How does society shape the world we live in? What influences interactions between people in everyday life? Why is society structured the way it is, and is change possible? By delving into diverse topics such as discrimination and inequality to family life and friendship, this unit introduces the conceptual tools sociologists use to explain the world.

In a rapidly changing world, how do we make sense of current social and political problems effectively? By exploring sociological concepts in creative ways, this unit gives students the tools to analyse, research and respond to real world issues such as globalisation, crime, social justice, community breakdown, and racial, sexual and indigenous inequality.

In this unit of study we will examine the main strands of sociological thought and identify the key concepts, debates and issues in the development of sociological theory. It will focus on the writings of leading social theorists and sociologists, their contribution to the development of a distinctly sociological theory, and their continuing impact on current theoretical debates in sociology. Topics covered will include: the origins of sociology; industrialism; classical theorists; sociology of urban society; interactionism and everyday life; psychoanalysis; sociology of knowledge and culture; feminist challenges to sociological paradigms; postmodernity and the future of society. This unit is mandatory for Sociology majors.

This unit takes a multidisciplinary approach to the study of major global problems. Lectures, readings, and activities will examine these problems through the multiple lenses of comparative sociology, systems engineering, climate science, humans rights discourses, world history, and literature.

This unit of study examines the main sociological approaches to childhood and youth in modern industrial societies, as well as the ways in which particular perspectives on childhood are central to all social theory. It will examine the debates surrounding the historical development of childhood, and the various approaches to the impact of state intervention and social policies on both the experiences of childhood and youth and the transition to adulthood. Specific topics discussed include; the social construction of child abuse, youth homelessness and youth criminality as social problems, the stolen generations, children and the law, the fertility decline, and the differentiation of childhood experience along lines of class, gender, race and ethnicity.

This unit examines the relationship between terrorism and globalisation. Explores themes of massacre, ethnic cleansing, and terrorism in the context of social uncertainty and crises in nation states. Examines the production of victims and the process of cultural symbolisation of the body and the new social and political imaginaries emerging. Examines the uses of victimhood in trying to escape terror and achieve reconciliation. Draws on the work of Scarry, Kristeva, Appadurai, Nordstrom, Foucault, Zulaika and Taussig.

This unit examines identity and self in changing social, political and technological conditions, including religious identity, emotions and social life, power relations in forming selves, celebrity identities, the influence of new technology and communication, social identity in friendship and families, and commodified identities in consumer culture.

This unit explores concepts of exclusion, marginalisation, inequality, and discrimination. It examines structural and institutional sources of those processes, and considers policy, political and legal solutions to practices of exclusion and recognition of difference in relation to aspects of identity, such as gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity and disability.

In this unit of study Australian social policy is explored: the legal and administrative framework; relationships between family and the state; employment, unemployment, unpaid work and welfare; the public/private mix; aged care policies, the culture of welfare state provision, indigenous policies, migration, multiculturalism and the formulation and delivery of social welfare services in Australia.

This unit is essentially conceptual and theoretical, emphasising the contested principles of social policy - discourse, theories, ideas and ideologies - around which the contemporary welfare state was, is and continues to be organised, discussed and debated. This unit focuses on the application of concepts and theories in practical social policy arenas. In particular, the emphasis will be on the debated, sometimes contested, nature of concepts and theories in social policy discourses in contemporary societies.

This unit examines how industrialised countries manage social risks and how welfare policies can be meaningfully compared. By exploring theoretical, methodological and practical aspects of social policy, it investigates key principles underpinning social policies in a variety of countries, and how we can best explain differences between them.

This unit explores key features of criminal justice processes and practices, with a critical examination of policing, sentencing, punishment and prison in their historical, social, political and cultural contexts. It considers a range of related concepts and issues, including the expansion of punishment in society and post-release life.

This unit of study teaches students about a range of qualitative research methods. Students examine the methodological issues in contemporary sociology and their impact on the research process. Students will also undertake practical exercises in order to learn to appreciate and use a selection of research approaches and methods.

This unit enables students to acquire skills in a range of quantitative research methods in the social sciences. They learn about censuses and surveys as foundational methods of quantitative research, then move to statistical analyses of quantitative data. No prior university-level mathematical training is assumed, though a basic grasp of simple algebra acquired through upper-level study of maths at high school is expected.

This unit provides a detailed introduction to key social theorists whose ideas are being used extensively in contemporary sociological theory and research. These theorists include: Irving Goffman, Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu. A particular focus is on approaches to human action in its various structural and cultural contexts, the possibilities and limits of human agency, and questions of social change.

This unit of study focuses on social understandings of 'deviance' and 'difference.' Covering various theories, the unit addresses how deviance is constructed and regulated, and how the idea of the 'abnormal' is central to social debate on a wide range of issues, such as obesity, disability, extreme body modification, and mental health.

Power is a fundamental resource in the organisation and control of society and in disciplining individual behaviour. This unit explores social order and disorder by examining how power is exercised, sometimes violently, through political, legal, economic and cultural processes and structures and how it is concentrated, distributed and resisted.

This unit will examine key issues in the sociology of culture, using a combination of traditional lectures and tutorials and a flipped classroom approach. It will explore a range of frameworks for understanding cultural practices, productions, and media representations. It aims to link culture to specific case studies to combine theory with research.

Interdisciplinarity is a key skill in fostering agility in life and work. This unit provides learning experiences that build students' skills, knowledge and understanding of the application of their disciplinary background to interdisciplinary contexts. In this unit, students will work in teams and develop interdisciplinarity skills through problem-based learning projects responding to 'real world problems'.

Interdisciplinarity is a key skill in fostering agility in life and work. This unit provides learning experiences that build students' skills, knowledge and understanding of the application of their disciplinary background to interdisciplinary contexts. In this unit, students will work in teams and develop interdisciplinarity skills through problem-based learning projects responding to 'real world problems'.

This interdisciplinary unit provides students with the opportunity to address complex problems identified by industry, community, and government organisations, and gain valuable experience in working across disciplinary boundaries. In collaboration with a major industry partner and an academic lead, students integrate their academic skills and knowledge by working in teams with students from a range of disciplinary backgrounds. This experience allows students to research, analyse and present solutions to a realworld problem, and to build on their interpersonal and transferable skills by engaging with and learning from industry experts and presenting their ideas and solutions to the industry partner.