| Unit name | The Sociology of Everyday Life |
|---|---|
| Unit code | SPAI20019 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Snellgrove |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
The Everyday is the place where all of Sociology’s main concerns, class, gender, power, social inequality, identity, nationalism for example, play out in the ‘episodes of everyday life’ (Sztompka, 2008: 35). It is through everyday practices, rules, rituals and daily encounters that people learn to become social. Through exploring the often mundane and taken for granted aspects of everyday life, this unit critically examines theoretical debates around everyday life, alongside the ways that we continually live and practice our daily identities. The aim of the module is to make students think sociologically about everyday life by ‘making the familiar strange.’ Students will be asked to suspend any taken for granted assumptions you have about the rules and routines of social life, and instead questions these patterns of behaviour from the perspective of an external observer. This will be done by looking at how everyday life has come to be theorised and understood within Sociology by certain social thinkers. Alongside this, substantive topics such as domestic routines, eating, shopping, music, nationalism and religion will be explored.
On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to:
One hour lecture and two hour seminar per week.
Summative: essay of 3000 words (worth 100% of unit mark) Formative: essay of 1500 words (or equivalent)
Both assessments assess all Learning Outcomes.
