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An introduction to the major themes in contemporary sociology in a way that is relevant to New Zealand culture and society.
Soci 111 introduces you to the discipline of Sociology. Sociology explores people and society. It examines our social institutions; our families, the state, and social relationships like gender and ethnicity, to help make sense of how we both experience and interpret our rapidly changing world. As you can see from the lecture schedule, sociological interest in life is wide ranging. In Exploring Society the topics covered include: gender, sexuality, sport, food, families, animals, health, death, moral panic, consumerism, and everyday technologies like mobile phones and facebook. There are many sociologies. In this course, you will be introduced to a version that is concerned with understanding and explaining the different types of social relationships that constitute diverse social worlds, ranging from music and food to the welfare state and death. Sociologists use a variety of methods to gather information and analyse anything from major world events to seemingly mundane everyday practices. As you attend lectures and workshops in Soci 111 you will hopefully begin to grasp some of the excitement of this process of analysis. You will be involved as both participants and contributors in analysing some of the major trends and events of our time. You will be asked to make use of and extend the basic sociological method – asking questions – about taken-for-granted social worlds, activities and events. In the process, you will be introduced to critical ways of thinking, and we will encourage you to develop sociological imaginations. Such imaginations will allow you to make connections between personal experiences, and the social and historical contexts within which such experiences are produced. They will hopefully provoke you to raise questions that enable you to critically reflect on both the connections, and how you make sense of them. Whether you intend continuing in sociology or not, we hope you will find the course to be rewarding.
As a result of doing this course we hope that you will gain a greater appreciation of sociology as a discipline; that you will develop a good understanding of the scope and potential of the sociological endeavour; and that you will begin to lay a foundation of research, reading, reflection and writing skills that will stand you in good stead for involvement in further courses whether within the School of Social and Political Science or not.
Ruth McManus
Roslyn Kerr
Alison Loveridge , Roslyn Kerr , Rosemary Ann du Plessis , Camilla Obel , Tiina Vares , Greg Newbold , Terry Austrin and Colin Goodrich
Jamie Craig , Arthur Atkinson and Chris Hayward
McLennan, Gregor. , McManus, Ruth., Spoonley, Paul; Exploring society : sociology for New Zealand students ; 3rd ed; Pearson Education New Zealand, 2010.
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Domestic fee $672.00
International fee $2,835.00
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
For further information see Language, Social and Political Sciences .