Future students

SOSC 102 introduces students to sociology in action. Lectures cover a number of broad issues treated by the discipline: theorising, collecting and analysing data, ethics, structures and institutions, social divisions, everyday life, and social change...

To be advised.

What does it mean for a mind to be healthy or unhealthy? Are mental disorders just like physical disorders? What is it like to be mentally ill – or to be told that you are mentally ill? What do our conceptions of mental health tell us about ourselves...

This course provides an introduction to the foundations of sociological thought and their application and relevance to contemporary society. It explores key sociological concepts and debates, such as inequality, social movements, ideology, colonisati...

A multi-disciplinary survey of key methodological approaches and methods employed by social science researchers. The course includes critical discussion of the theoretical underpinnings of qualitative and quantitative approaches, ethics and the pract...

This course will examine the major influences on and developments in feminist theory and gender and sexuality studies up to the present day. Among the topics considered are: gender and sexual difference and diversity, sexual politics and sexuality, t...

This course draws on a variety of critical approaches and theories to examine key concepts and issues as they relate to the grander dialogues that exist within social policy. Course content will include an exploration of issues such as power, knowled...

Workforces are changing at a rapid pace with various predictions regarding the future nature of work. In this interdisciplinary course, students will critically examine the changing nature of the work and employment from a range of perspectives inclu...

This course explores state and societal constructions of family and family roles through current political and social debates. In critically reflecting on social constructions students explore the relationships between and role of individuals, famili...

This course engages with critical theories of social inequality and the approaches that can be taken to address inequalities, locally and internationally. The course equips students with the conceptual tools necessary for understanding inequalities a...

This course will examine gender relations from a sociological perspective. It will draw on a variety of approaches and perspectives to examine key concepts, issues and themes in contemporary gender studies. Readings, lectures and tutorials will focus...

An introduction to the socio-cultural study of everyday life, offering a framework for analysing popular culture and ordinary social practices. Emphasis is on the temporal, spatial and embodied bases of social action.

This course focuses on the study of masculinity to explore systemic inequality, and the close relationship between gender and power. The course treats masculinity as a gender identity in constant transformation. We will consider social dynamics, such...

This course will focus on the politics of energy through a sociological lens. It will explore critical debates around energy and power, alongside responses to energy transition and climate crisis from community, scholarly, and policy perspectives. Sp...

The course introduces students to sociological approaches to health, illness, medicine and health care. A diversity of topics will be covered including health inequalities, health policy, health professions, the organisation of health care delivery, ...

When seeking 'solutions to social problems', students of Social Policy need imagination and flexibility. Comparing different forms of welfare, and understanding how things are different in other countries, frees students from the constraints of a par...

Avery Gordon describes a haunting as ‘instances when home becomes unfamiliar, when your bearings on the world lose direction’. This course examines the haunted nature of classical sociology. First by interrogating colonial knowledge systems underpinn...

This course familiarises students with social theories of violence and security in various contexts, paying particular attention to the gendered dynamics of violence. We consider topics such as state violence, torture, terrorism, sexual violence, vio...

This course examines a range of notable sociological studies, exploring questions of historical context, assumptions about knowledge, methods, conceptual development, and critical debates. The course is designed to familiarise students with a number ...

This course introduces students to major sociological theories. Emphasis is on understanding theoretical ideas and how they relate to the construction and analysis of social issues.

Considers the changing nature of the sociological imagination. Social organisation, understood as people doing things together in an organised fashion, is discussed as an alternative to social constructionism. Specific topics covered include: languag...

This Indigenous sociology course introduces students to a methodology for studying colonial power relations across various public places and institutional contexts. Te Whenuatanga o te Tangata engages ethnographic methods to explore how land and peop...

This course will allow students to engage with critical theories of social inequality and the approaches that can be taken to address inequalities, locally and internationally. Foundationally, the course draws from literature on intersectionality and...

This course introduces students to key ideas, debates, and contemporary issues in the sociology of knowledge. It examines the role of ideas, values, and beliefs in social life, and considers the sociological conditions that underpin the production of...

This course will focus on the politics of energy through a sociological lens. It will explore critical debates around energy and power, alongside responses to energy transition and climate crisis from community, scholarly, and policy perspectives. Sp...

This course will examine gender relations from a sociological perspective. It will draw on a variety of approaches and perspectives to examine key concepts, issues and themes in contemporary gender studies. Readings, lectures and tutorials will focus...

This course draws on a variety of critical approaches and theories to examine key concepts and issues related to social policy. Course content includes an exploration of ideas such as intersectionality, power, knowledge, race and ethnicity, gender an...

This course examines knowledge, power, and the importance of critical self-reflection as it relates to liberation and democracy. Students will learn to use a variety of critical approaches and theories to examine key concepts and issues as they relat...

Social movements and collective action drive social and political change, and reduce inequalities in society. This course will consider both historic and contemporary social movements and resistance. Various theoretical approaches to the study of col...

The course will equip students to debate the reliability of knowledge gained about the social world, to assess social scientific knowledge and to consider its effects on politics and social policy. This course prepares students for honours and studen...

This course enables students to engage deeply with a broad range of feminist thought. We will first focus on feminist critiques of social/political institutions, then on feminist prescriptions, and finally look at the means feminists have suggested f...