Technology is a dominant feature of contemporary life. With the rise of digital technologies we are living in a society transformed by networks of data and intelligent machines. Technological change has profound effects on the structure and experience of social life and social relations, promoting widespread changes in identity, knowledge, work, health, relationships, communication, economics and politics. This major gives students the tools to understand and analyse the social and cultural drivers and impacts of technological change. It also enables students to develop skills in cutting-edge digital methods and to use these to conduct online social research, including research that addresses audiences beyond the university.
Technology, Networks and Society adopts a primarily sociological perspective to analyse the social impact of technological change. It explores central sociological concerns such as social inequalities and stratification, identity and embodiment, social movements, social change, production and consumption and the nature of power, all in the context of technological transformation. However, it is an interdisciplinary major, drawing on insights from communication and media studies, cultural studies, science and technology studies, economics, geography and political science.
Learning Outcomes
- explain the relationship between technology and society from a sociological perspective;
- analyse the social drivers and impacts of technology, especially digital technologies, employing a range of theoretical frameworks;
- use a range of digital and web-based social research methods;
- carry out independent research on topics related to Technology, Networks and Society; and
- reflect on and discuss the impact of technology on sociological and social scientific knowledge and research, as well as on social relations and practices more broadly.
Relevant Degrees
Requirements
This major requires the completion of 48 units, which must include:
A maximum of 12 units of courses at 1000 level
A minimum of 6 units of courses at 3000 level
NOTE: SOCY3001 must have a research project on a technology related topic to be included in this major
18 units from the completion of the following course(s):
SOCY3001 - Research Internship (6 units)
SOCY2169 - Online Research Methods (6 units)
SOCY1006 - Society & Technological Change (6 units)
SOCY1002 - Self and Society (6 units)
SCOM1001 - Science Communication 1: Science and Public Awareness (6 units)
HUMN1001 - Digital Culture: Being Human in the Information Age (6 units)
COMP1030 - Art of Computing (6 units)
SOCY2166 - Social Science of the Internet (6 units)
SOCY2170 - Sociology of Emergent Media (6 units)
SOCY2038 - Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods (6 units)
SOCY2008 - Living in the Risk Society: Health, Crime, Climate and Disasters (6 units)
SOCY2043 - Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods (6 units)
SOCY2053 - Imagining the Future: A Sociology of Utopias (6 units)
SOCY2157 - Surveillance and Society (6 units)
HUMN2001 - Digital Humanities: Theories and Projects (6 units)
SCOM3012 - Science Communication and the Web (6 units)
SCOM3029 - Cross Cultural Perspectives in Science Communication (6 units)
SCOM3030 - Science Dialogue Theory and Practice (6 units)
ARCH3029 - Making-Taking-Using-Breaking: Material Culture Studies and Technology in Archaeology (6 units)
SOCY2165 - Media in the Public Sphere (6 units)
SOCY3124 - Transforming Society: Towards a Public Sociology (6 units)
SOCY2166 - Social Science of the Internet (6 units)
CRIM2010 - Cybercrime: an introduction (6 units)
SCOM2031 - Science, Risk and Ethics (6 units)
ASIA3032 - Digital Asia: Technology and Society (6 units)
ASIA2280 - Anthropology and Technology in India (6 units)
SOCY3010 - Posthuman Bodies (6 units)
Back to the top
