Module SOCI2301: Communities and Social Justice

Department: Sociology

SOCI2301: Communities and Social Justice

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To enable students to examine critically the contested concepts of "community" and "social justice" within a sociological framework.
• To offer an overview of the roles of voluntary and public sector institutions, community organisations, coalitions and social movements, in deploying community-based policies, practice and actions for social control, transformation and liberation in the UK and internationally.
• To explore a variety of theories and practices of community-based action for social change.
• To offer students the opportunity to engage in community-oriented and collaborative learning, including dialogues, skills workshops and virtual field visit.

Content

• Exploration of the contested nature of "community" through participating in a collaborative dialogue and engaging with relevant sociological and philosophical literature.
• Exploration of examples of communities of place, interest and identity; inter- and intra-community conflict, oppression and control; diversity, difference, inter-sectionality.
• Critical examination of "social justice" in relation to theories of justice and notions of human flourishing, the common good, welfare states and societies.
• Institutional responses to developing socially just societies and living conditions through welfare regimes and Non-Governmental Organizations.
• Examination of community-based practices and actions for social justice in the UK and internationally, such as community work (including community development and community organising), social movements, community-based coalitions and campaigns (e.g. for environmental justice, against oppression on grounds of ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, age, ability).
• Practice skills in developing strategies to respond to issues within communities including refining an issue, considering diverse perspectives and possible responses, strategizing and building broad based movements.

Learning Outcomes

• Upon successful completion of this module, students will have demonstrated:
• An awareness of key debates in the sociology of community.
• A critical understanding of the concepts of "community" and "social justice".
• A critical understanding of a range of community-based policies, practices and actions for social justice-related change

• By the end of the module students should have demonstrated ability to:
• Articulate the contested nature of "community" and the role of community-based interventions and actions in working for socially just change.
• Develop their own sociologically informed arguments about contemporary issues in relation to communities and social justice.
• Deploy critical reasoning in relation to the strengths and weaknesses of specific theoretical and practical approaches.
• Reflect on their own roles in a group, how power is deployed and roles assigned.
• Research and analyse a pressing social issue or problem and plan how to mount a community-based campaign for change.

• By the end of the module students should have demonstrated ability to:
• Engage in reasoned argument.
• Relate theory to practice.
• Gather information from a variety of sources both bibliographic and electronic.
• Work collaboratively in a group, deploying skills in listening, clarifying, empathising, negotiating, seeking consensus and planning strategic actions.

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

• This module is based on 13 workshop teaching sessions of 2 hours and one virtual fieldtrip of 4.5 hours (the fieldtrip will comprise of 2 hour workshop and 2.5 hours of independent guided learning relevant to the fieldtrip). This fits with the pedagogic objectives of integrating theory and practice and promoting learning through collaborative dialogue and practical activities as well as theoretical discussions and debate.
• Each student will receive 28 hours of staff contact time (including 2 hours' virtual fieldtrip contact time).
• Within any two-hour workshop session there will be a variety of modes of learning, including: mini-lectures, group-based interactive exercises and learning activities, seminar-style discussions and debates. Seminar-style activities will be integrated into the 2-hour workshops, with students sometimes working in several different break-out groups.
• The main components of the integrated teaching sessions are indicated below:
• Mini-lectures offer an overview of key issues and debates, drawing on relevant literature, and helping to develop theoretical understanding and knowledge. These encourage students to develop skills of listening, selective note-taking and an appreciation of how information may be structured and presented to others.
• Small group tasks and exercises give students the opportunity to develop ideas, arguments and skills collaboratively, to develop communication and negotiation skills, reflect on their own contributions, their use of power, and how they support and relate to other students.
• Seminar-style discussions and debates provide the opportunity for students to present and develop their own understanding of relevant materials, encouraging them to develop transferable skills (e.g. oral communication, group work skills), subject specific skills (e.g. competence in using theoretical perspectives in sociology, the ability to formulate sociologically informed questions) and generic intellectual skills (e.g. judging and evaluating evidence, assessing the merits of competing arguments and explanations, making reasoned arguments). In planning, preparing and contributing to seminar-style discussions, students should develop organisational skills, together with other transferable skills (e.g. developing confidence in public speaking and presentation, managing group work, and using the material provided).
• One session will include a co-created collaborative dialogue on a key theoretical concept.
• Other sessions will provide opportunities to practise skills in identifying social issues and developing strategies for working for change.
• One virtual field visit comprising a 2 hour workshop and 2.5 hours of independent guided learning. This field trip will enable students to relate theory to practice through studying and hearing online talks from community-based projects in neighbourhoods, seeing how the areas are laid out on maps, what community organisations exist, what issues they work on, what approaches they use, how the policy context influences their work, and what are their strengths and challenges.
• Self-directed study, reading and preparation for the formative and summative assignments encourages students to learn about a particular topic in more depth, to engage with critiques and approaches in the literature and to apply theory to practice.
• The formative assignment will take the form of a prepared group presentation, that will enable students to work together to develop an initial strategy in response to a particular issue and share it with the wider group and tutor for feedback.
• The summative assignment will enable students to demonstrate their ability to relate the theoretical concepts to a practical strategy on a particular issue for a particular community, through their own individual written assignment.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Group Presentation.

■ 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