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Sociology

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Introduction

On this page you will find information about studying Sociology at UNE. The Sociology Department at UNE was established in 1962. It was the second Sociology Department in Australia, after the establishment of a department at La Trobe University. In 2007 Sociology became part of the newly formed School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Science. For an expanded version of this history please download the PDF file.

Sociology is the study of social life, including:

  • How social life changes over time
  • How societies differ
  • The social relationships between groups (i.e. according to gender, class, ethnicity)
  • Social power, social institutions
  • Social Cohesion, Conflict and Division

Why Study Sociology at UNE?

Sociology is the study of social life of all kinds. It has as its focus organized social relations between individuals and groups. Sociological interests range from everyday social practices, such as shopping, to social institutions, such as the family, to large social agencies like nation states.

UNE offers students a range of units in Sociology including a set of foundation units, a number of work preparation or skilling units in research methods, professional writing and social policy analysis alongside a suite of interesting electives in diverse areas.

Courses

Undergraduate

Advanced Diploma in Arts
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Criminology

Postgraduate Research

Master of Arts with Honours

Postgraduate

Graduate Certificate in Arts
Graduate Diploma in Humanities
Master of Arts

Bachelor Honours

Bachelor of Arts with Honours

Course data provided by the 2008 Course and Unit Catalogue

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Careers

  • Social Professionals and Social Planners
  • Community Services & Development
  • Government and Public Service
  • Social Research and Social Policy Analysis

Graduates in Sociology are well prepared for an unusually wide variety of careers. As an Arts or Social Science graduate with a major in sociology, you will be experienced in planning and organizing in the short, medium and long terms and hence ideally suited to social research, management and evaluation. Having studied Sociology, your understanding of social institutions, processes, dynamics and social interaction means that you will be well placed for careers in social policy, social planning, human services, industrial relations and community development. Sociology graduates attain a comprehensive and incisive view of how the social world actually functions, and so have a clear advantage in journalism, television and radio work, and marketing. Research-based expertise is portable from the local to regional, national and global level.

All of these skills are increasingly prized by employers as Australia enters an ever more sophisticated and competitive international market. Sociologists will be very much a part of the flexible new workforce of the twenty-first century.

Partnerships, Networks and Industry Links

Individual staff members in Sociology have links with professional bodies and government departments and research collaborations with academics at other institutions. Most of these links are through The Centre for Applied Research in Social Science (CARSS).

Research

Sociologists at UNE are active researchers with a solid track record of publishing, winning research grants, and undertaking social research. Our fields of research expertise include:

    • Sociology of Health
    • Sociology of Everyday Life
    • Sociology of Consumer Society & Media
    • Sociology of the Family, Youth  & Childhood,
    • Sociology of Gender, Sex & Sexuality
    • Social Research, Survey and Qualitative Research Methods
    • Sociology of Crime, Delinquency and Deviance
    • Sociology of Migration
    • Social Policy
    • Political Sociology
    • Sociology of Globalisation and Development

Sociological research informs and shapes everyday thinking and social policy. Sociological researchers gather data on both social patterns and individual experiences by using a range of qualitative and quantitative methods, including: questionnaires; case studies; interviews; observation; and focus groups.

Sociologists use systematic methods of investigation to analyse data collected from the social world. Sociologists, it has been observed, attempt to ‘see the general in the particular’ and the ‘strange in the familiar’.

For more information about the specific research profiles of our highly qualified staff click on the staff link on the home page which will take you through to their respective home-pages. There you will find an abundance of information about their research interests, expertise, publications research grants and projects.

Contacts

Enquiries about studying Sociology at UNE can be made to:

School of Behavioural, Cognitive & Social Sciences
Diane Arnott, Academic Co-ordinator

ph:+(61 2) 6773 2164
fax:+(61 2) 6773 3820

Sociology
Associate Professor Neil Marshall, Convener, Room 170

ph:+(61 2) 6773 2475
fax:+(61 2) 6773 3748

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Help for Students

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