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SOCY382 Sociology of Sex and Sexuality

Updated: 13 October 2011
Credit Points 6
Offering
Responsible Campus Teaching Period Mode of Study
Armidale Trimester 2 Off Campus
Armidale Trimester 2 On Campus
Intensive School(s) None
Supervised Exam There is a UNE Supervised Examination held at the end of the teaching period in which you are enrolled.
Pre-requisites 12cp at 100 level in SOCY or any 24cp
Co-requisites None
Restrictions SOCW282 or SOCW382 or SOCW482 or SOCY482 or SOCY582
Notes None
Combined Units SOCY582 - Sociology of Sex and Sexuality
Coordinator(s) Gail Hawkes (ghawkes@une.edu.au)
Unit Description

This unit explores some popular conceptions (and misconceptions) of sex and sexuality in everyday life, and uses a social constructionist approach to critically evaluate these. It explores the history of ideas about sex and sexuality in Western culture, focusing on the social and political changes associated with modernity. It uses sociological insights and theories to examine the process by which heterosexuality became and remains the norm of erotic expression. The course uses both historical and contemporary material, ranging from attitudes in Classical Antiquity, through the impact of Christianity to the more familiar changes during the 18th and 19th centuries to the present day.
Materials Text information will be published prior to commencement of the teaching period.
Disclaimer Unit information may be subject to change prior to commencement of the teaching period.
Assessment Assessment information will be published prior to commencement of the teaching period.
Learning Outcomes (LO) Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:
  1. understand the multiple meanings attached to the terms sex and sexuality in the contemporary social setting;
  2. draw on historical examples to comparatively evaluate contemporary normative assumptions;
  3. demonstrate the relevance of sociological theoretical approaches to the development of ideas and practice about sex and sexuality in the wider social context, especially those relating to legal statutes and issues of social equity and civil rights; and
  4. show proficiency in assessing and articulating the relative merits of competing debates and theories relating to the question of sexual diversity.

Graduate Attributes (GA)
Attribute Taught Assessed Practised
1 Knowledge of a Discipline
These elements are integral to both learning and assessment. It is taught in lectures, study notes and readings, practised in tutorial and online exercises, and assessed via all assessments. 		True True True
2 Communication Skills
These skills are developed in live tutorials and online discussion. This will be assessed in all assessment tasks. 		True True True
3 Global Perspectives
The topic invites engagement with cultural as well as historical differences. This will be assessed in all assessment tasks. 		True True True
5 Life-Long Learning
The critical and historical approach to the issue of sexual diversity has an ongoing relevance to issues of social marginalisation. 		True True
6 Problem Solving
At all levels of learning and assessment, emphasis is placed upon the application of acquired knowledge to current experience in wider society. Problem-solving skills will be assessed in all assessment tasks. 		True True True
7 Social Responsibility
Throughout the unit material emphasis is placed upon the significance of challenging existing discrimination around issues of diversity. This will be assessed in all assessment tasks. 		True True True
   

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