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The Department of Sociology offers two degree programmes:
• BA Hons in Sociology• BA Hons in Media and Cultural Studies
Why come to Lancaster?
• One of Britain's top Universities and in the top 200 in the world
• The best University in the Northwest of England• All-round excellence and internationally
recognised qualifications
• The student experience: – Lancaster’s college system – all Undergraduates offered on campus
accommodation• Our unique degree structure... more on this later
Why come to the Department of Sociology at Lancaster?
• Lancaster has one of the best Sociology Departments in the world
• The Department has two highly successful degree programmes
• Our staff undertake research on a range of topics
• This research forms the basis of our teaching curriculum
Our teaching is constantly evolving
New courses recently introduced:
Terror; Health and Bodies; Media and Violence; Imaging the Body; Gender Performativities
Research excellence
Teaching excellence
Our external examiner of the BA Media and Cultural Studies degree says:
“A very exciting and innovative programme. Members of the team are clearly committed to enhancing its provision in imaginative ways. Indeed, their dedication to making the key conceptual and methodological debates pertinent to this area of enquiry come alive for their students is, in a word, remarkable.”
Sociology was rated with 'full confidence in the quality of our teaching' the highest category in the most recent official UK Teaching Quality Assessment.
How we teach: Lectures and Seminars
• Lectures are normally either one hour or two hours longand involve larger classes
• Seminars are normally one hour, but consist of smaller groups of 10-13 students and are participatory or student-led
• Also: workshops, film screenings, group work, individual supervision
Your first year at Lancaster
• 3 courses count equally
• After the first year you can change your major degree
You all do one of our Part I courses:
BA Sociology students take Sociology
BA Media and Cultural Studies students take Media and Cultural Studies
You choose (Examples):
Sociology
Media, and Cultural Studies
Gender and Women’s Studies
Film Studies
English Literature
You choose(Examples):
Religious Studies
Marketing
Psychology
Criminology
Computing
• Modern Lives• Society and Nature• Mobile Lives• Key Thinkers
BA Sociology – Part 1
1. Modern Lives
To what extent are we as individuals shaped by the society in which we live?
Or by our psychological / physiological make-up?
Or are we free to do as we please?
2. Society and nature • What has sociology had
to say about ‘nature’, to date?
• How are ‘natural’ issues also ‘social’ in nature?
• Are we at the end of an era of ‘fossil-capitalism’?
• What can sociological thinking contribute to the study of climate change?
Flooding in Tewkesbury from BBC News, 2007What are the social impacts of environmental change?
‘It’s good to see you.’ Are social relationships dependent on co-presence?
Does more physical and virtual mobility meanmore social mobility?
What are the consequences of ourincreasingly mobilelives?
3. Mobile LivesIn the 21st century, more than ever, everything and everybody seems to be on the move.
4. Key thinkers
This block introduces you to five key Sociological thinkers and Professors working at Lancaster
You will see:
• How their work has been highly influential nationally and internationally
• How it crosses into other disciplines • Also affecting policy, politics and
commercial endeavours
How is Sociology being made?
BA Media and Cultural Studies
We cover topics such as:
• National identity• ‘Race’ and ethnicity• Femininity and
masculinity• Ideology• The body• Celebrity culture• Consumer culture• Audiences• Subcultures
We ask:• What does it mean to live in a media
culture?• How do we make sense of the
patterns of meaning in our everyday engagement with media?
BA Media and Cultural Studies Your Part 1
Blocks on areas such as:• Everyday cultures• Mediation and representation• ‘New’ media• Cultures of resistance
We emphasise critical thinking
We study and analyse examples from a range of media
We read, discuss and engage with academic theories of media and culture
We make the familiar strange
How are our identities, aspirations, beliefs and value systems shaped by our cultural environment?
How are our everyday lives mediated?
Gender and Women’s Studies
Another Part 1 course run by our department
• Examining the different ways in which men and women are located in society and culture
• Exploring gendered experiences, representations and identities
• Explaining women’s exclusion from many positions of power and leadership
• Leads on to many Part 2 courses
Option Courses – Years 2 and 3
• Bodies in Society
• Living With Capitalism
• Consumer Culture and
Advertising
• Society and Nature
• Information Society
• Friendship, Intimacy and Society
• Football and Society
• Gender, Sexuality and Society
• Newspapers, Journalism and
Society
• Television, Society and Morality
• Globalisation and Transnational
Politics
• Nation, Migration and
Multiculturalism
Third year dissertation
Diverse topics!• Surveillance society
• Body image and eating disorders
• Terrorism
• The work of a nightclub bouncer
• The internet, online identities, and youtube
‘Surveillance Society’ (Photo: David Moir/Reuters)
Other activities at Lancaster
• Scan – Student Newspaper• Radio Bailrigg – FM• http://bailriggfm.co.uk/live/stream/
• Film Society
• Alternative Music
• Amnesty Society
• Gospel choir• Dance • Ballroom• Art• Backpacking• Green Action• Climbing• Sub-aqua
• Music society• United Nations• Debating• Photography• Theatre Group• Unicef• Creative Writer’s
group• Cinema• Netball• Life Fitness• Canoe Club• Parachute and
Freefall
50% of students at Lancaster University are members of a Society
Between 60 and 70 societies
What are Sociology and Media and Cultural Studies for?
Studying these disciplines DIRECTLY impacts on the world we live in
Relevant for:• politicians • planners • lawmakers • business leaders • media, culture and creative
industries
Transferable skills:
• Critical thinking• Research methods• Analysis • Presentation• Communication• Team-work• Web-work and IT
Value of the media degree:
• Students with academic-led degrees more attractive to employers than media students with practical media degrees
And afterwards…. jobs…
Graduate employment in:
• Public relations• Advertising• Journalism• Qualitative market research• School teacher• Social work• Police Force• Accountants• College Librarian• University Lecturer• Consulting and Human Relations• Management Trainee• Law
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/
Lancaster University is rated:
- 1st in the North for Graduate Employment and Careers (Higher Education Statistical Agency, HESA, 2009)
- 13th nationally
- 81.5 per cent of graduates from Lancaster are in a graduate level job six months after graduating
(most recent graduate employment league table, HESA)
- Compared to 85.3 per cent rate of graduate level employment for both Oxford and Cambridge!!
http://domino.lancs.ac.uk/info/lunews
http://careers.lancs.ac.uk/
The UCAS process
• 1st batch of UCAS forms - October-January (15th)• Lancaster decisions by end March • Students required to reply to UCAS early May• Results in August – those with requested grades
automatically given place
Typical grade request for 2011 entry for BA Sociology and BA Media and Cultural Studies
• BBB at A2 • or equivalent points across three A levels
Lancaster Applicants will receive:
• Letter indicating offer• Invitation – one of three ‘Open Days’• ‘Drop in Days’• Campus Tours – 2 each month
http://www.lancs.ac.uk/undergraduate/uk/visit.htm
Department Open Days,
2011
• Wed. 23rd February
• Sat. 12th March• Sat. 19th March
Thank you! Any questions?
Admissions Support • Ruth Love: [email protected]• Kate Mitchell: [email protected]
Admissions Tutors:• Dr. Rebecca Coleman: [email protected] • Dr. Claire Waterton: [email protected]
