BA (Hons) Social Policy and Social Change with Foundation Year

This module will explore the relationship between the state and its citizens and how this relationship varies from social group to social group. It will explore the concept of citizenship and examine what characteristics an individual needs to possess in order to be recognised as a citizen of UK and be able to access welfare provision. It will explore the relationship between the state and disadvantaged groups in UK society – such as refugees and asylum seekers, LGBTQ, migrants, people with disabilities and people living in poverty – and investigate how this uneven relationship relates to social inequality. It will explore why the rights of individuals living in the UK are experienced differently by different social groups and how these entitlements have changed over time.

This module will introduce students to the concepts and definitions of poverty from Absolute to Relative and all debates within.  Crucially, this module will focus on ‘living in poverty’ and consequently will consider both the geography of poverty with a case study on the West Midlands and the groups and people in society most likely to be suffering negative impacts from a life in poverty.  The module will develop an understanding of why there are poorer outcomes for people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, asylum seekers and refugees as well as people identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community.  Furthermore, we will consider how important it is to understand the impact of policy on poverty. 

This module will introduce students to the role of Government in addressing social problems. It will draw on student’s own experiences of ‘living social policy’ and encourage them to shape the weekly programme. Each week will look at a social problem or area of policy, identify the context of the issue/s in this area and look at the current Government approach to dealing with the issue. Students will be encouraged to take a critical approach to Government solutions and use theory, research and ‘lived experience’ to develop their understanding and ideas.

The practice of international relations often requires building alliances across a range of actors - institutions, organisations, groups and individuals – working together at international, national, regional and local levels in order to solve international problems. Through a series of detailed case studies, we shall be exploring the dynamics of building such alliances, how they are formed, how they may be sustained, and what obstacles might disrupt this process. Through our case studies, we will examine the motivations and incentives that might shape the attempt by these actors to tackle international problems. The specific case studies will be adapted to reflect current concerns in the international arena.

This module examines the relationship between the media, culture and society by questioning the role of media and culture, and its centrality to social life in the 21st century. Who controls the media? What messages does the media send about social groups – particularly disadvantaged ones? What role does the media have in manufacturing deviance? Is independent media really independent and can it challenge the mainstream media? Does social media have too much power? What is ‘Fake News’? Through these questions, and others, this module will examine the relationship between the media, culture, capitalism, political power and society.

The Sociological Imagination introduces students to the foundational principles and concepts of sociology. It explores the key distinction between 'common sense' and 'sociological sense' in relation to selected aspects of Contemporary British society.

To introduce students to how we think about crime and criminal justice. The module explores how popular and official knowledge about crime and victimisation are constructed. It goes on to locate these constructions within the context of contemporary British society.

To provide students with sociological theories and perspectives that help to explain racialised differences, identities and ethnicities. To provide knowledge of the processes and patterning of racialised differences, identities and ethnicities. To examine contexts in which racialised divisions and inequalities continue and are reproduced, as shown in contexts such as education, work and media.

This module will introduce students to both qualitative and quantitative research methods in the social sciences. The distinction can be over-stated given as many research projects now use mixed methods, but a difference does exist and it is necessary to unpack it for heuristic purposes. The module will proceed through first outlining the background and key aspects of the qualitative and quantitative traditions, before providing case examples of field work using particular research techniques (surveys, semi structured interviews) within the two broad approaches.

In this module we will consider the future opportunities and challenges in the work and labour market in the UK. During this module we will address the key variables at play in evaluating the future of work. The topics covered in this module will range from the role of automation, the impact of Brexit and the desire to reach a net-zero economy in the coming decades. We will critically engage with each variable to decide on the extent to which it will be a changing labour market and how our communities can adjust and flourish in response.

In this module we will develop an understanding of some key policy-making ideas from public administration, new public management, governance and devolved policy-making.  The module will uncover the layers of governance in the UK policy-making field in the 2020’s, helping us to understand the complexities and messy nature of policy-making but also to evaluate the importance of where we think policy should be made.  The Brexit referendum transferred power away from the EU and into the hands of politicians at Westminster, argued as a positive for some.  But is this where we want our decisions to be made, are there arguments for more devolution and more decision making on our doorsteps – and if there are who do we want to make those decisions?  We will reflect on the importance of policy-making that reflects diversity in our communities and that is introduced in an inclusive way.

This course explores the upheavals of modern history through the eyes of some of those who were most profoundly affected: Itinerants, migrants and refugees. With a focus on the available primary sources, we will examine the different ways that historians have attempted to reconstruct the perspective and agency of the men, women and children in question, and also consider the manner in which governments have sought to control this movement of people. The course takes as its two main themes the geographical mobility that came in the wake of nineteenth century industrialisation and the displacement of populations that resulted from war and persecution in the twentieth century.

This module provides opportunities for community-based learning through voluntary community engagement. This activity will enable you to understand the relevance of your studies within a community context, combining practical experience with academic studies. In addition, it is an opportunity to develop a critical understanding of the Third Sector, and the notion of citizenship. Both subject specific and transferable skills will be developed and utilised throughout this module, thus developing graduate employment attributes.

This module will detail some of the current social inequalities that impact upon the people and the communities of the West Midlands and beyond. Topics to be considered include health inequalities, access to education and skills, access to high skills, high wage employment, people/groups covered under protected characteristics laws and access to a cleaner environment. The module will critically analyse policy responses to these social inequalities, for example we will look and the government’s ‘levelling-up agenda’, the WMCA’s model of ‘Inclusive Growth’ and specific responses such as the ‘clean air zone’ programme.

This module will focus on the future of welfare provision in UK. It will critically examine whether the founding principles of the welfare state - equality of opportunity, equal distribution of wealth, and public responsibility - still hold in the UK. It will explore how welfare ‘needs’ today differ from the post-war welfare state and critique how different social groups, such as women, people with disabilities and black and minority ethnic groups, are disadvantaged by the provision of welfare. It will critically examine how the dominance of neoliberal narratives in UK society continues to change the way we talk about welfare provision. In light of ‘wicked’ problems, such as climate change and growing wealth inequalities it will examine how the most vulnerable in society can and should be supported.

The module will explore how social science perspectives are imperative if society is going to respond to the urgent environmental challenges we face today and bring about the social change needed to address them. It will explore the concept of consumerism and how reframing citizens as consumers has helped drive unsustainable economic growth within the developed world. It will review how sustainability relates to sociological concepts such as social justice and equality, and how this relationship is fundamental to The United Nation’s Goals for Sustainable Development. You will analyse the relationship between the social and the natural world, through the theory of ‘entanglement’ which will be used to map your own pattern of more sustainable living. At the end of the module you will have a critical understanding of how knowledge drawn from sociology can contribute to the debate about – and the building of strategies to enhance – sustainability, and bring about change to the environment-society dynamic.

Changing the world, or trying to, has a long history. This module will focus on British campaigning and social action since the the anti-slavery movement of the late-eighteenth century. Students will explore how those campaigners faced similar challenges and adopted similar tactics to those seeking to expand democracy, to provide aid to those in war zones, to end poverty, racism and starvation at home and around the world. Equally, students will be introduced to ongoing debates about the contradictions and complexities of attempts to do good. In addition to learning about the history of humanitarian efforts to relieve suffering and improve society, locally and globally, students will take a deep dive into their own small-scale research project on a single case study from the modern British history of humanitarianism and protest.

This module will focus on how international Non Governmental Organisations – such as World Health Organisation and United Nations – impact on policy making in the UK. It will investigate whether global problems, such as climate changes, increasing wealth inequality, modern day slavery and global pandemics and disease, give these NGO’s legitimacy in the national policy-making context – including with the general public. It will explore the range of ways International NGO’s try to influence national policy – and how and why national policymakers resist the policy directives of these organisations.

Since modern nations and nationalism have existed there have been accounts that their power is set to diminish. There is no evidence that this is likely in the contemporary world. In fact, the direct opposite is the case: the centrality of the nation state and the power of nationalism as a mobilising ideology have recently come to the fore. Nationalism is a massive subject and a single module cannot hope to cover all of its aspects. Rather, it will take key aspects from its study to give students insight into key issues and debates. The module will begin with definitions of the key terms, move to consideration of the classic theoretical formulations of the rise of nations and nationalism, then assess selected conceptual relationships and, finally, look at particular case studies.