SY3055 - Contested Knowledge: the Development of Social Theory

[Offered in odd-numbered years by External mode. Offered in even-numbered years in Cairns. ]

Credit points:	06
Year:	2007
Student Contribution Band:	Band 1
Administered by:	Discipline of Sociology

Social theory is a field within which models of the nature, structure and destiny of societies have been developed, communicated and contested. This subject traces the development of modern and contemporary social theory from its confident Enlightenment origins to the uncertainties of the present. The subject examines the birth of sociology as a response to modernisation and industrialisation, the rise of Fascism and Communism and sociological responses to the contemporary challenges facing contemporary civilisation. Attention is focussed on the enduring work of key figures such as Marx, Nietzsche, Weber, Durkheim, Parsons and Foucault, placing them in their historical and intellectual contexts.

Learning Outcomes

• apply concepts and arguments drawn from social theory to contemporary social issues;
• formulate critical appraisals of arguments in social theory;
• identify key figures, schools and themes in modern and contemporary social theory;
• understand major lines of development in social theory.

Graduate Qualities

• The ability to adapt knowledge to new situations;
• The ability to define and to solve problems in at least one discipline area;
• The ability to think critically, to analyse and evaluate claims, evidence and arguments, and to reason and deploy evidence clearly and logically;
• The ability to deploy critically evaluated information to practical ends;
• The ability to find and access information using appropriate media and technologies;
• The ability to evaluate that information;
• The ability to select and organise information and to communicate it accurately, cogently, coherently, creatively and ethically;
• The acquisition of coherent and disciplined sets of skills, knowledge, values and professional ethics from at least one discipline area;
• The ability to reflect on and evaluate learning, and to learn independently in a self directed manner;
• The ability to read complex and demanding texts accurately, critically and insightfully;
• The ability to speak and write clearly, coherently and creatively;
• The ability to work individually and independently;
• The ability to use online technologies effectively and ethically.

Prerequisites:	12 units of study at level 1
Inadmissible Subject Combinations:	SY2023 and SY3023

Availabilities
Townsville, Internal, Study Period 2
Census Date 31-Aug-2007
Coordinator:	Dr Mervyn Bendle
Contact hours:	26 hours lectures 24 hours workshops/Seminars - Seminars: 12 x 2 hour seminars
Assessment:	presentations (40%); tutorial attendance and participation (20%); essays (40%).
External, Study Period 7
Census Date 20-Jul-2007
Coord/Lect:	Dr James Coughlan.
Contact hours:	2 hours - Contact via email and LearnJCU Discussion board
Method of Delivery:	WWW - LearnJCU
Assessment:	essays (40%); assignments (60%).

Note: Minor variations might occur due to the continuous Subject quality improvement process, and in case of minor variation(s) in assessment details, the Subject Outline represents the latest official information.