SS4055 - Protest, Justice and Social Change (2024/25)
| Module specification | Module approved to run in 2024/25 | ||||||||||||
| Module title | Protest, Justice and Social Change | ||||||||||||
| Module level | Certificate (04) | ||||||||||||
| Credit rating for module | 15 | ||||||||||||
| School | School of Social Sciences and Professions | ||||||||||||
| Total study hours | 150 | ||||||||||||
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| Running in 2024/25(Please note that module timeslots are subject to change) |
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Module summary
This module addresses the question of how societies change and who changes them. It focuses on the concepts of social history such as progress, development, and social evolution. It also addresses the ongoing debate of whether change is driven by individual agency or larger societal structures. In addition, the course examines the role of ideas and ideologies in shaping social change, focusing on concepts like freedom, equality, and justice. It discusses real world examples of social protests like anti-war, women's rights, and pro-life movements, as well as the study of how these movements – like the civil rights movement, Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, and Extinction Rebellion – form and spread. Lastly, the course covers the topic of revolutions and their impact on society by examining past revolutions – from the French Revolution to the Arab Spring – and the factors that contribute to their success or failure.
Prior learning requirements
None. Available for Study Abroad? YES
Syllabus
This module will focus on the following key subjects:
● Societies in time – history as progress, development, evolution, or grand design?
● How societies change? Agency vs. structure debate
● Ideas and Ideologies: freedom, equality and justice
● Social protests: Anti-war, Women’s Rights, Pro-Life
● How social movements move? Anti-Colonial Movements, Civil Right Movement, BLM, #MeToo, Extinction Rebellion
● Revolutions: From the French revolution to the Arab Spring
Balance of independent study and scheduled teaching activity
Delivery of this module is through a combination of lectures, seminars, tutorials, case studies and workshops allowing students to be actively involved in the learning process and develop their own learning style. The lecture programme provides the underpinning theoretical foundation in the subject area and thinking skills are developed through complementary activities including case studies, workshops, seminars and tutorials. Students are expected to complement formal teaching with self-directed reading and completion of specified assignments. The module will also promote the student’s self-management and a reflective approach to their learning.
This module will be supported with relevant WebLearn pages where all lecture and workshop notes, relevant literature, and other sources will be available. All sessions will be recorded with Panopto and will be available to students.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this module students will:
1. Grasp and critically evaluate main sociological theories of social change.
2. Understand various factors that drive social protests and movements that shape society over time.
3. Develop skills in conducting documentary research on chosen social events.
4. Develop their abilities in summarising and presenting their analysis of a social movement or protest and offer critical evaluations of their successes or failures.