Postgraduate Course: Contemporary Social Theory (PGSP11276)
Course Outline
| School |
School of Social and Political Science |
College |
College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type |
Standard |
Availability |
Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) |
SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits |
20 |
| Home subject area |
Postgrad (School of Social and Political Studies) |
Other subject area |
None |
| Course website |
None
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Taught in Gaelic? |
No |
| Course description |
This course explores recent attempts at theorising the social world, introducing students to contemporary social theory through an examination of topics central to social research and the nature of modern societies. The select range of social theorists is chosen to illuminate key aspects of the discipline as it wrestles with conceptual and diagnostic concerns. These include issues of theorising power, feminist theory, post-colonial theory and issues of theorising modernity/rationality. The aim is to both look at these independently as distinct issues, but also to explore their relation to underlying issues of epistemology and knowledge production.
The course is aimed at students interested in conceptualising contemporary social phenomena as well as those embarking on projects that use contemporary social theory. The course might also be useful to students looking to support their empirical work in these areas with a clearer understanding of relevant theoretical debates.
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Entry Requirements
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites |
|
| Prohibited Combinations |
|
Other requirements |
None
|
| Additional Costs |
None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Delivery period: 2010/11 Semester 2, Available to all students (SV1)
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WebCT enabled: Yes |
Quota: None |
| Location |
Activity |
Description |
Weeks |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
| No Classes have been defined for this Course |
| First Class |
Week 1, Tuesday, 14:00 - 15:50, Zone: Central. Room 3, D02, Forrest Hill |
| No Exam Information |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
-To encourage students to think critically about theoretical discourses and their application to particular substantive areas
-To develop students&© knowledge of conceptual and theoretical issues current in the discipline of sociology
-To expose students to traditions of advanced sociological thinking and traditions of theorizing society
-To improve students&© ability to talk about, debate and theorise issues using concepts culled from the course
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Assessment Information
| One essay between 3,000 and 4,000 words based on topics and readings from the course |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
The intended list of perspectives and theorists covered for 2010/11 is:
1) Introduction: Theory and Theorising
2) Steven Lukes&© Power: The Three-Dimensional View
3) Michel Foucault&©s Power: Discourse, Knowledge, Truth and Power
4) Judith Butler: Foucaultian Feminism
5) Gender, Race and Standpoint Theory: Patricia Hill-Collins
6) Two Accounts of Colonialism: Olive Schreiner and Franz Fanon
7) Postcolonialism: Spivak&©s $ùSubaltern&© and Said&©s $ùOccident&©
8) Engaging with Rationality: Habermas, Honneth and Critical Theory
9) The Danger of Modernity: Bauman and Agamben on Exclusion
10) Abandoning Rationality: Bataille&©s and Derrida&©s Gift and Otherness
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| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Indicative Reading
Lukes, S., (2005), Power: A Radical View, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Foucault, M., (1986), The Foucault Reader, Paul Rabinow (ed.), Harmondsworth: Penguin
Butler, J., (2004), Undoing Gender, London: Routledge
Hill-Collins, P., (1991), Black feminist thought : knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment, London: Routledge
Fanon, F., (1967), Wretched of the Earth, Harmondsworth: Penguin
Spivak, G., (1988) &«Can the Subaltern speak?&ª, in Cary Nelson and Lawrence Grossberg (eds.), Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture, Basingstoke: Macmillan Education
Outhwaite, W., (1994) Habermas: A Critical Introduction, Cambridge: Polity
Bauman, Z., (1991) Modernity and Ambivalence, Cambridge: Polity.
Derrida, J., (1992) Given Time, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
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| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords |
Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser |
Dr Nicholas Prior
Tel: (0131 6)50 3991
Email: n.prior@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary |
Mrs Gillian Macdonald
Tel: (0131 6)51 3244
Email: gillian.macdonald@ed.ac.uk |
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copyright 2011 The University of Edinburgh -
31 January 2011 8:11 am
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