Bachelor of Arts in Sociology

at University of Warwick United Kingdom

This course explores childhood from an interdisciplinary and international perspective.

During this course, you will gain a familiarity with interdisciplinary perspectives and frameworks from fields such as education, psychology, sociology, philosophy and social policy in the study of children and childhood. You will engage with the debates, analysis and critique of current international and national research. You will also explore the policy and practice implications of such research.

Whether you are a practitioner wanting to develop professionally or looking for the next level of academic study, this course will help you to critically explore key childhood related themes, including child development, children’s rights and the global child. You will also develop an understanding of key issues in relation to children, and become familiar with the diversity of children’s experiences over time and space.

Studying the MA Childhood in Society will enable you to advance both academically and professionally, whatever you stage of development. You will be working with others who are passionate about the importance of childhood and childhood studies. Being part of a vibrant education studies department offers a wide range of optional modules that will enable you to personalise your studies to meet your professional or academic goals and share ideas with students and staff from across the department. Interactive teaching sessions will provide you with a varied learning experience and help you to develop useful collaborative and employment skills.

At the end of the course, you will engage in an independent research study that allows you to further develop and explore an area of personal or professional interest. By the end of the course you will be well positioned and equipped to continue with further academic study or to work in leadership positions relating to childhood and children’s education, in addition to informal and non-formal educational institutions and organisations, including but not limited to NGOs, charities, local government educational provision.

Skills from this degree

• Develop a systematic understanding and critical awareness of current issues within childhood
• Explore concepts and issues relating to childhood across a range of country contexts, and understand how childhood intersects with other levels of education
• Develop a comprehensive understanding of research strategies and techniques appropriate for use with children and childhood research
• Utilise research originally and critically to interpret and apply knowledge
• Evaluate existing methodologies within educational research
• Develop new hypotheses to provide new insights into children’s lived experiences and professional practice relating to childhood contexts.

Political Theory, Comparative Politics and the study of Political Systems provide the core of this degree, then you can choose options across the full range of modules or focus on specific pathways.

You will tackle questions relating to the nature and distribution of power, the advantages and disadvantages of different political systems, gendered and racialized aspects of politics, and the role of ideology in determining political outcomes. You will critique how politics works in a number of different nations and question the appropriate level to analyze politics from the individual to the global system.

You will also consider how the work of political theorists can help explain the ways in which politicians intervene in questions of economy, law-making, conflict and the regulation of our daily lives. You will apply these ideas to everyday political problems such as immigration, poverty, war and climate change.

This course invites you to engage with the growing importance of culture, and of policymaking in the field of culture, in a range of contexts worldwide. You will engage with the practical realities of cultural and managerial practice and critically reflect on the real world examples you encounter. You will examine what culture is and how it can be and is used by national, international, and local governments to benefit states and support and regulate the arts, as well as to express power and control.

Investigating current issues, themes and developments such as cultural diplomacy and cultural democracy will expand your knowledge but also improve your ability to research. Your practical skills and theoretical knowledge in the realm of culture, policy, and management will enhance your CV, and you will be able to apply them in a multitude of workplace contexts in the cultural sector, in government, or as a freelancer. On completion, you will be ready for the world of work, research, or higher study.

This course examines the political and social dimensions of history and international relations. We examine how historical events, actors and institutional legacies have influenced the world we live in today. And we discover complementary insights that can be gained from combining historical and political research. Together we will explore the theory and the reality of why people and states interact in the ways they do.

The two subjects complement each other - one exploring historical events and trends, and the other understanding how those legacies shape politics today. The two Departments in which you will learn (History and PAIS) approach shared research areas such as globalisation, conflict, democracy and human rights from different perspectives. You will explore themes in political, religious, cultural or social history, and will be able to select optional modules in both Departments to explore specialist themes and geographic areas in more detail.

Students will be offered the opportunity at the start of their second year to apply for an optional intercalated year of study abroad or year's work placement, or a combined year of study and work placements.

Following the application process, those students who are offered and take up a study and/or work placement place transfer to the four-year History and Politics (with a Year Abroad) course, with the Year Abroad or work placement as the third of the four years.

Study abroad

History and Politics students have the opportunity to join history students for a term in Venice at the start of year three. You can also apply for an intercalated year at one of the partner universities offered by either the History Department or the Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS).

The Student Mobility Team based in the Office for Student Opportunity offers support for these activities, and the History Department's dedicated Study Abroad Co-ordinator and the PAIS Director of External Affairs can provide more specific information and assistance.

Our Biological Sciences course spans the entire scale of biological systems, from molecules to ecosystems. Our exceptionally wide range of options allows you to choose modules that are best suited to your interests and career ambitions.

You will be exposed to cutting-edge research in molecular, cellular and whole organism biology, while covering applications of science to major global challenges such as environmental management, food security and human health.

Our four-year MBio gives you the opportunity to undertake an extended final-year research project in industry.

By studying linguistics together with Japanese, you will explore the fascinating human capacity for language, while also building your fluency in Japanese. As a linguist, you will learn about the structure and function of language, and about relationships between language and society.

You will also study and practice written and oral communication in Japanese, and learn broadly about communicating across languages and cultures. Your skills in linguistic analysis will support your language learning, and your knowledge of Japanese will complement your work as a linguist. This course opens many career opportunities that require the knowledge and skills of both a modern language and a deep understanding of language, culture and communication.

(75% linguistics, 25% Japanese).

Study abroad

If you wish to spend a year abroad (which we thoroughly recommend), this will take place in your third year, meaning that you will complete your degree in four years instead of three. All students have the opportunity to apply for an intercalated year abroad at one of our partner universities. The Student Mobility Team offers support for these activities, and the Department's dedicated Study Abroad Co-ordinator can provide more specific information and assistance.

This course will move you through the foundations of theory and practice to focus on developing creative ideas.

Having explored the breadth of the media and creative industries regionally, nationally and globally, you will then be able to follow your creative practice through lab work, collaboration and in response to industry briefs. You will be supported in your outward facing portfolio of creative work. In your second and third years, you will have the opportunity to work closely with the media and creative industries.

Within the framework of our research-led expertise on media, creativity, communication and cultural production, we offer innovative and dynamic teaching, technology and practice-led learning and assessment, with a strong focus on creativity and collaboration.

The Centre’s vibrant extracurricular culture (alongside Theatre and Performance Studies, Creative Writing, Film and Television and History of Art) means you will be surrounded by many others who share your passion for media and creativity or see themselves managing and leading creative people to pioneer new ways of communicating.

You will emerge from your course more entrepreneurial, more skilled, able to deliver on creative ideas while ensuring you are critical, well-researched and self-reflexive.

This course is for you for you if you're interested in understanding the history of people, culture and societies, and their evolution in the modern era. The two complementary subjects both involve understanding people - their interests, motivations and culture - and why societies and social groups act the way they do.

You'll be taught by staff from both departments, and will draw information from sources including film, visual images, literature and television as well as written texts. The flexible course structure enables you to choose modules from a wide range of options in both History and Sociology. Core modules in your first year introduce you to research and quantitative methods, and to the study of modern history set in a global context. Sociology core modules cover the history of sociological thought, and class and capitalism. In your second and third years you can choose from optional modules, with current options examining areas such as British imperialism, slavery, the significance of gender, crime, religious conflict or health in history, and political sociology. In your final year you can either maintain a balance between the two subjects or specialise in either History or Sociology.

Study abroad

History and Sociology students have the opportunity to join History students in Venice for a term at the start of year three and can also apply for an intercalated year at one of the partner universities offered by either the History Department or the Sociology Department.

The Student Mobility Team based in the Office for Student Opportunity offers support for these activities, and either Department's dedicated Study Abroad Co-ordinator can provide more specific information and assistance.

Are you keen to specialise in the academic study of your chosen language and culture, and do you have the motivation to develop an individual research path, leading potentially to PhD study? This course combines taught modules with language-specific research and offers an advanced preparation for doctoral research.

You will work with the support of leading researchers, drawing on expertise in critical theory, research skills and key research themes. You will benefit from an introduction to critical theories and perspectives across the European and North American intellectual traditions, as well as developing your research specialism in Italian Studies.

Skills from this degree

• Advanced research and information synthesis skill
• Advanced report-writing and written communication skills
• Oral communication skills
• IT skills

Italian Studies at Warwick provides the opportunity to explore the extraordinary breadth and depth of Italian language and culture in collaboration with recognised experts in the field. Intensive language work from advanced level opens up the richness of Italian language and cultural life.

Combining Italian with film means you will graduate as a highly qualified linguist with a deep understanding of key issues and developments in Italy’s past and present, advanced intercultural skills and an excellent knowledge of visual aesthetics, cinematic culture and narrative forms.

On this degree you are able to specialise in Italian language and culture, while spending a quarter of your time on Film Studies.

Study abroad

We strongly recommend that you take a year abroad as part of your modern languages degree, if you are able to. If you are unable to take a year abroad you may move to a three-year degree. In such cases, you will be required to complete further language reinforcement work. You will also be encouraged to spend time abroad in other ways, during vacation times.

You will usually spend your year abroad doing one of three things:

• Working as a language assistant teaching English in a primary or secondary school
• Studying full-time at a partner university in your chosen country
• On a work placement

Most students going to Italy opt for an exchange at a partner university. Some are successful in obtaining a (highly competitive) language assistantship. Most students apply through the British Council's English Language Assistant scheme during the first term of their second year at Warwick.