Module COMB1021: THE DISCIPLINE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

Department: Combined Honours

COMB1021: THE DISCIPLINE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To provide an introduction to the nature of the social or human sciences, to the questions of how and why they developed, what are their characteristic ways of working, what they have in common and how they differ from the natural sciences and other disciplines.

Content

• The module is structured around an essentially historical treatment of the rise, and progressive differentiation, of those disciplines we now call the human or social sciences. Topics include:
• Pre-modern thought;
• Whether social science is science;
• The origins of social sciences in the enlightenment;
• The growth of political thought about 'states of nature' and social contracts;
• The emergence of 'The new science of political economy' and utilitarianism;
• Marx, social science and scientific socialism;
• The impact of Darwinism;
• The growth of empirical social science in the C19;
• Fact and value in the social sciences;
• Freud and the 'hermeneutics of suspicion';
• An introduction to post-modern thought;
• The origins and interactions of social science disciplines.

Learning Outcomes

• A general understanding of the social sciences and the relationships between them.
• Knowledge of the place within the social sciences of central historical figures (e.g. Locke, Mill, Freud).
• Knowledge of the place within the social sciences of key ideas (e.g. positivism, liberalism).
• An understanding of many of the approaches and topics characteristic of the social sciences.
• An understanding of key social science terms, e.g. empiricism, dialectical materialism, reductionism.

• Ability to locate and use a variety of social science reference sources.
• Ability to compare and contrast ideas from multiple subjects.
• Ability to critically evaluate evidence, concepts, arguments and assumptions in the social sciences.

• Ability to communicate complex ideas in written form.
• Ability to competently plan and execute essays .

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The module is taught by a series of lectures which explore key ideas and stimulate students to consider how they view a variety of issues in the social sciences. Seminars allow students to discuss the ideas further and to relate them to texts they have read. The essay allows students to explore a topic at reasonable length and show their understanding of how it relates to other issues. The exam uses an essay and gobbets to test students range and depth of knowledge at the end of the module.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

1 x 2500 word assignment in Michaelmas term.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University