This course introduces students to the key facets of the sociological imagination: a distinctive way of thinking about self and society. We will explore the complex relationship that exists between the individual and the wider society in which s/he is embedded. We will look at how people experience social life very differently as a consequence of where they live and what identity they embody and choose (or are obliged) to present. This means observing how social factors like sex, gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexuality, disability, health and socioeconomic status mediate the treatment people receive from institutions and organisations and operate to shape their everyday experiences.

We will contemplate how exposure to culture socialises individuals into adopting particular values, sentiments and belief systems, perceptions and understandings of the social world that inform the way people behave in various contexts. This focus invites us to think about the diverse forms of power that operate in society, in terms of who has privileged access to 'the truth' and to constructing and disseminating this knowledge, and who is marginalised or excluded from the process, and what factors account for this asymmetry.

 Overall, the course will provide a greater understanding of:
1. what sociology is (and does) and what makes it unique when compared to other disciplines like anthropology and psychology;
2. what types of questions sociologists ask, what research approaches they adopt and what kinds of social behaviour, events and problems they analyse;
3. how sociological knowledge impacts on society.