Academic Programmess > Undergraduate Studies > Module Information

Module Descriptions

SC2101 Methods of Social Research
This is an introductory course to the basic concepts and tools of social research, covering the areas of research of problem definition, research design, measurement, and data collection, processing, and analysis. Students are given in-depth understanding of what qualitative, eg participant observation, in-depth interviewing, and quantitative, eg survey, data collection techniques involve. In addition, students are introduced to qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques. Students are taught the important aspects of making a good presentation of research findings. This module is mounted for all students in NUS with interest in research methods.

SC2202 Sociology of Work
This module aims to help students develop a framework with which to analyse and understand the following: (1) key political issues and underlying social mechanisms relating to the dynamics of industrial society and the organisation of work; (2) various aspects of social relations at the workplace; (3) how different categories of workers respond to the organisation of work; and (4) the interconnections between (1), (2), and (3). The module is open to all students throughout NUS with an interest in analyzing work situations sociologically.

SC2204 Social Inequalities: Who Gets Ahead?
This module addresses a seemingly simple question: who gets ahead? It introduces students to some of the key theoretical approaches and methodological tools for finding answers to this question. More specifically, it aims at helping students acquire a good understanding of relevant theories, measurement issues, and class maps, structures, societies, and dynamics. The module is accessible to all students who want to understand the impact of class and stratification on contemporary societies.

SC2205 Sociology of the Family
This course challenges you to look at the family through the sociological eye. We begin the course by looking at the fundamental principles at work within the family. As the course progresses, we focus on specific issues/phenomena that affect the contemporary family. Throughout the course, you will be asked to critically evaluate assumptions we have about the family. This module is mounted for all NUS students, in particular, those with a keen interest in Sociology.

SC2206 Culture and Society
Notions of 'Culture" and "Society" are often taken-for-granted. The course interrogates the different meanings attributed to these terms and their usefulness in understanding social relations and cultural practices. The course explores the importance of language particularly symbolic structures, the emergence of social inequalities in archaic societies, the rise of nationalism, identity construction through consumption, multiculturalism and migration as well as the interrelations between symbolism, ritual and museums in modern nation-states. The module would be of interest to students who would like to learn more about different cultures and cross-cultural interconnections in the contemporary world. 

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SC2208 Population and Society
As an introductory module in social demography, it provides a critical overview of the major theories dealing with fertility, mortality, and other core topics in population studies. It examines the structures of human populations and the processes of change in relation to socio-economic, cultural, and environmental factors. Population issues are analyzed in the context of specific social and ideological systems. This course is mounted for students throughout NUS with interest in social demography. 

SC2209 Money, Business and Social Networks
This module focuses on the sociology of economic life. At the micro level, it examines the social relationships that are formed when economic transactions are performed. At the macro level, it analyses the role of social institutions in influencing economic behaviour. In the course of this module, students will be introduced to key concepts such as competition, entrepreneurship, business networks, trust, social capital and economic globalisation. It will
also introduce students to social networks analysis. This module is mounted for students throughout NUS who are interested in understanding how societies are organised within their respective economic environments.

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SC2210 Sociology of Popular Culture
This module examines the spread of consumption and its link to popular culture in the context of global capitalism. Emphasis will be given on the relationship between mass production and mass consumption, and the role of mass media in creating and widening the sphere of popular culture. Relationship between class and popular culture will be explored in this module. Issues such as changing leisure patterns, fashions, consumerism, role of advertisements and symbolic protests will also be examined in this module. The course is mounted for students throughout NUS with interest in the study of popular culture.

SC2211 Medical Sociology
This module will examine the relationship between society and health-related issues. The differing notions of "illness" and "wellness," and how societies influence the type, definition and distribution of disease and illness will be examined. The social organization of medicine, the social functions of health-care institutions in society will also be explored. Special emphasiss will also be given to the role of the state in providing health-care as well as the relationship between the state and the health industry. This course is mounted for students throughout NUS with interest in society and health-related issues.

SC2212 Sociology of Deviance
This course introduces students to the sociological study of deviance and social control, distinguishing it as a field of research from biological and psychological explanations of deviance. It will trace the historical development of sociological theories on deviance and introduce students to contemporary approaches to deviance and crime. These perspectives will be utilized and illustrated through a study of the changing patterns of defining and controlling deviance in modern societies with reference to selected substantive issues. Students who have a keen interest in issues of social order, social control and conformity will find this course attractive.

SC2213 Childhood and Youth
This module begins with an understanding of age as a social variable and the life-cycle approach. It then examines the social construction of childhood from a historical and cross-cultural perspective. The central focus of this module is youth as a particular stage of the life-cycle. Topics such as the life cycle approach in Sociology; the social construction of childhood: children and the state; the social construction of adolescence: images of youth will be dealt with. This module is mounted for all students throughout NUS with interest in childhood and youth. 

SC2214 Mass Media and Culture Precludes IF2214
Mass communications should be understood in the context of their production and consumption. In particular, we have to look at macro-structures like economy and politics as well as the legal framework in which mass media systems operate. This module analyses those relationships and looks at some key issues in media such as propaganda, media ethics, sociology of looking, celebrities and media stereotypes. This course is mounted for students throughout NUS with an interest in culture and politics, but some background in Sociology is important. It provides a good foundation for those who wish to read Ethnographic Analysis of Visual Media in the third year.

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SC2215 The Sociology of Food
Food is a social phenomenon: what constitutes food and, therefore, what can be eaten; how it is to be prepared, presented, and consumed; with whom you eat and so forth express complex relationships to class, ethnicity and gender. This course will uncover the complexity behind an everyday life material that affects and effects multiple social networks, wherein food is both the material and symbol by which class, race/ethnicity, sex/gender are socially constructed. This module is mounted for all students throughout NUS with interest in food and society.

SC2216 Emotions and Social Life
This module will explore the connections between emotions, social life and social identities. It will examine the prevalent sociological and anthropological literature on emotions, morality and consciousness. Attention will be given to the concept of personhood and the cultural meanings circulating through the expression of emotions. We will see how cultural practices serve to organize particular emotional responses to particular social and cultural environments; why collective emotional experiences are regularly mediated by the means of symbolic representations. This course is mounted for all students who are interested in studying the relationships between emotional responses and social experiences.

SC2217 Sociology of Tourism
This course looks at the development of tourism in the past and in the modern world. Looking at tourists as the "typical modern person", this course will explore what it means to be a tourist, the different kinds of tourist and the place of tourism in globalisation. More importantly, it looks at the influence of tourists and tourism in various places of the world. What happens to culture and heritage when it becomes a tourism object? What happens to local communities and the relations between people because of tourism? This course is mounted for students interested in Sociology and Anthropology.

SC2218 Anthropology and the Human Condition
What does it mean to be human? Why are humans such social animals? How have human societies become what they are today? How did globalization begin, and where will it end? This course introduces you to the anthropological perspective within the social sciences. We examine cultural variation in many aspects of social life within Singapore, Asia, and around the world. We help you understand processes of change that have affected your own life in Singapore, as well as other parts of the world, by putting them into historical and comparative context. This module is mounted for sociology students and anyone with a general interest in understanding themselves better.

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SC2220 Gender Studies
This course introduces the topic of gender by using basic concepts like biological sex, nature, nurture, roles, norms and culture. The meaning of gender categories is examined in relation to difference, exchange, reproduction, knowledge and social change. Although the main perspective is ethnographic, this course is intended to be an exercise in interdisciplinary thinking. Understanding gender provides a foundation to analyze social structures (power and inequality), social institutions (family, kinship, education, economy, the state, health) and cultural issues (science, food, emotions, popular culture).

SC2221 Environment and Society
What are the social and cultural determinants of environmental issues? Can modern societies and capitalist development be ecologically sustainable? This module examines the complex relations between social systems and their environment. It aims to equip students with the different theories and concepts in environmental sociology and anthropology to understand and evaluate these relations in the light of ecological sustainability. Topics to be covered include conservation and indigenous peoples, urban pollution and eco-cities, global warming and green capitalism, environmental racism and sexism, environmental movements, corporate social responsibility, green technology, global environmental inequality.

SC2222 Sociology of Sports & Leisure
This module examines the role of sport and leisure activities in modern societies.  The first half of the module focuses on sports.  We will examine the evolution of modern sports, their global presence, the rates of participation and spectatorships.  We will also address intersections between sports and the economy, politics, class, gender, and the media.  In the second half of the module, we will look at the broader category of "leisure," including topics such as entertainment, travel and tourism, games, hobbies, eating out and shopping, etc.  We will explore the changing meaning of leisure in modern societies, and its relation to work and social identity.