seminar questions in advance of your class. The learning materials are no substitute for reading the recommended books. Books Each module leader will provide you with a list of recommended text books. These are to be found in the module study guide. During induction, you will receive, free of charge, a specially selected pack of books tailored to your degree. We hope these books will be invaluable to you throughout your degree but please remember that you will need to refer to many more books then this during your studies!

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Blackboard and University Email The sociology programmes are supported online using the Blackboard Virtual Learning Environment. This is used for course documents and information, videos, links, pod-casts, discussion boards (subject specific) and past exam papers etc. You will be provided with a University email address which will be used to communicate with you e.g. events, class changes, etc. Therefore you are required to log onto Blackboard and Check your University email at the very least once a week. Assessments Each module will be assessed in different ways. At SLC we will assess you using compulsory formative and summative assessments. Formative assessments carry no weighting and therefore do not count toward the overall module grade but are intended to provide you with ‘feed-forward’ preparation for your up-coming summative assignment. Each summative assessment addresses the module learning outcomes and therefore counts towards your final module mark. When you are given your assessment there will be a deadline date and time e.g. November 30th 11.59am pm. Most submissions of course work will be done electronically via the TurnitinUK system. Also always keep a backup copy of your work. We do recognise that occasionally personal problems may prevent you from handing in an assessment on time. In such a case contact the Deputy Head of School, Dr Philipp Eliot-Wright, who may agree to give you a short extension – however this is only granted in exceptional circumstances and you must provide evidence in support, for example a medical certificate accompanied by a letter from your doctor, surgeon etc. It may be that you have attempted an assessment but in the run up to this there were a number of factors which you believed hindered your performance i.e. close bereavement. This may count as a mitigating circumstance in which case you may be allowed to resubmit the assessment or in the case of an examination resit it. Once again this is only granted in exceptional cases and requires evidence in support to be submitted before the assessment.

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Reading Lists To help you settle into University study life we have included the following reading list. The sources included are seen as being some of the essential texts that you will be expected to read during your study within the University and particularly good introductory texts as you embark on your first year of study. Fulcher, J. and Scott, J. (2011) Sociology Oxford University Press: Oxford. Haralambos, M. and Holborn, M. (2013) Sociology: Themes and Perspectives HarperCollins: London. Macionis, J. and Plummer, K. (2011) Sociology: a global introduction Prentice Hall: New Jersey. All texts can be found within the Library located on the St Mary’s Road campus. If you require any help locating these sources the staff on hand in the Library will be happy to help you.

Induction Timetable A timetable for induction events will be given to you on your first day of arrival. End note: We hope this guide has been useful. Please feel free to ask any questions. Above all enjoy your years with us at UWL.

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