This is a broad-based degree which offers students the opportunity to specialise in areas of their interest, such as the social impact of the new media, the internet and other information and communications technologies, media discourse, media policy and regulation. The course is also concerned with developing theories that explain the changing nature of social behaviour in our own and other societies. The kinds of question with which we concerned with are: ‘What is society?’ ‘How and why is it changing?’ ‘What are the opportunities for future change and development? The focus of study is upon all aspects of human behaviour: its personal, social and cultural dimensions. We have a strong research reputation that enhances all our undergraduate teaching, with particular expertise in areas such as: neuropsychology; psychoanalysis; developmental psychology; social psychology; contemporary social structure and social change; the role of science and the media; ethnicity and kinship; and power, inequality and prejudice in modern societies. All of our academic staff are actively engaged in research and many have international reputations in their field. We provide a stimulating introduction to the social sciences by teaching a broad base of cross-disciplinary modules in the first year. Thereafter, you specialise increasingly in your particular disciplines. Our courses will help you to develop specific skills in the practical methods associated with your discipline, including ethnographic fieldwork. A full range of laboratory and technical facilities is used in the teaching of experimental psychology, video production, psychophysics and the use of information technology. Aims This course is designed to give you a contemporary understanding of the social and intellectual dimensions of the media and communications industries. It is broad-based and multi-disciplinary and is unusual in bringing together a wide variety of social sciences in the study of communications.

We aim to produce graduates who have a number of transferable skills that are key to the contemporary employment market. These include: a solid training in the skills, methods and perspectives relevant to thinking critically about contemporary social processes; an ability to relate the discipline of sociology to real world problems and concerns in such a way as to facilitate and enhance critical social practice; and grounding in understanding information and communications technologies and processes. Careers Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey These statistics relate to graduates who studied Sociology as well as those who combined the subject with Media Studies. Graduates from these subjects tend to fall broadly into two groups – those who ultimately wish to progress into the public or charity sectors or social care professions and those who use their degree as a route into careers unrelated to the subject studied. In 2011/12, six months after graduating: * 73.7% of graduates with a first degree were in employment * 13.2% were in full-time further study * 5.3% were combining work and study Read more about graduate destinations for this subject area Sociologists are in increasing demand in many sectors in social welfare and policy, in local government and administration, in medicine, in education and research, and in industry. If you are thinking of a career in any of these fields, it may also be possible to select work experience in these areas. There are also openings available in business, particularly marketing and advertising, management, media, and recruitment. Knowledge and understanding of statistics and research skills are particularly useful assets in the job market. Sociology students can be found in a diverse range of careers, including computing, consultancy, lobbying, teaching, campaigning and fundraising, to name just a few.