The course offers you an overview of major theoretical and political debates and provides an essential foundation for your studies in the Social Sciences. The course will help you to develop skills and understandings which can be usefully applied to your professional work. The course demonstrates that the best professional practice and social theory develop in various forms of dialogue. As a result, the course places strong emphasis on linking theoretical debates to practical examples and dilemmas.
In addition to a focus on applied theoretical content, the course will introduce you to a range of basic postgraduate writing and research skills and conventions. A range of topics can be covered under the heading 'Social and Political Theory' and it is necessary to strike an appropriate balance between breadth and depth. The course engages with a number of key themes, such as: wealth and poverty; crime; health care gender and sexualities; race, racisms and racialised states; contesting democracy; environmental social theory; materialism and over-consumption.