MSc Sociology and

MSc Sociology (Research)

Handbook 2006- 2007
Table of Contents
Page Number
Significant Dates 3
Welcome
Sociology at LSE 4
Race Equality Statement 5
Aims of the MSc Sociology Programmes 5
A year is a short time 6
The LSE environment 6
If you need help 6
Administrative Information
Contact information 7
The Sociology Department: Organisation, Representation &
Events
Key Departmental Staff 7
Communication 8
Change of address 8
Departmental Meetings 8
Teaching and Learning Committee 8
Staff/Student Committee 8
Parties 9
Cumberland Lodge 9
Locations of Sociology Department facilities 9
Staff Directory 10
Staff Research Interests 11
Facilities at LSE
The LSE Library 20
The Shaw Library 20
Student Services Centre 20
IT Services 21
The Methodology Institute 21
The Language Centre 21
Public lectures 21
Catering 21
Accommodation 22
The Students’ Union 22
Health Services 23
 Page Number
LSE Student Counselling Service 23
Disability Equality 23
Careers Advice 24
Paid employment during your MSc year 25
Financial assistance 25
University of London facilities 25
Programme Guide
The MSc programmes structure 26
The Significance of ESRC Recognition 26
Course selection 27
Course descriptions 27
Studying
Supervision 43
Teaching 44
Accessing Sociology Lectures (Public Folders) 44
Evaluation 44
Course Readings 44
‘Formative’ assessment 44
Formal assessment: Essays, Examinations and the
Dissertation
Assessment criteria 45
Scheme for the award of a taught Masters 46
Feedback on assessed essays 49
Plagiarism Detection 49
Postgraduate Mark Frame 50
Late submission of assessed coursework 50
Submitting your dissertation title & Abstract and the
dissertation workshop
The nature of the dissertation 51
Code of Good Practice for Taught Programmes: Teaching,
Learning and Assessment 56
Regulations on Assessment Offences and Plagiarism 60
Department Prizes 62
Requesting Written References 63
Notes on Word Processing 64

2
 Significant Dates
2006/2007

Start of Michaelmas Term 28 September 2006

Start of teaching 2 October 2006

Candidate examination numbers allocated During November/early

December 2006

End of Michaelmas Term 8 December 2006

Start of Lent Term 8 January 2007

Examination entry forms due Mid-January 2007

Provisional Title and Abstract of dissertation due 23 February 2007

MSc dissertation workshop Around 16 March 2007

End of Lent Term 16 March 2007

Announcement of examination timetable End of Lent Term

Start of Summer Term 23 April 2007

Sat Examination Period Mid-May/June 2007

End of Summer Term 29 June 2007

Dissertation due WEDNESDAY

29th AUGUST 2007

MSc Sociology Examination Board 21 September 2007

Graduation ceremony Mid-December 2007

3
 Welcome
Welcome to the Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics and
Political Science. Congratulations on your success in gaining the opportunity to study
at the most exciting specialist University institution for the social sciences in the
world. LSE Sociology aims to be both a guardian of the discipline of sociology, and a
leader in the development of the social sciences into the new intellectual areas,
social problems, and ethical dilemmas that face a globalized post-modern society.
As a student of LSE Sociology you will be taught by some of the world’s leading
sociologists, introduced to the classical traditions of the discipline, and brought into
direct contact with the most advanced contemporary research and scholarship.

This handbook aims to provide an introduction to the Department and the facilities
available in the School. It is also designed to help you understand the requirements
of this programme, and plan your course of study. The book is divided into four main
sections: a practical introduction to the School, Departmental administrative
information, information specifically about your programme, and study support
material.

Sociology at LSE

LSE Sociology has an international reputation for empirically rich, conceptually

sophisticated, and socially and politically relevant research and scholarship. As a
Department, we are strongly committed to rigorous intellectual and empirical work,
building upon the traditions of the discipline and developing leading-edge research
that is responsive to both local and global challenges in a rapidly changing social
world.

LSE Sociology embraces a theoretically and methodologically diverse range of

approaches, focussing upon the following key areas:

• Human Rights, Citizenship and Social Justice: dimensions of inequality

locally, nationally and internationally, gender and sexual divisions, issues of
human rights in a global context, human rights as they arise in the context of
biotechnology and bio-ethics and in new forms of legal regulation and
associated with security, war and terror.
• Cities, Architecture and Urbanism: the nature, transformations and
implications of the spatial, social and cultural relations of cities, in a global
context.
• Economy and Society: the sociology of money, markets and finance, of
consumption and production, of industry, management, work and
employment, in an international and comparative context, especially in
relation to issues of globalisation. The economic, social, political, and cultural
implications of new forms of communication, particularly information
technologies.
• Politics: the social, economic, institutional and ideological bases of politics,
and the interaction of states and societies. Social and political movements,
especially the comparative, historical and contemporary study of labour
movements and the left. Political power and ideas. Political and economic

4
 democracy. International regulation and risk. Fundamental social and
political change.
• Race, Racism and Ethnicity: the social, cultural and governmental aspects
of colonial and postcolonial societies. Nationalism, challenges and
transformations in geo-politics, governance and citizenship in an era
characterised by migration, flight, asylum, multiculture, cultural hybridity,
cosmopolitanism and supposed 'civilisational' conflict.
• Crime Culture and Control: criminological theory, criminal cultures,
organisations and markets, victimology, criminal investigation, the changing
nature of crime, alcohol and public disorder, punishment and control, the
relationship between privatised control strategies and urban regeneration,
gender and social control, the emergence of cross border criminal activity,
violence.
• Biomedicine, Bioscience, Biotechnology: the new social, political, legal
and ethical challenges facing individuals and society in the era of
biotechnology, biomedicine and genomics.

Our teaching is informed by these commitments and by our active research in these
areas. LSE Sociology aims to provide a learning environment in which students are
encouraged to think critically and independently. Many of the key issues in the
discipline worldwide are the subject of contestation, and our teaching aims to equip
students to understand and evaluate these disputes and adopt a position in relation
to them. Rigorous, critical, independent thought is the most transferable skill of all,
and the overarching objective of the learning experience we provide to our students.

Race Equality Statement

The Department of Sociology at the LSE welcomes and values the racial, ethnic,
religious, national and cultural diversity of all its students, staff, alumni and visitors.
The Department believes in equal treatment based on merit and encourages a
learning environment based on mutual respect and dialogue.

Aims of the MSc Sociology programmes

The MSc in Sociology programme has a range of aims and objectives. Firstly, it is
intended that MSc graduates be equipped with the skills required to interpret and
evaluate the latest research findings in the central areas of the discipline, and the
course is also intended to provide a foundation in research-relevant skills. These
aims are particularly associated with the programme’s courses in methods of
sociological research. The programme also aims to allow MSc candidates to pursue
particular sociological and cognate topic areas within the degree in more intellectual
depth than is possible in an undergraduate degree. A further, more general,
objective is to provide transferable skills in the mastery of sustained argument, in the
marshalling of varied evidence, in the organisation of complex materials and in
effective written communication.

The MSc Sociology (Research) programme is specifically intended for students who
wish, after completion of this degree, to continue with postgraduate research. The
syllabus resembles that of the MSc Sociology programme, except that a further
research methods compulsory course replaces one of the option possibilities in the
syllabus of this degree.

5
 A year is a short time

A one-year Master's programme can be quite intense, and it is recommended that

you begin serious study at the outset of the programme. Previous students have
gained the most from the Master’s programme by starting their reading and writing as
soon as courses begin.

The LSE environment

The School is located in a complex of buildings situated in the centre of London (off
the Aldwych). It is close to the Royal Courts of Justice, the BBC World Service and
the "City" of London. West End theatres are all close by, along with the shops and
markets of Covent Garden. The National Gallery is a short walk down the Strand,
while the South Bank Arts complex (containing the Royal Festival Hall, the Hayward
Gallery, the National Theatre and the National Film Theatre) and Tate Modern are
located on the opposite bank of the river. Within the School there is an exciting mix of
students from all over the world and this generates a great deal of intellectual energy
and excitement. The geography of the School can seem complicated at first, but you
will find direction signs spread around the buildings, and maps and diagrams in
various School publications. All of the staff in the Department have a room in the St
Clements building on floor 2.

If you need help

If you find that you need help, it is most important that you talk over your problems
with your personal tutor or with the MSc Programme Tutor. Tutors are intended to
have a pastoral as well as an academic role. You should feel that you may, if you
wish, discuss anything with your tutor that affects your ability to benefit academically
from your time with us. You should certainly keep him or her informed of any medical
difficulties or illness that may prevent you from studying or may affect your academic
performance. If you have difficulties of a personal nature that you do not wish to
discuss with your tutor, you may wish to make use of the School’s Student Health
Centre’s counselling services, or, if you are female, the Advisor to Women Students.
If you have difficulties, the golden rule is to tell someone within the Department or
School - they will usually know whom to put you in touch with.

6
 Administrative Information
This section contains essential reference information to help you in your year at
the LSE. Below you will find information about the Department, the staff directory
and an introduction to their research interests. This section also contains descriptions
of LSE and University of London facilities.

Contact information

Address: Department of Sociology

London School of Economics and Political Science
Houghton Street
London
WC2A 2AE
UK

Tel No: (+44) (0)20–7955–7309 Fax No: (+44) (0)20–7955–7405

Email: Ms Tia Exelby - [email protected]

Web Address: http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/sociology/

The Sociology Department:

Organisation, representation and events
Key Departmental staff

There are several people in the Department with whom you will come into contact
with over the course of your Master’s study because of their roles in the MSc
programme administration.

The Head of Department for Sociology is Professor Dick Hobbs, who is in Room
S277. You can leave messages for him with his assistant who is located in Room
S282. The Head of Department is responsible to the School for the running of the
Department.

The MSc Sociology Programme Director is Dr Chris Husbands, who is in Room

S287. You can contact him by telephone at ext. 7293, or by email at
[email protected]. He is also the MSc Sociology Admissions Tutor, and
Chair of the MSc Sociology Examination Board.

The Departmental Manager, Ms Joyce Lorinstein, is in Room S204, and is

responsible for much of the day-to-day administrative work and, as such, works
closely with the Head and other academic officers of the Department. The
Administrative Assistant is Ms Tia Exelby, located in room S219A. Ms Tia Exelby
is also the MSc Programmes Administrator and Secretary to the MSc Sociology
Examination Board. Her telephone number is ext. 7309 and her email address is
[email protected].

In the first instance, your 'contact person' for the course will be your personal tutor. If
he or she cannot deal with your question/problem, you should contact the MSc

7
Sociology Programme Tutor. The assignment and role of your tutor are discussed in
more detail elsewhere in this handbook.

Communication

Notices of interest to students and staff will be placed on the Departmental notice
boards. These are located outside room S219A, and inside the Robert McKenzie
Room, also known as the Common Room (Room S202), which sometimes also
serves as the Department’s seminar and meeting room. Personal messages will
reach you via the pigeonholes in Room S202. Please check this location
regularly, since members of staff and the School administration will send post
for you there. You are also expected to check your email regularly (using your
School-supplied email address) since both academics and administrators routinely
use this medium in order to communicate with students.

Change of address

If you change your Term-time address, you must inform the Student Services Centre
and your personal tutor. This change can be made by you, using LSE for You,
located on the front page of the LSE website. Your address is protected information
and will not be disclosed to a third party without your permission unless it is for
reasons of official School business. It is important that you keep us informed of your
private address (and telephone number).

Departmental meetings

Broad decisions on academic issues, curriculum and teaching matters are made by
the teaching staff in consultation with the students where appropriate. Most issues
are raised and resolved within the Departmental meetings, which take place once a
term. The first part of the meeting (on Wednesdays at 2.30 pm) is a closed meeting
for academic staff. Those on the Masters Students/Staff Liaison Committee may be
invited to attend the open part of the meeting (usually from 3.00 pm onwards).

Teaching and Learning Committee (TLC)

The TLC is a committee designed to maintain and improve upon teaching, learning
and assessment in the Department. It meets once a Term and presents reports in the
Departmental Meetings. Student representatives are invited to TLC meetings for
consultation and participation under specific agenda items, as well as other members
of academic staff. Students are advised to approach their student representative on
the Staff/Student Committee if they have queries or comments related to the
Department’s teaching and learning environment. The TLC welcomes constructive
comments on all aspects of the Department's teaching, learning and assessment
activities. It is chaired by Dr Fran Tonkiss, who can be contacted by telephone at
ext. 6601, or by email at [email protected].

Staff/Student Committee

This Committee is a forum to discuss appropriate matters of concern to MSc

students in the Department. Membership of this Committee on the staff side
comprises the Programme Conveners of each of the Department’s MSc
programmes. Membership on the student side comprises up to two students from
each MSc programme elected by their fellow students on the respective programme

8
in order to attend meetings and put forward their views. Meetings of the Committee
are held at least once a Term, and more frequently if necessary. The chairship of the
committee alternates between a member of each side composing the committee. All
members, including staff ones, are asked to confirm to Tia Exelby their intention to
attend a meeting after she has circulated (by email) details of its time and venue and
a request for agenda items. Substantive agenda items should be accompanied by a
written agenda paper to be circulated to all members of the committee at least five
working days in advance of the time of the meeting.

Parties

There is normally a staff–student party at the end of the Michaelmas Term, to which
all members of the Department are invited. Students organise these parties with the
help of the MSc administrator and Joyce Lorinstein.

Cumberland Lodge

Each year, in the last weekend in January, the Department holds a residential
weekend school at Cumberland Lodge, the University of London's Conference
Centre situated in Windsor Great Park. The weekend is usually organised around a
topical theme of sociological importance and consists of lectures and panel sessions
involving prominent outside speakers and members of staff. As well as being of
educational value, the weekend is also regarded as good fun. The Park itself is
perfect for relaxing walks.

Students select the theme for discussion and organise the weekend with the help of
a member of staff. Details about precise dates and cost are widely advertised nearer
to the time.

Locations of Sociology Department facilities

Most of the teaching staff of the Department have rooms on the second floor of the
St Clements Building (rooms prefixed with 'S'). Do not confuse the St Clements
Building and Clement House, which is on Aldwych.

The Robert McKenzie Room (S202) can be used by students for quiet study periods.
If you wish to hold a more formal meeting in this room, please book it through Tia
Exelby in Room S219a.

9
 Staff Directory

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY

Name Ext Room Admin Support Ext Room

Dr Claire Alexander (from 3765 S284 Tia Exelby 7309 S219a

outside 0207 852-3765)
Dr Suki Ali (from outside 0207 3781 S206 Diane Frimpong 7708 S219a
852-3781
Dr Robin Archer 7944 S283 Tia Exelby 7305 S219a
Dr Christopher Badcock 7288 S282 Tia Exelby 7309 S19a
Prof Eileen Barker (Emeritus) 7289 S265
Prof Stan Cohen (Emeritus) 7576 S208
Dr Ayona Datta (Cities 6593 Y310
Programme)
Dr Nigel Dodd 7571 S275 Diane Frimpong 7305 S204
Dr Janet Foster (research buy-
7302 S279 Tia Exelby 7309 S219a
out)
Professor Sarah Franklin 6465 S210 Diane Frimpong 7708 S219a
Prof David Frisby 6213 S285 Tia Exelby 7708 S219a
Prof Paul Gilroy 6436 S200 Diane Frimpong 7708 S219a
Dr Ursula Henz (sabbatical) 6139 S218 Diane Frimpong 7708 S219a
Prof Dick Hobbs (Head of Dept) 7076 S277 TBC 6165 S205
Dr Christopher Husbands 7293 S287 Tia Exelby 7309 S219a
Prof Bridget Hutter (CARR) 7287 H604 Tia Exelby 7309 S219a
Dr Pat McGovern 6653 S276 Diane Frimpong 7708 S219a
Dr Claire Moon Moon,c Tia Exelby 7309 S219a
Dr Paddy Rawlinson S279 Tia Exelby 7309 S219a
Prof Paul Rock (sabbatical) 7296 S203 Tia Exelby 7305 S21a
Professor Nikolas Rose 7533 S217 Tia Exelby 7305 S219a
(sabbatical)
Professor Saskia Sassen (only 6532 S220
LT)
Prof Richard Sennett (only MT) 6076 W401 Emily Cruz Cruz,em
Prof Leslie Sklair (Emertus) 7299 S208
Dr Don Slater 4653 S218A Diane Frimpong 7708 S219a
Professor Ed Soja (only MT) 6650 S220
Prof Robert Tavernor 7753 Y308 Y312
Dr Fran Tonkiss 6601 S212 Tia Exelby 7305 S204
Dr Elizabeth Weinberg 7304 S266 Tia Exelby 7309 S219a
(sabbatical)

10
 FACULTY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY*

CORE STAFF

Dr Claire Alexander: Senior Lecturer in Sociology. Her research interests are in the
area of race, ethnicity, masculinity and youth identities. Her main publications include
The Art of Being Black (OUP 1996) and The Asian Gang (Berg 2000). She is co-
editor of Beyond Difference (Ethnic and Racial Studies July 2002),and Making Race
Matter: Bodies, Space and Identity (Palgrave 2005), and editor of Writing Race:
Ethnography and Difference (Ethnic and Racial Studies, May 2006). She has
recently joined the Board of Trustees of the Runnymede Trust.

Dr Suki Ali: Lecturer in Gender and Social Theory. Current research interests centre
on gendered racialisation and embodiment (especially mixed-race), identification,
visual culture, and kinship and transnational belonging. She teaches courses on
gender, sexuality and societies and gender and postcolonial theory. Recent
publications include Mixed Race, Post-Race: Gender, New Ethnicities and Cultural
Practices (Berg, 2003), and co-edited collections Gender and the Politics of
Education: Critical Perspectives (Palgrave 2004) and Global Feminist Politics:
Identities in a Changing World (Routledge 2000).

Dr Robin Archer teaches political sociology and is the program director of the MSc
in that subject. Prior to joining the LSE he taught political sociology, comparative
government and political theory at Oxford University, where he was the Fellow in
Politics at Corpus Christi College. His interests focus on: the comparative study of
social movements, especially labour movements; political culture, especially the
influence of liberalism, religion and race in the United States; comparative political
economy, especially the development of industrial relations and welfare states; the
effects of political institutions; and questions of social and political philosophy,
especially questions concerning liberalism, socialism, freedom and democracy. He
has written about a number of European countries, India, Australia, and the United
States. His most important recent works include Economic Democracy (1995), and
Why is there No Labor Party in the United States? (forthcoming). Dr Archer is
currently working on two new projects. The first concerns the roots of American
political culture, and the second concerns the future of the left. He is also currently
interested in exploring the potential of comparative and historical approaches to the
study of politics and sociology.

Dr Christopher Badcock: Reader in Sociology whose current research is into

autism, its relation to genomic imprinting, and implications for the social sciences. He
teaches courses on Evolution and Social Behaviour and Genes and Society. His
recent publications include: Evolutionary Psychology (Polity Press, Cambridge, 2000)
and PsychoDarwinism: The New Synthesis of Darwin & Freud, (Harper-Collins,
London, 1994).

Dr Ayona Datta: Lecturer in Architecture and Urban Design. Her teaching and
research reflect her interdisciplinary background in architecture, environmental
design, women’s studies, and sociology. Her research interests span various
overlapping and interlinking themes of spatiality of homelessness and social agency;
gender, space, and power; and architecture and cultural identity. She is currently
working on a British Academy funded research examining the intersections between
gender, social agency, and place; and a STICERD funded research examining
notions of home and the city amongst low-skilled migrant workers in London.

11
Dr Nigel B Dodd: Senior Lecturer. His research interests span the Sociology of
Economic Life, Money and Financial Markets, Consumerism, and Contemporary
Social Theory. His publications include The Sociology of Money (Polity Press,
Cambridge, 1994), and Social Theory and Modernity (Polity Press, Cambridge,
1999). Currently, Dr Dodd is researching the Euro, particularly its social, cultural and
political aspects.

Dr Janet Foster: Senior Lecturer in Sociology. She has extensive experience as a

qualitative researcher on crime, community and policing issues. She has published
three major studies: Villains: crime and community in the inner city (1990), an
observational study of crime, offending, and policing, in one area of South London;
Housing Community and Crime (1993), part of a major collaborative project between
the London School of Economics, Home Office and the Department of the
Environment to evaluate the Priority Estates Project and its impact on crime and
community in London and Hull; and Docklands: Cultures in Conflict, Worlds in
Collision (1999) based on a two year ethnographic study of urban change and
conflict on the Isle of Dogs in London's Docklands which documents the competing
visions of urban change, and the social exclusion and racism which emanated from
it. Over the last two years she has conducted an evaluation of the impact of the
Stephen Lawrence Inquiry on policing that will be published by the Home Office later
in the year. As part of this work she spent 6 months with a murder team in London
and is currently working on book based on this research.

Professor Sarah Franklin: Professor of Social Studies of Biomedicine joined the

Department in September 2004, Her areas of specialist expertise include social
dimensions of new reproductive and genetic technologies, kinship and gender
theory, the anthropology of reproduction, and science studies. She has written,
edited, and co-authored 12 books on assisted conception, cloning, stem cell
research, embryo research, and genetic screening, as well as over 50 articles on
these and related topics. She is committed to theoretically-informed empirical
research and has held research grants from the Leverhulme Trust, the Wellcome
Trust, the ESRC, and the Wenner Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research.

Professor David Frisby, FRSE: joined the Department in 2005 as Professor of

Sociology and member of the Cities Programme. His research interests focus upon
metropolitan modernity, architecture and urban cultures, German social theory in the
late nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the social theory of Georg Simmel. He
maintains an interest in critical social theories of modernity, originally developed in
his Fragments of Modernity (third printing 2003) and elsewhere. His recent
publications include Georg Simmel in Wien (2000), Cityscapes of Modernity (2001),
Georg Simmel.Revised Edition (2002), and editor of the third enlarged edition of
Simmel’s Philosophy of Money (2004). Current projects include a forthcoming study
of Otto Wagner’s modern Vienna and, with Iain Boyd Whyte, a sourcebook on Berlin
and Vienna: 1880-1940.

Professor Paul Gilroy: Anthony Giddens Chair in Social Theory. Was chair of the
department of African American Studies, and Charlotte Marian Saden Professor of
Sociology at Yale before coming to the department in July 2005. His current research
is divided into several projects: the social conditions of convivial interaction between
post-colonial populations particularly in situations where multicultural society has
been pronounced dead, the ongoing relevance of the history and politics of colonial
government; the morbid memory of world war two in contemporary British politics
and, lastly, the “moral economy” of blackness in the twentieth century. His most

12
recent book was published last year as “Postcolonial Melancholia” in the US but
entitled “After Empire” in the UK. “The Cry of Love” a new study of black political
culture is forthcoming.

Dr Ursula Henz: Senior Lecturer in Social Research Methods. Prior to joining the
LSE, she held research fellowships at the Max Planck Institute for Human
Development and Education in Berlin, Germany, at Stockholm University
(Demography Unit and Swedish Institute for Social Research), Sweden, and at King's
College, London. She is a docent in sociology at Stockholm University. Her studies
have been concerned with longitudinal aspects of compulsory and post-compulsory
educational participation, poverty, women's labour market participation, informal
caregiving and family dynamics using a number of large-scale surveys. She has
published Intergenerationale Mobilität. Methodische und empirische Untersuchungen
(1996) in which she examined the relevance of social origin on educational
transitions and career mobility in Germany. Some of her articles have appeared in
Ageing and Society, Journal of Marriage and Family, Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie
und Sozialpsychologie, and European Sociological Review. Her recent work
addressed the interplay between informal caregiving for a sick, disabled or elderly
person and caregiver’s employment in Great Britain. Other projects are concerned
with various aspects of fertility behaviour.

Professor Dick Hobbs: Took over as Head of Department in September 2006.

Joined the department in September 2005 having previously taught at Durham
University. He is interested in ethnography, working class entrepreneurship,
professional and organised crime, violence, the political economy of crime and the
night-time economy. His most recent books are Bouncers: Violence and Governance
in the Night-time Economy (2003, Oxford), with Phil Hadfield, Stuart Lister and Simon
Winlow, and The Sage Handbook of Fieldwork (2005, Sage), edited with Richard
Wright. Dick Hobbs is currently working on an ESRC funded project looking at female
doorstaff in the night-time economy, and an EEC funded project on organised crime.

Dr Christopher T Husbands: Reader in Sociology. His current research interests

are racist political parties in western Europe, migration and political asylum in
western Europe, the assessment of teaching quality in higher education, and the
growth of flexible employment practices in higher education, particularly with respect
to the use of part-time teachers. He has published extensively in each of these
research areas. He is an associate editor of Ethnic and Racial Studies and is on the
editorial board of Patterns of Prejudice. He is a former member of the editorial boards
of the British Journal of Sociology and of Sociology. He is a member of the British
Sociological Association and the Society for Research into Higher Education. He is
also an Associate of the Institute of Linguists. He is President of the local branch of
the Association of University Teachers at LSE.

Professor Bridget M Hutter: Professor of Risk Regulation and Director of CARR

(ESRC Centre for the Analysis of Risk and Regulation). Her research interests centre
on regulation, risk, social control and deviance. Her research interests are in the
broad area of the sociology of regulation and risk management; the regulation of
economic life with particular reference regulatory enforcement and corporate
responses to regulation; and the social control of organisations. She is currently
researching business responses to risk and regulation and risk based approaches to
regulation. She is author of numerous publications on the subject of regulation.
These include The Reasonable Arm of the Law? (1988, Clarendon Press),
Compliance: Regulation and Environment (1997, Clarendon Press); A Socio-Legal
Reader in Environmental Law (1999, Oxford University Press); Regulation and Risk:
Occupational Health & Safety on the Railways (2001: Oxford University Press;

13
Organisational Encounters with Risk (ed with M. Power, 2005, Cambridge University
Press). She is also Editor of the British Journal of Sociology.

Mr Aidan Kelly: Lecturer in Quantitative Methods. Research and teaching expertise

is in the application of quantitative methodologies in sociological and public policy
research. His published research examines the restructuring of the welfare state
including the impact of the managerialism via the quantitative analysis of
expenditures, unit costs and service outputs (published in the Journal of Social
Policy,1989). He has also completed a Health Equity Profile on Coronary Heart
Disease and Social Deprivation for North Devon Primary Care Trust (2005). His
current research with Professor Howarth (Strathclyde Businesss School) and
Professor Huw Morris (Manchester Business School) analyses the implications of the
quantitative analysis of Research Assessment Exercise submission data for
Business and Management Studies. He has recently published entries in V. Jupp
(ed) The Sage Dictionary of Social Research (Sage, 2005). Other interests include
implications of critical realism and complexity theory for the development of a ‘new’
quantitative sociology. Aidan Kelly has a specialist interest in innovation in the
teaching and learning of quantitative methods such as e-learning, interactive
websites (moodle) and the use of 'visualisation' techniques in teaching of social
statistics and data analysis. At Goldsmiths, he has been funded to develop this area
of expertise and has been recognized by Goldsmiths for excellence in Teaching and
Learning (2006). He is currently developing on-line digital video teaching materials
related to the use of the statistical package SPSS.

Dr Patrick McGovern: Senior Lecturer whose research interests relate to issues in

economic sociology, especially the sociology of work and labour markets, and
international migration. His current research, which examines the changing nature of
employment in Britain, draws on large scale surveys funded by the ESRC’s recent
Future of Work Programme. A substantial part of this work develops a long-term
interest in social class, social inequality, and the (supposedly) changing nature of the
employment relationship. The results of this activity will be appearing in a
forthcoming book with Oxford University Press entitled Market, Class and
Employment (Oxford University Press). Recent articles that draw on this research
can be found in the British Journal of Industrial Relations, Sociology, Work &
Occupations, and Work, Employment & Society. In addition to his research on
employment, Pat is also developing a major comparative study of international
migration and social mobility in Great Britain and the United States. This innovative
qualitative study will examine the consequences of immigration for the educational
and occupational success of the second generation. Whenever he gets bored he
turns to social theory where he has an interest in the unintended consequences and
irrationalities of rational action. He has served on the editorial board of the BSA
journal Work, Employment and Society and as Associate Editor of the British Journal
of Sociology. From January 2007 he will serve as Reviews Editor for the British
Journal of Industrial Relations. He is the author of HRM, Technical Workers and the
Multinational Corporation (Routledge, 1998).

Dr Claire Moon: Lecturer in the Sociology of Human Rights. Her recent publications
concentrate on transitional justice, post-conflict reconciliation, war trauma,
reparations for human rights violations and apologies and forgiveness for past
atrocities. Dr Moon is the author of a book about South Africa’s political transition,
Narrating Reconciliation: South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(forthcoming 2007). She teaches courses on War and Genocide, Political
Reconciliation, and Foundations and Key Issues in Human Rights from an
interdisciplinary perspective that draws upon sociology, critical legal studies and
international relations.

14
Dr Paddy Rawlinson: Lecturer. Her research interests cover transnational and
organised crime in the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe on
which she has published over the past ten years. Her book Russian Organised
Crime: Warning from the East (Pluto Press forthcoming) is a critical look at what
organised crime in the Soviet Union and Russia ‘means’ for the West. Other
interests include the development of policing in former communist states. She is
currently researching policy and law enforcement responses to the problem of sex
trafficking in Russia.

Professor Paul E Rock, FBA: Professor of Social Institutions His interests focus on
the development of criminal justice policies, particularly for victims of crime, but he
has also published articles on criminological theory and the history of crime. His most
recent books include The Social World of an English Crown Court (1993, Clarendon
Press); Reconstructing a Women's Prison (1996, Clarendon Press); After Homicide:
Practical and Political Responses to Bereavement (1998, Clarendon Press); (with
David Downes) Understanding Deviance (fifth edition 2003, Oxford University Press);
and Constructing Victims' Rights (September 2004, Clarendon Press).

Professor Nikolas Rose: joined the Department 2002 as Professor of Sociology and
Convenor of the joined the Department 2002 as Professor of Sociology and
Convenor of the Department, and took up the James Martin White Professorship of
Sociology in October 2005. He is Director of the LSE’s BIOS centre for the Study of
Bioscience, Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Society. He was managing editor of
Economy and Society from 1999 to 2005, and is currently joint editor of BioSocieties,
a new international journal on social aspects of the life sciences. In 1989 he founded
the ‘History of the Present’ network of researchers influenced by the writings of
Michel Foucault. Previous research has examined the social and political history of
the human sciences, the genealogy of subjectivity, the history of empirical thought in
sociology, changing rationalities and techniques of political power, and changing
strategies of control. His most recent book is Powers of Freedom: Reframing Political
Thought (Cambridge University Press, 1999). His current research concerns the
social, ethical, cultural and legal implications of developments in brain sciences,
psychiatric genetics and psycho-pharmacology, and a number of his recent papers
on these areas form the basis of his forthcoming book The Politics of Life Itself
(Princeton University Press, 2006).

Professor Richard Sennett: Professor of Sociology at the LSE and Bemis Professor
of Social Sciences at MIT. In the School, he teaches in the Cities Programme and
trains doctoral students in the sociology of culture. His three most recent books are
studies of modern capitalism: The Culture of the New Capitalism [Yale, 2006],
Respect in an Age of Inequality, [Penguin, 2003] and The Corrosion of Character,
[Norton, 1998]. He is currently writing a book on craftsmanship. Professor Sennett
has been awarded the Amalfi and the Ebert prizes for sociology. He is a Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Society of Literature, the Royal
Society of the Arts, and the Academia Europea. He is past president of the American
Council on Work and the former Director of the New York Institute for the
Humanities.

Dr Don Slater: Reader in Sociology. Don Slater's work focuses on the relations
between culture and economy, and on ethnographies of new media in development
contexts. His work on sociology of economic life includes Consumer Culture and
Modernity (Polity: 1997) and Market Society: Markets and Modern Social Thought,
with Dr Fran Tonkiss (Polity: 2001); and a special issue of Economy and Society, co-
edited with Dr Andrew Barry, 'The Technological Economy' (Vol 31 No 2 May 2002).
His Internet research has focused on ethnographic approaches to the new media,

15
and has so far included an ethnography of Internet use in Trinidad -The Internet: An
Ethnographic Approach, with Prof Daniel Miller (Berg: 2000). Most recently, he
conducted an ethnography of community radio and internet in rural Sri Lanka, which
has been followed by a UNESCO programme of ethnographic action research with
nine ICT projects in South Asia, and a two-year DfID-funded programme of
comparative ethnographies of new media in India, Ghana, South Africa and Jamaica.

Professor Ed Soja: teaches in the Cities Programme during the Michaelmas term.
He is a geographer interested in the spatial aspects of social theory, globalisation,
and urban and regional political economy. His major publications include Postmodern
Geographies (1989), Thirdspace (1996), and Postmetropolis (2000). His current
research is involved with the new labour-community coalitions that have been
developing in Los Angeles "seeking spatial justice," and with innovative approaches
to regional governance and planning in Catalonia.

Professor Robert Tavernor: joined the Department in 2005 as Professor of

Architecture and Urban Design, and Director of the Cities Programme. He is an
architect and architectural historian with an active London-based urban planning
consultancy, which advises on major urban design projects. His publications focus on
the classical tradition of European architecture and cities, and most recently on the
urban development of London. They include translations of key 15th and 16th century
architectural texts by Alberti and Palladio (for The MIT Press), and he is producing a
new translation of Vitruvius’s, De architectura, for Penguin Classics (2008). He is the
author of Palladio and Palladianism (Thames & Hudson, 1991); On Alberti and the
Art of Building (Yale University Press, 1998); and co-editor of Body and Building:
Essays on the changing relation of Body to Architecture (The MIT Press, 2002). His
latest book, Measure for Measure, on the changing relation of the body to measure,
will be published by Yale University Press in 2007. His essay, ‘From Townscape to
Skyscape’, (The Architectural Review, March 2004) summarises his recent urban
research on the visual impact of tall buildings in London.

Dr Fran Tonkiss: Lecturer in Sociology, with research interests in economic

sociology and urban studies. Her work in economic sociology is concerned with
issues of markets and marketisation; trust and social capital; capitalism and
globalisation; inequality and economic governance. In the field of urban studies her
focus is on urban development and governance; space and social theory; urban
communities and spatial divisions. She is the author of Contemporary Economic
Sociology: Globalisation, Production, Inequality (Routledge 2006) and Space, the
City and Social Theory (Polity, 2005), the co-author (with Don Slater) of Market
Society: Markets and Modern Social Theory (Polity, 2001), and the co-editor of Trust
and Civil Society (Macmillan 2000).

Dr Elizabeth Weinberg: Senior Lecturer whose current research interests are in the
social aspects and consequences of the current transition in Russia. She has just
published Sociology in the Soviet Union and Beyond (2004). She is also researching
Soviet and Russian women in transition. In addition she is conducting research into
the social analysis of twinship, the results of which were published in Exploring
Twins: the Social Analysis of Twinship by Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke in 2003
She is working on a joint research project with colleagues in Brisbane, Australia on
Children, Friendship and Transition to School.

GENDER INSTITUTE

Dr Ros Gill: Senior lecturer in Gender Studies & Gender Theory and an active
member of the Media@lse team. Ros convenes the MSc program in Gender and the

16
Media. She has broad interests in social theory and methodology, especially
discursive and narrative analysis, post-modernism and feminist theory. She is
particularly interested in the relationship between postfeminism and neoliberalism.
She is also engaged in many debates in psycho-social studies. Ros is editor of The
Gender-Technology Relation (with Keith Grint), Taylor & Francis, 1995 and Gender
and the Media, Polity Press, 2006. Her substantive research focuses on the media,
new technologies and gender. She is currently doing research on working practices
in new media, and on young men's identities in the UK and Australia. She is also
writing a book about discourse analysis to be published by Open University press in
2007.

Dr Clare Hemmings: Senior Lecturer in Gender Studies and Gender Theory. Her
teaching and research interests reflect her interdisciplinary background in literary
theory, human geography, sociology, women's studies and sexuality studies, and are
focused in three main areas. The first is sexuality and space, as indicated by her
book, Bisexual Spaces: a Geography of Sexuality and Gender (Routledge, 2002).
This research is based on extensive ethnographic and archival research in the U.S.
and explores the centrality of bisexual meaning in the construction of all sexual
spaces. She is currently working on th role of bisexuality within transnational
sexuality studies. The second arena of teaching and research interest is feminist
historiography. Her new book project, Telling Feminist Stories, critiques dominant
progress narratives within Western English-speaking feminist theory, arguing for a
more nuanced engagement with the recent feminist past. Her third main area of
interest is feminist epistemology and methodology, best represented by her
collaborative work on 'Travelling Feminist Concepts', which is an EU-funded project
within Athena (European Women's Studies Network). The project traces the
translation and alteration of key feminist concepts across 8 European contexts, and
operates as a case study for the importance of qualitative, collaborative and
interdisciplinary inquiry in promoting transnational feminist practice.

Dr Diane Perrons: Director of the Gender Institute and a Reader in Economic

Geography and Gender Studies at the London School of Economics. Her research
focuses on globalization, inequality, work and care: intersectionality between different
forms of inequality; social and spatial implications of economic restructuring for social
reproduction of daily life. Recent publications include: Globalization and social
change; people and places in a divided world (Routledge, 2004) and Gender
divisions and working time in the new economy (Edward Elgar 2006) co-edited with
colleagues from London and Manchester

Professor Anne Phillips: joined LSE in 1999 as Professor of Gender Theory and
Director of the Gender Institute; and moved to a joint appointment between the
Gender Institute and Government Department in 2004. Her research interests are in
the field of contemporary political theory, including feminist political theory, equality,
democracy, and multiculturalism. Previous books include Engendering Democracy
(1991), Democracy And Difference (1993),The Politics of Presence (1995), and
Which Equalities Matter? (1999). She has recently co-edited, with John Dryzek
(ANU) and Bonnie Honig (Northwestern) the Oxford Handbook of Political Theory,
OUP , 2006; and has a monograph on Multiculturalism without Culture forthcoming
with Princeton University Press in 2007. She is currently working on a collaboration
with other European researchers on the way gender figures in current discourses
and policies regarding multiculturalism. She was elected a Fellow of the British
Academy in 2003.

17
Other Staff Associated with the Department

Professor Eileen V Barker, OBE, FBA: Professor of Sociology with Special

Reference to the Study of Religion (Emeritus Professor from October 2003). Her
main research interest over the past 35 years has been ‘cults’, ‘sects’ and new
religious movements - and the social reactions to which they give rise; but since
1989 she has spent much of her time investigating changes in the religious situation
in Eastern Europe. She has also been studying the Armenian diaspora and its
relationship with the Republic of Armenia. She has conducted several surveys
including the British section of a large international study of religious and moral
pluralism. In 1988, with the support of the Home Office and mainstream Churches,
she founded Inform, a charity based at the LSE, which provides information about
minority religions that is as objective and up-to-date as possible.

Professor Ulrich Beck: Professor for Sociology at the University of Munich, and the
British Journal of Sociology Visiting Centennial Professor at the London School of
Economics and Sciences. Ulrich Beck is co-editor of Soziale Welt; editor of Zweite
Moderne at Suhrkamp (Frankfurt a.M.). His interests focus on 'risk society',
‘globalization’, 'individualization', 'reflexive modernization' and ‘cosmopolitanism’. He
is founding-director of a research centre at the University of Munich (in cooperation
with four other universities in the area) - Reflexive Modernization -, financed since
1999 by the DFG (German Research Society).

Professor Stanley Cohen, FBA: Emeritus Professor of Sociology. He came to LSE

as a Visiting Professor in 1994, was appointed Martin White Professor of Sociology
in 1996 and retired from this post in 2005/6. He taught courses on crime, deviance
and control as well as being responsible for the teaching on “the sociology of
atrocities” on the new inter-disciplinary MSc organized by Centre for the Study of
Human Rights. His most recent book is States of Denial: Knowing About Atrocities
and Suffering (Polity Press, Cambridge, 2001. His current research continues his
interest on media and public reactions to news about atrocities and suffering.

Professor Nicos Mouzelis: Emeritus Professor of Sociology. His areas of expertise

include: development of the State and Parliamentary institutions in a number of late
industrialising societies in the Balkans and Latin America; examination of recent
theoretical trends and their relevance for the study of Third World politics; recent
trends in modern social theory; developments in Marxist and post-Marxist thought;
political theory; historical sociology; and theories of the State.

Professor Susie Orbach: brings a psychoanalytic lens to a series of social, policy,

interpersonal and individual concerns. She has written much about women’s
psychology and the construction of femininity, gender, the making of the body,
psychoanalysis and social policy, eating difficulties, obesity to anorexia, women and
brands, globalism and body image, emotional literacy in business, education and
government. Specifically within psychoanalysis her interests are the body, gender,
countertransference and the psychotherapy relationship. She has been or is currently
a consultant to The World Bank, the NHS and to DOVE (Unilever).

Professor Saskia Sassen: Centennial Visiting Professor is the author most recently
of Territory, Authority, Rights: From Medieval to Global Assemblages. She has now
completed, for UNESCO, a five-year project on sustainable human settlement for
which she set up a network of researchers and activists in over 30 countries under
the title Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), Developed under the
auspices of the UNESCO, Oxford, UK: EOLSS Publishers. Her books are translated
into sixteen languages. Her comments have appeared in The Guardian, The New

18
York Times, Le Monde Diplomatique, the International Herald Tribune, Vanguardia,
Clarin, and the Financial Times, among others.

Professor Leslie Sklair: Emeritus Professor of Sociology. He works on two related

themes around globalization, theory and research on capitalist globalization and its
alternatives and the relationship between architecture and globalization. The first
edition of his Sociology of the Global System was published 1991, with a second
updated edition in 1995. This book has been translated into Portuguese, Japanese,
Korean, Persian and Spanish. A third edition completely revised and updated, was
published by Oxford University Press in 2002 as Globalization: Capitalism and its
alternatives and is being translated into Portuguese and Chinese. He has also
published Transnationalist Capitalist Class (Blackwell, 2001, Chinese edition 2002,
German edition forthcoming) and many journal articles, book chapters and
encyclopaedia entries on globalization and capitalism. Two journal articles on his
current research on "Iconic architecture and capitalist globalization" will be published
in 2005-06 and a book on Globalization in/and Architecture is in progress.

*For recent publications, please view the LSE website at:

http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/sociology/docufind.htm

*For more extensive descriptions of staff research interests,

Please view the LSE website at: http://www.lse.ac.uk/people/

19
 Facilities at the London School of Economics
The LSE Library
www.lse.ac.uk/library/

The LSE Library is the national library for the social sciences. The reference stock
comprises almost four million items, and there are seats for over 1,000 readers. The
new library building has also expanded the number of computer terminals available
for students. The LSE library collection consists of a regular lending library and the
‘course collection’. ‘Course collection’ books are set aside for short-term loans, to
allow better access to key course texts. Loan periods for the course collection vary
from one week to less than 24 hours. The loan periods are the same regardless of
who is borrowing and some of the fines for special course collection books (set texts)
can be high, and so be sure to pay attention to the loan labels when you begin to use
this collection. The Library also houses an ‘Offprint collection’ of photocopied
material that has been set aside for courses. Off-prints are available for several
hours either for reading or photocopying. Special short courses are available in the
library on reference skills (e.g. Endnote, using the computer research materials, etc.).
Check with the information desk on the 1st floor or on the library’s website for more
information. During term time the library is open in the evenings and on weekends.

The Shaw Library

This is a small lending collection of general literature, daily newspapers and

magazines, and a substantial collection of recorded music. It is housed in the
Founders’ Room on the sixth floor of the Old Building, serving as a quiet room where
lunchtime concerts are held on Thursdays in the Michaelmas and Lent terms.

Student Services Centre

www.lse.ac.uk/collections/studentServicesCentre/

The Student Services Centre offers advice on administrative services relating to

admissions, registration, courses and assessment, examinations, ceremonies
and financial support, and you can also pay your fees there. If staff are unable to
deal with your query, you may be referred to a colleague with more specialised
knowledge. Staff can also answer basic queries relating to services provided
elsewhere in the School.

Counter service is available from:

10.00 to 17.00 during Term time
10.00 to 15.00 on Wednesdays during Term time
10.00 to 16.00 during School vacations
10.00 to 15.00 on Wednesdays during School vacations

They also offer specialist drop-ins. The timetable for these can be found at:

www.lse.ac.uk/collections/studentServicesCentre/Drop_in.htm

Copies of the School's prospectus can be collected at the Student Services Centre
as well as forms relating to student administration. Students can also use the
convenient drop boxes to pay fees and deliver completed forms.

20
 IT Services
www.lse.ac.uk/itservices/

Students are encouraged to make full use of the School’s computing and word
processing facilities. The LSE has over 1000 computers in computer classrooms,
open access computer areas around the School and the student residential halls'
computer rooms. All public computer rooms and areas have printing facilities. The
opening hours of these rooms and areas vary, see website for details. The IT Help
Desk is located in the Library on the Lower Ground Floor and details of computer
courses for new and continuing students are posted on notice boards. To access IT
facilities at LSE, you need a Username and Password, following registration. All
students can obtain these from the IT Help Desk. The School offers IT training in
word processing, use of email, spreadsheets, graphics packages and the common
statistical programmes. Notes on word processing for students, written by Dr
Christopher Badcock, are included at the end of this booklet.

The Methodology Institute

www.lse.ac.uk/Depts/Methodology/

The Methodology Institute is a centre that works with the various Departments across
the school. Students are encouraged to take advantage of courses offered at the
Methodology Institute if they wish to further their social research skills.

The Language Centre

www.lse.ac.uk/Depts/language/

The LSE Language Centre offers courses in foreign language instruction and English
support. For students studying in EFL, it can be exhausting at the beginning to adapt
to both daily and academic life in a second language. The Language Centre offers
pre-sessional and in-sessional English courses, as well as support throughout the
year. Should you continue to experience trouble working in English after the initial
adjustment period, it is worth making use of the Language Centre’s support facilities.
It is located on the 7th floor of the Clare Market building.

Public lectures

Throughout the year there are special School lectures, open to everyone, usually
held in the Old Theatre. Speakers during the last few years include Ulrich Beck, Paul
Gilroy, Sarah Franklin, Leslie Sklair and Bruno Latour. . Upcoming lectures are
advertised on the large computer screens around the School, and on the School’s
homepage under ‘Events’.

Catering

Catering facilities located around the School are as follows:

• Brunch Bowl – fourth floor, Main Building (open 9am-7.30pm, Mondays to

Fridays, during term-time). Serves hot meals, salads and snacks throughout
the day

• LSE Garrick – Houghton Street/Aldwych (open 8.30am-7pm Mondays to

Fridays, during term-time) Café service all day, hot main meals at lunchtime.

21
 • Cafe Pepe – third floor, Clement House (open 9.30am-5pm
(Monday to Friday) during term-time. Serves hot and cold drinks, soups,
sandwiches and snacks

• Plaza Cafe – John Watkins Plaza area, outside Library (open 9am-9pm
Mondays to Fridays and 12 noon-6pm Saturdays and Sundays during term-
time) Serves hot and cold drinks, soup, sandwiches and snacks

• Beavers Retreat Bar – fourth floor, Main Building (open 5pm-9pm, Mondays
to Fridays, during term-time). A good place to socialise.

• George IV Pub - open 12 noon - 11.00pm, Monday to Friday

A traditional pub serving excellent beers

For vacation opening hours, see the LSE computer login box and notices around the
School.

LSE Catering Services became the first London university to achieved Fairtrade
status in 2004. Fairtrade refreshments are available in all the School's catering
outlets.

Accommodation
www.lse.ac.uk/accommodation/

If you are seeking living accommodation, you may consult the LSE Accommodation
Office in Room E294. If you are sharing a flat and a vacancy occurs, please bring it
to the attention of other Sociology students by putting an announcement about it on
the notice-board in Room S202 and outside in the hallway.

Please note, if you require accommodation over the summer to work on your
dissertation, you must notify your hall of residence early in the academic year.
Notices are posted and you must apply by the deadline; otherwise you may find
yourself without a place to stay.

The Students' Union

www.lsesu.com

All LSE students are members of the LSE Students’ Union automatically and the
Union is run by students for students. Officers of the Union, who make decisions on
how it is run are elected annually by all students. The Union's main General Meeting,
the UGM, which is the only one of its kind that remains in the whole of the UK,
attended by an average of 200 students, is held every Thursday at 1pm in Old
Theatre. The Union finances over 150 societies, covering everything from national
groups to special interest groups to career interests and also has 30 sports clubs,
many with more than one team. LSE students automatically become members of the
University of London Union (ULU) and National Union of Students (NUS) through the
LSE SU. The LSE Union offers the following services to all students:

• Advice Centre offers independent counselling and advice on information

on finances, visas, housing and a range of subjects
• A number of support funds, including a childcare fund for students with
children

22
 • The Union Shop sells stationery, toiletries, LSE memorabilia, greeting cards
and food.
• The Café and The Three Tuns kitchen provide hot and cold food with a
variety of vegetarian, halal and kosher options.
• The Three Tuns, Underground and Quad bars are open throughout the week
culminating in Friday night’s ‘Crush’ club night.
• A large Copy Shop offers cheap photocopying and coursepacks.
• STA, a branch of this national travel agency, serves student travel during
business hours throughout the year.

The Athletic Union is part of the Students' Union and caters for many different sports.
There is a Gym, a badminton court, three squash courts and a gymnasium. In
addition to these facilities, the School owns a sports ground of 25 acres at New
Malden in South London. Students are also eligible to take part in the activities of
the University of London Sports Club.

Health Services
www.lse.ac.uk/collections/medicalCentre

There is a NHS General Practice within the LSE campus at the St Philips
Medical Centre, Sheffield Street WC2. Full details of its services can found
at the above website (alternatively access the site via www.spmc.info). Please
note, some services are only available to registered patients - further
information about registration issues and other ways to access NHS care are
given on the web site. The dental practice located in the same building but is
operated separately from the medical practice. Its rules for accepting NHS patients
are quite complex. It is suggested that if you need their services, you should stop in
and talk to them.

LSE Student Counselling Service

This is a free and confidential service for all LSE students, which aims to help you
cope more effectively with any personal or study related difficulties. Appointments
must be booked in advance, and last for 50 minutes. The Service is open Monday-
Friday 10am-5pm throughout the year, apart from 'School closure' days. The Student
Counselling Webpage has further information and links to self help websites for
students. Enquiries should be directed through the TLC Office or via
[email protected]. Support and practical advice is also available through the
LSE Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Adviser [email protected].

Disability Equality
www.lse.ac.uk/disability

If you think you may need specific arrangements in order to fully access your
programme of study at LSE, then do contact the Adviser to students with
disabilities/dyslexia if you have not already done so. Together, you can write an
‘Individual Student Support Agreement’ which will set out what reasonable
adjustments need to be put in place and by whom. This includes any special
arrangements for exams and assessment, alternative resources for fire alarms,
emergency evacuation of buildings, hearing support systems, rest rooms, study
support and assistance in the library.

Practical study and social support for students with disabilities, long-term medical

23
conditions or dyslexia, such as note takers and readers, can be provided through
peer group support co-ordinated by LSE Circles Network

A Disability Consultative Forum meets termly to monitor and advise on disability-

related issues as part of the LSE’s commitment to working towards disability equality
and fulfilling the duties required by public bodies in the disability discrimination
legislation. (DDA, 2005)

Further information for students with dyslexia, long-term medical conditions and
disabilities an be found at: www.lse.ac.uk/collections/disabilityOffice/

Disability Office contact details are as follows:

email: [email protected]

Advisor to students: 0207 955 6034

Administrator, Disability Officer: 0207 955 7767
LSE Circles Network, [email protected] < mailto:[email protected]>

SU Education and Welfare, [email protected]

SU Disability Officer, [email protected]
SU Advice Centre: 0207 955 7145
Medical Centre: 0207 955 7016
Advisor to staff with disabilities: 0207 955 6672

Confidentiality: information regarding disabilities will not be shared without the

explicit, signed permission of the student. You are urged to make an initial
appointment with the Disability Office to discuss any disability-related concerns: you
should note that it may not be possible to make reasonable adjustments for you
unless key personnel are made aware of your situation, but every effort will be made
to maintain anonymity and discretion.

Careers advice
www.lse.ac.uk/Depts/careers/

The Careers Service in Tower 3, Room W610, can offer advice and guidance on
aspects of your future career. For details of the resources, events and help available
consult the website given above. Departmental staff are also regularly asked to
recommend students to positions (both academic and non-academic) and you may
find it helpful to discuss your aspirations with your tutor. Your tutor's most useful
contribution to your career development may well be his or her references for you,
which may cover personal as well as academic skills. Remember that your personal
tutor can write only what he or she knows about you and so do not be reticent about
discussing your aspirations and skills with him or her. By putting your CV on the CV
builder on LSE for You, your referee will be able to see your work experience and
extra curricular activities, so enabling them to write a fuller reference for you. You
should not normally name your personal tutor as a referee for a job unless you have
first discussed the matter with him or her, although a general discussion may result in
a blanket permission to use his or her name as a referee if you are applying for a
number of jobs.

24
 Paid employment during your MSc year

To register as a part-time student, it is necessary to have regular employment or

income. However, students taking the MSc full-time over one year are unlikely to be
able to take on paid employment without some detriment to their academic progress,
although it is recognised that students are sometimes left with little financial
alternative but to do so. Having to take paid employment during the academic year
will not normally be accepted by examiners as a legitimate mitigating circumstance in
the event of a performance at a lesser level than could otherwise have been
expected. In the event that a student has no choice but to take some paid
employment, under School regulations the total hours cannot exceed 15 per week.

Financial Assistance
www.lse.ac.uk/collections/financialSupportOff
www.lse.ac.uk/collections/financialSupportOffice/internal/hardshipFunds.htm

The School expects all its students to make adequate arrangements for their
maintenance and the payment of their fees before they register. However, the
School is prepared to consider applications for help from those who fall into
unexpected and unforeseen financial difficulties during the course.

Anyone wishing to apply to the School for financial assistance should go to Financial
Support website first. Students are also welcome to attend the daily Drop In
sessions between 1 and 2pm. These are held in the Student Services Centre and
there is no appointment necessary.

University of London Facilities: Lectures and Libraries

The LSE is a part of the University of London, and as such has links to some
University of London libraries. If the need should arise to research special topics
which go beyond the LSE Library collection, students are advised to check if Senate
House or School of Oriental and African Studies libraries hold the required items.
Readers tickets are available by filling out a form distributed through the Library
information desk (1st floor). Both libraries are within walking distance from the LSE
(Russell Square tube station). Additionally, MSc students are eligible for a readers
ticket to the British Library - the ticket is valid for five years. The British Library is the
national library of the UK and one of the world’s largest libraries.

Students in the past have enjoyed special lectures held by various University of
London hosts. It is worth investigating if there are any particular lectures being given
by Goldsmiths, School of Oriental and African Studies or the University of London
Departments throughout the time that you are studying at the LSE. In the past few
years, Pierre Bourdieu, Zygmunt Bauman and Jean Baudrillard have lectured at
University of London venues.

25
 Programme Guide
This section provides essential information for planning your course of study.
The introductory section give you guidance as to the MSc programme requirements
and a timeline. Following this is detailed information about the courses on offer for
2006-2007.

Programme structure

The MSc Sociology programme consists of four units, which are:

1. A compulsory course on Social Research Methods (SO401)

2. An optional course from the course guides following
3. An optional course from the course guides following
4. A 10,000 word essay on a relevant topic of your choice (‘The Dissertation’)
due 29th August 2007 handed in to room S219a before 16:00. You will be issued
with a receipt.

The MSc Sociology (Research) programme consists of four units, which are:

1. A compulsory course on Social Research Methods (SO401)

2. A compulsory course MI451 Quantitative Analysis I: (H)
A compulsory course MI452 Quantitative Analysis II: (H)
3. Sociology options to the value of one unit
4. A 10,000 word essay on a relevant topic of your choice (‘The Dissertation’) due
29th August 2007 handed in to room S219a before 16:00. You will be issued with a
receipt.

The Significance of ESRC Recognition

One of the roles of the Economic and Social Research Council [ESRC] is the support
of postgraduate study and research in the social sciences. For that purpose, it offers
financial support in the form of several types of studentship.

One prerequisite for qualification to be considered for such a studentship is that the
applicant is intending to take, is taking, or has taken, a taught postgraduate Masters
course that is ‘ESRC-recognized’. This means that the ESRC regards that course as
containing a sufficiently large component of appropriate methodology training for it to
qualify for such recognition.

The syllabus of the MSc Sociology (Research) programme has been constructed in
order to contain the methodology component necessary for this purpose and
accordingly is ESRC-recognized. On the other hand, the syllabus of the MSc
Sociology programme has been deliberately constructed with a smaller methodology
component for those who prefer this alternative; for that reason, it has not been
ESRC-recognized.

However, there are other academic qualifications and also residential eligibility
criteria for those seeking to apply for an ESRC studentship. These are explained at
length in Part 3, ‘Who can apply’ of the ESRC’s publication, ESRC Postgraduate

26
Studentships in the Social Sciences Available in 2005: Guidance Notes for
Applicants, which is the current edition of this publication and can be downloaded as
a pdf-file from the Council’s website at:

www.esrc.ac.uk/ESRCContent/downloaddocs/GuidanceNotes05.pdf

You should consult these Notes for full information, whether on this topic or other
matters related to applying for an ESRC studentship. If you are interested in
applying, it is your responsibility to check your eligibility, and you should address any
queries on that account to the ESRC.

The MSc Sociology Programme Tutor will attempt to assist you in any interpretation
problems that you may have with these Notes, but neither he nor other members of
the Department has the authority to offer ex cathedra advice.

Course selection

The MSc Sociology programme is designed to give you as much choice in what you
study without detracting from the intellectual coherence of the programme as a
whole. The need for the latter is the reason why we insist that, whatever courses you
have taken in the past, there are no exemptions from taking the compulsory
research-methods course. Other than that proviso, you are free within the terms of
the regulations to study whatever interests you.

Unfortunately, such extensive choice can sometimes lead to timetable clashes,

especially with respect to courses offered by other Departments. Thus it is
important to be clear about the ‘compulsory’ or ‘non-compulsory’ status of
MSc seminars and associated undergraduate lecture courses. As an MSc
student, your formal instruction will normally consist of one weekly two-hour seminar
per course. Attendance at these is limited strictly to postgraduates. Some personal
tutors recommend or make available the opportunity to attend an associated lecture
series primarily intended for undergraduates. Such lecture series are not part of
postgraduate provision and attendance should be regarded as voluntary and
supplementary to postgraduate teaching. It is not possible to guarantee that there will
be no timetable clashes between postgraduate seminars and undergraduate
lectures.

You are also welcome to consider appropriate options offered by other

Departments in the School. Further details about course content are contained in
the 2006-2007 Calendar, which is available on-line. The MSc convener and your
personal tutor will guide you on course selection if you are having facing timetable
clashes between course that appear to be equally relevant and interesting for your
degree overall.

Course descriptions

Course description initials— H: half unit course; LT: Lent Term; MT: Michaelmas
Term and ST: Summer Term.

SO401 Social Research Methods

Teachers responsible: Mr Aidan Kelly, S218
Availability: Compulsory course for MSc Sociology and MSc Sociology (Research).
Optional for MSc Political Sociology. Part-time students taking the MSc over two
years may take the course in either the first or second year.

27
Core syllabus: The course covers both quantitative and qualitative research
methods. Special topics include: the implications of epistemological positions;
formulating research problems; the social context of research; ethical aspects of
research; concepts and their measurement; attitude measurement and scaling;
Inference and generalization including probability and non-probability sampling;
Research design, including experimental, quasi-experimental, and small n studies;
Comparative research; Methods of data collection including secondary analysis,
questionnaire design, structured, semi-structured and unstructured interviewing,
focus groups, ethnography and participant observation; Other sources of data for
sociological research; analysis of qualitative data, including computer-assisted
analysis.
Teaching: The course is taught by a mixture of lectures, seminars and workshops. It
normally provides two hours of teaching each week in MT and LT.
Written work: There are two compulsory (assessed) assignments. Additional pieces
of compulsory practical work, which will not contribute towards the assessment, are
undertaken during the year.
Reading list: There is no single textbook that covers the content of the whole
course. Useful textbooks are R H Hoyle, M J Harris & C M Judd, Research Methods
in Social Relations (7th edn); A. Bryman Social Research Methods (2nd edn) D.
Byrne Interpreting Quantitative Data; C. Seale The Quality of Qualitative Research;
A Bryman, Quantity and Quality in Social Research; M Hammersley & P Atkinson,
Ethnography: Principles in Practice.
Assessment: The course is assessed by two methods. (a) Two pieces of
coursework: Each counts 20% of the final mark. (b) A three hour written exam (60%).
The MT coursework is to be handed in to the Sociology Administration Office, S219a,
before 4.30pm on the first Friday of LT. The LT coursework is to be handed in to the
Sociology Administration Office, S219a, before 4.30pm on the first Friday of ST.

SO407 Contemporary Political Sociology: Theories and Research Strategies

Teacher responsible: Dr Robin Archer, S283
Availability: Compulsory for MSc Political Sociology, optional for MSc Sociology, for
MSc Social Research Methods and for interested MSc and graduate students in
Government and other departments and Institutes.
Core syllabus: The course aims to explore the relationship between political power
and social change in modern societies.
Content: The course will examine the interaction between social identities, economic
interests, political institutions, and cultural ideas; especially in societies which are
both democratic and capitalist. It will have two intersecting concerns. First, it will
assess the strengths and weaknesses of some of the main theoretical approaches
that have dominated the study of political sociology. These include functionalist,
rational choice, and institutionalist theories, as well as historical and comparative
approaches. Second, and most importantly, the course will provide a chance to study
some of the major empirical controversies that animate political sociology. Each
week, we will discuss questions like: Why are some social movements more powerful
than others? Are women voters more conservative than men? When does religion
become a force in politics? Why are welfare states more developed in some
industrial countries than others? Why is there no Labor Party in the United States?
And what enables democracy to survive in some countries but not in others?
Teaching: Seminars: Teaching by seminar: SO407 Sessional. Papers will be
presented by participants and, on occasion, by guest speakers. In addition to the
weekly seminar, there will be a number of additional seminars specifically concerned
with research strategies in political sociology. Students should attend the lecture
course SO203 Political Sociology when available.
Written work: Members of the seminar will be required to present a number of
papers during the course of the seminar. There will also be a termly essay in MT and

28
LT.
Reading list: P Evans et al, Bringing the State Back In; H Kitschelt et al, Continuity
and Change in Contemporary Capitalism; J Linz & A Valenzuela, The Failure of
Presidential Democracy, Vol 1; S M Lipset, American Exceptionalism, S Lukes,
Power: A Radical View; D McAdam, Comparative Perspectives on Social
Movements; M Mann, The Sources of Social Power; M Olson, The Logic of
Collective Action; T Skocpol, Protecting Soldiers and Mothers; S Steinmo et al,
Structuring Politics.
Assessment: There is an assessed essay of 3,000 words, three copies to be
submitted to the Sociology Administration Office, Room S219a, no later than 4.30pm
on the first Thursday of ST and representing 30% of the total mark. There is also a
three-hour formal examination in ST based on the full syllabus, representing 70% of
the total mark. Candidates will be required to answer three questions out of twelve.

SO409 Crime and Society: Concepts and Methods

Teacher responsible: Professor Dick Hobbs, S277
Availability: Compulsory for MSc Criminology; optional for MSc Sociology, MSc
Social Policy and Planning, MSc Social Research Methods, MSc Criminal Justice
Policy, MSc European Social Policy and the LLM. Students taking this course will
normally be expected to have a Social Science or Law degree or an appropriate
professional qualification. This course is capped.
Core syllabus: The analysis of deviance, crime and social control.
Content: The course offers students an introduction to concepts and problems in the
sociology of crime, deviance and control; a review of major theories of deviance and
control; empirical examples of deviance and major forms of social control.. Students
are encouraged to examine substantive criminological studies and the theoretical
and methodological concepts that underpin them.
Teaching: Seminars: SO409 10 MT, 10 LT and three ST. There is a course of 20
lectures (SO210) offered in the MT and LT to which MSc students are invited.
Reading list: D Downes & P Rock, Understanding Deviance (2003); S Cohen,
Visions of Social Control (1985); M Maguire, et al (Eds), The Oxford Handbook of
Criminology, 3rd edn (2002).
A more detailed reading list will be provided at the first seminar.
Assessment: Three copies each of two 5,000 word essays. The first to be handed in
to the Sociology Administration Office, S219a, no later than 4.30pm on the first
Friday of LT. The second to be handed in to the Sociology Administration Office,
S219a, no later than 4.30pm on the first Friday of ST.

SO417 Contemporary Russian Society: n/a 2006/7

Key Issues and Developmental Trends
Teacher Responsible: Dr E A Weinberg, S266
Availability: Primarily for MSc Sociology, MSc Russia and Post-Soviet Studies, and
MSc Political Sociology. Other students may take this course as permitted by the
regulations for their degrees.
Core syllabus: Significant social issues will be examined in relation to problems of
industrialisation and social change. While the course draws on a wide range of
contemporary materials, these will be placed within an historical perspective.
Content: Particular attention will be focused on the analysis of: women, the family,
population policy, urban and rural structure, the distribution of power, the planned
economy, the industrial base, social stratification and mobility, the education system,
social problems including crime and juvenile delinquency and religion.
Teaching: The first part of the course comprises seminars at which specified topics
are presented. Individual students’ interests will be catered for in the latter part of the
seminar when papers are chosen by the students themselves, reading material being
discussed individually. There is a sessional undergraduate lecture course (SO202

29
The Social Analysis of Russia and the CIS) which MSc students may attend.
Written work: Students will normally be expected to write seminar papers during
each semester.
Reading list: C Black (Ed), The Transformation of Russian Society; J Pankhurst & M
P Sacks, Contemporary Soviet Society; D Lane, Soviet Economy and Society and
Soviet Society under Perestroika; M McCauley (Ed), Gorbachev and Perestroika, A
Jones et al (Eds), Soviet Social Problems; S White et al, Developments in Soviet and
post-Soviet Politics; A Saikal & W Maley (Eds), Russia in Search of Its Future; M
Buckley, Redefining Russian Society and Polity; E A Weinberg, Sociology in the
Soviet Union and Beyond.
Supplementary reading list: A more detailed list will be distributed in the seminar.
Assessment: There is a conventional three-hour examination in the ST in which
three questions out of twelve must be answered

SO418 Genes and Society

Teacher responsible: Dr C Badcock, S282
Availability: This course is an option for the MSc in Sociology and MSc
Biomedicine, Bioscience and Society.
Core syllabus: The history of genetics and its social impact. Basic principles of
molecular and developmental genetics. The role genetics in modern evolutionary
social science. The issues raised by modern genetics for society and the social
sciences.
Content: Preformationism, Lamarckism, Pangenesis and epigenesis. Spencer and
Social Darwinism. Mendel, Weismann, Morgan and the American geneticists. Single
gene disorders. The eugenics movement. Lysenkoism in the USSR. The
nature/nurture controversy. Twin studies and socialization theory. Sociological holism
and genetic reductionism. The modern synthesis of Mendelian genetics and
Darwinism. DNA and the genetic code. Hamilton’s inequality and the genetics of
social behaviour. The selfish gene model. The sociobiology controversy. Sex
determination, violence and homicide. Sex determination, sex roles, cognitive
differences between the sexes, and the division of labour. Parent-offspring conflict
before and after birth. Genomic imprinting and intragenomic conflict. Genes, memes
and gene-culture co-evolution. Evolutionary psychology and psychodarwinism. DNA,
race and language. Biotechnology, gene therapy, and the human genome project.
Reading list: C Badcock, Evolutionary Psychology, 2000; M Berg & M Singer,
Dealing with Genes: The Language of Heredity, 1992; N G Cooper (Ed), The Human
Genome Project, 1994; R Dawkins, The Selfish Gene, 1989; River Out of Eden,
1995; D Freeman, Margaret Mead and Samoa: The Making and Unmaking of an
Anthropological Myth, 1983; W D Hamilton, Narrow Roads of Gene Land, 1996; A
Edey & D Johanson, Blueprints: Solving the Mystery of Evolution, 1990; D J Kevles &
L E Hood, The Code of codes: scientific and social issues in the human genome
project; D Nelkin & M S Lindee, The DNA Mystique: The Gene as a Cultural Icon; S
Jones, The Language of the Genes: Biology, History and the Evolutionary Future,
1993; In the Blood, 1996; S Jones & B Van Loon, DNA for Beginners, 1993; R
Pollack, Signs of Life: The Language and Meanings of DNA, 1994; S Tomkins,
Heredity and Human Diversity, 1989; R Trivers, Social Evolution, 1985; Intragenomic
Conflict; C Tudge, The Engineer in the Garden; T Wilkie, Perilous Knowledge: The
Human Genome Project and Its Implications, 1993; L Wolpert, The Triumph of the
Embryo; D Young, The Discovery of Evolution.
Teaching: 10 lectures in the first Term, plus 22 seminars in both Terms. Students
are encouraged to attend the lectures for SO215, Evolution and Social Behaviour
Assessment: A three-hour unseen examination at the end of ST.

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SO420 Approaches to Globalisation H
Teacher responsible: Dr Fran Tonkiss, S212
Availability: Available on MSc Sociology and MSc Gender, Development and
Globalisation. Other students may attend subject to numbers, their own degree
regulations and at the discretion of the teacher responsible.
Core syllabus: The course will introduce students to key approaches to globalisation
in sociology and related disciplines and to criticisms of these approaches.
Content: Debating and explaining globalisation; capitalism and globalisation; politics
and globalisation; power and inequality in the global economy; cultural globalisation;
challenges to globalisation.
Teaching: Lecture/seminar (SO420) (two hours) x 10 MT.
Written work: A 2,000 word (formally assessed) written assignment is required.
Reading list: Recommended general texts: D Held & A McGrew (Eds), The Global
Transformations Reader; F Lechner & J Boli (Eds), The Globalization Reader; L
Sklair, Globalization: Capitalism and its Alternatives. A detailed reading list will be
distributed at the beginning of the course.
Assessment: A formal two-hour examination in the ST: two questions from a choice
of six (70%). A written assignment of 2,000 words (30%), three copies to be handed
in to the Sociology Administration Office, S219a, before 4.30pm on the first Friday of
LT.

SO426 Sociological Theory Part I H

Teacher Responsible: Dr Nigel Dodd, S275
Availability: For MSc Culture and Society and MSc Sociology students.
Core syllabus: A review of classical social theory.
Content: The origins and development of classical sociological theory; exploring the
work of Marx, Weber, Simmel and Durkheim through a close reading and
interpretation of primary tests. It is not assumed that students have a basic grounding
in classical social theory, although it is expected that students who register for this
course will be prepared to develop their understanding through primary readings,
and not rely on textbooks.
Teaching: 10 two-hour seminars (SO426) weekly during MT.
Reading list: Relevant books that provide an overview include: A Callinicos, Social
Theory; N Dodd, Social Theory and Modernity; A Giddens, Capitalism and Modern
Social Theory; G Ritzer, Sociological Theory. The reading list for each seminar will
be divided up into essential and additional reading. Students will be asked to read
between 50 and 100 pages of primary text per week. The following is a sample list of
readings: Marx, K: The Communist Manifesto & Capital (sections of vols 1 & 3);
Weber, M: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism & ‘Science as a
Vocation’; Simmel, G: The Philosophy of Money (various sections) & various essays
such as ‘The Metropolis and Mental Life’, ‘The Stranger’, etc.; Durkheim, E: The
Division of Labour in Society & The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (various
sections from each).
Assessment: One two-hour formal examination in the ST, comprising topics agreed
with the students and covered in the seminars. Students must answer two out of six
questions.

SO427 Sociological Theory Part II H

Teacher Responsible: Dr Nigel Dodd, S275
Availability: MSc Sociology
Core syllabus: Contemporary social theory.
Content: An introduction to the historical background, context and output of Walter
Benjamin, Theodor Adorno, Michel Foucault, and Jean Baudrillard, and a close
reading and study of some of their most significant texts.

31
Teaching: 10 two-hour seminars weekly during LT.
Reading list: The following is merely a sample list of some of the texts to be
covered: Benjamin, W: ‘Theses on the philosophy of history’ & The Arcades Project
(Section N); Adorno, T: ‘Theses against Occultism’ & Negative Dialectics (various
sections); Foucault, M: The History of Madness & The Order of Things (various
sections); Baudrillard, J: Symbolic Exchange and Death (mainly chapter 5) & The
Spirit of Terrorism. A number of secondary readings will be recommended, but
students will be strongly discouraged from relying on these.
Assessment: The course examination will be in two parts. The first part will be one
essay of 1,500- 2,000 words (30%), three copies to be submitted to the Sociology
Administration Office, Room S219a, no later than 4.30pm on the first Tuesday of ST.
The second part will be a two-hour unseen examination in ST (70%) in which
candidates will be required to answer two questions selected from a choice of six.

SO430 Economic Sociology H

Teacher responsible: Dr Fran Tonkiss, S212
Availability: For MSc Sociology; also available as an outside option within other
Master's degrees where regulations permit.
Core syllabus: The course draws on critical perspectives in economic sociology and
related disciplines to examine contemporary changes in advanced economies.
Content: Critical approaches to economy and society; economic rationality; social
capital; changing forms of production and work; post-Fordism and the 'cultural
economy'; class, inequality and economic divisions.
Teaching: 10 lectures and seminars during the LT.
Written work: A 2,000 word essay (formally assessed) is required.
Reading list: Recommended general texts: M Granovetter & R Swedberg (Eds), The
Sociology of Economic Life; D Slater & F Tonkiss, Market Society: Markets and
Modern Social Theory; N Smelser & R Swedberg (Eds), The Handbook of Economic
Sociology. A detailed reading list will be provided at the beginning of the course.
Assessment: A two-hour unseen examination (70%) and an essay of 2,000 words
(30%). The essay should be submitted to the Sociology Administration Office, Room
S219a, no later than 4.30pm on the first Wednesday of ST.

SO433 Cultural Theory H

Teacher responsible: Dr Don Slater, S218a
Availability: Available on MSc Sociology, MSc Media and Communications and MSc
Media and Communications (Research). Other students may attend subject to
numbers and their own degree regulations.
Core syllabus: The course aims to provide intellectual foundations for theorizing and
researching cultural forms and institutions within the context of social science
disciplines. It will give students familiarity with major issues in contemporary cultural
theory and its interrelations to social, spatial and media theory.
Content: The course will provide a theoretical foundation for researching cultural
processes and institutions. The course investigates concepts of culture in relation to
core concerns of social theory. This includes both a review of traditions of theorizing
culture and a consideration of analytical frameworks and debates that have
developed in relation to specific social dimensions such as the city, economy,
mediation, ethnicity, gender and technology.
Teaching: Weekly lecture/seminar (10 x two hours) MT.
Written work: All students are expected to submit one piece of non-assessed written
work and prepare seminar presentations.
Reading list: P Bourdieu, Distinction (1984); P du Gay (Ed), Production of Culture,
Cultures of Production (1997); N Couldry, Inside Culture (2000); T Eagleton, The
Idea of Culture (2000); M Featherstone & S Lash (Eds), Spaces of Culture: City-
Nation-World (1999); U Hannerz, Cultural Complexity (1992); D Harvey, The

32
Condition of Postmodernity (1990); P Jackson, M Lowe et al (Eds), Commercial
Cultures: economies, practices, spaces (2000); A McRobbie, In the Culture Society:
Art, Fashion and Popular Music (1999); A J Scott, The Cultural Economy of Cities
(2000); R Sennett, The Fall of Public Man (1977); D R Slater, Consumer Culture and
Modernity, Cambridge (1997); M Smith, Culture: Reinventing the Social Sciences
(2000); J Storey (Ed), Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader (1998); John
Thompson, The Media and Modernity (1995)R Williams, Culture and Society (1958).
Assessment: A formal two-hour examination (70%) and a written assignment of
2,500-3,000 words (30%), three copies to be handed in to the Sociology
Administration Office, S219a, before 4.30pm on the first Wednesday of ST.

SO436 Sociology of Consumption H n/a 2006/7

Teacher responsible:
Availability: Optional course for MSc Sociology and MSc Culture and Society. Also
available to other graduate students where regulations permit.
Core syllabus: The course explores a variety of key theoretical debates that have
contributed to producing the sociology of consumption, and attempts to situate
consumption within modern social thought. We will draw on a number ethnographic
case studies to investigate fundamental social categories that have been closely
interrelated with consumption such as choice, identity, taste and authenticity .
Content: Traditions of theorizing consumption and consumer society; modernity,
commodification and subject-object relations ; the relationship between production
and consumption; taste, identity and subjectivity; ; globalisation, localization and
cross-cultural consumption; case studies.
Teaching: Weekly lecture/seminar LT.
Written work: All students are expected to prepare seminar presentations.
Reading list: P Bourdieu, Distinction (1984); M de Certeau, The practice of everyday
life(1984); Falk & Campbell, The Shopping Experience (1997); M Featherstone,
Consumer Culture and Postmodernism (1991); B, Fine and E Leopold, The World of
Consumption (1993); A Haugerud et al, Commodities and Globalization (2000); P
Jackson et al, Commercial Cultures: economies, practices, spaces (2000); S Lash &
J Urry, Economies of Signs and Space (1994); N Klein, NoLogo (2001); M Lee (Ed),
The Consumer Society Reader (2000); G McCracken, Culture and Consumption
(1988); D Miller, Material Culture and Mass Consumption (1987); D Miller (Ed),
Acknowledging Consumption: A Review of New Studies (1995); D R Slater,
Consumer Culture and Modernity (1997). V. Zelizer, The social meaning of money
(1997)
Assessment: A formal two-hour examination in the ST (70%) and a written
assignment of not more than 1,500-2,000 words (30%), three copies to be handed in
to the Sociology Administration Office, S219a, no later than 4.30pm on the first
Wednesday of ST.

SO438 Sociology of Employment I: Social Relations at Work H n/a 2006/7

Teacher responsible: Dr Patrick McGovern, S276
Availability: For graduate students in the Departments of Industrial Relations and
Sociology and The Interdisciplinary Institute of Management. Students should
preferably have a degree with a sizeable component of Sociology, but any social
science is acceptable; other students will be admitted at the discretion of the course
convenor.
Core syllabus: Theoretical perspectives and empirical analyses of the employment
relationship with a particular emphasis on social relations in the workplace. Labour
market divisions, especially those based on gender.
Content: The employment contract; theoretical perspectives on the employment
relationship; control and consent at work; scientific management and
McDonaldization; informality, work groups and emotional labour; labour market

33
divisions; women in the labour market; occupational segregation; the ’gender gap’ in
pay; discrimination at work.
Teaching: The course consists of 12 two-hour seminars (SO438) and ten lectures
(SO212). The lectures are intended broadly to introduce the relevant material on
each subject while the seminars, with papers presented by students, are intended to
pursue the topic or some specific aspects in more detail. Both take place on a weekly
basis during the MT. There is also a revision seminar in the ST.
Written work: A 1,500-2,000 word essay (formally assessed) is required.
Reading list: There is no recommended textbook. Books of a general nature that
cover substantial parts of the syllabus are: K Grint, The Sociology of Work (3rd edn);
C Tilly & C Tilly, Work Under Capitalism; C Hakim, Key Issues in Women’s Work. A
more comprehensive bibliography will be available to students taking this course.
Assessment: A two-hour unseen examination (70%) and an essay of 1,500-2,000
words (30%). The essay should be submitted to the Sociology Administration Office,
Room S219a, no later than 4.30pm on the first Friday of LT.

SO439 Sociology of Employment II:

Contemporary Management and Globalisation H n/a 2006/7
Teacher responsible: Dr Patrick McGovern, S276
Availability: For graduate students in the Departments of Industrial Relations and
Sociology and the Interdisciplinary Institute of Management. Students should
preferably have taken Sociology of Employment I in the MT. Other students will be
admitted at the discretion of the course convenor.
Core syllabus: Sociological perspectives on changes in the employment
relationship with particular emphasis on contemporary developments in
management, work organisation and globalisation.
Content: Change in the employment relationship; employment in Japan;
contemporary developments in management such as self-managing teams and
management gurus; globalisation and labour; employment practices of multinational
corporations; immigrant workers.
Teaching: The course consists of 12 two-hour seminars (SO439) and 10 lectures
(SO212). The lectures are intended broadly to introduce the relevant material on
each subject while the seminars, with papers presented by students, are intended to
pursue the topic or some specific aspects in more detail. Both take place on a weekly
basis during the LT. There is also a revision seminar in the ST.
Written work: A 1,500-2,000 word essay (formally assessed) is required.
Reading list: There is no recommended textbook. A comprehensive bibliography will
be available to students taking this course.
Assessment: A two-hour unseen examination (70%) and an essay of 1,500-2,000
words (30%). The essay should be submitted to the Sociology Administration Office,
S219a, no later than the first Friday of ST.

SO445 Sociology of ICTs

(Information and Communication Technologies) H n/a 2006/7
Teacher responsible: Don Slater, S218a
Availability: Optional course for MSc Sociology and MSc Culture and Society. Also
available to other graduate students where regulations permit.
Core syllabus: This course examines the construction and assimilation of
information and communication technologies in diverse social contexts, and
addresses the full range of ICTs that make up the communicative ecologies of
specific locales (roads, radios and cassettes as well as internet and mobile phones).
Discussions will draw on sociology of consumption and material culture studies,
science and technology studies and ethnographic approaches to socio-cultural
processes; and will emphasise cross-cultural comparison as well as development
issues.

34
Content: Theoretical approaches to technology, communication and consumption;
comparative ethnographies of communication and technology; globalization and
ICTs; development, poverty and ICTs; information society and new economy.
Teaching: Weekly lecture/seminar in LT.
Written work: All students are expected to submit one piece of non-assessed
written work and prepare seminar presentations.
Reading list: Askew, K. and R. Wilk, (eds.) (2002) The Anthropology of the Media:
A Reader; Castells, M. (1996) The Rise of Network Society; Lievrouw, L. and S.
Livingstone, (eds.) (2002) The Handbook of New Media; Mansell, R. and W. E.
Steinmueller (2000) Mobilizing the Information Society: Strategies for Growth and
Opportunity; Miller, D. and D. Slater (2000) The Internet: An Ethnographic Approach;
Silverstone, R. and E. Hirsch, (eds.) (1992) Consuming Technologies: Media and
Information in Domestic Spaces; Slater, D. and J. Tacchi (2004) Research: ICT
Innovations for Poverty Reduction; Wajcman, J. (2004) TechnoFeminism; Webster,
F. (2003) Theories of the Information Society; Woolgar, S. (2002) Virtual society? :
technology, cyberbole, reality.
Assessment: A formal two-hour unseen examination in the Summer Term (70%). A
written assignment of 1,500-2,000 words (30%, three copies to be handed in to the
Sociology Administration Office, before 4.30pm on the first Friday of ST.

SO446 Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Society

Teachers responsible: Professor Susie Orbach and Professor Renata Salecl
Availability: For MSc Sociology; also available, subject to capacity, as an outside
option within other Masters degrees where regulations permit.
Pre requisites: No specific pre requisites.
Core syllabus: This course provides a theoretically oriented and empirically
informed analysis of the way psychoanalysis understands the changes in subjectivity
in contemporary society. The course will introduce technical psychoanalytic terms
such as projection, dissociation, transference, and countertransference and show
their value in understanding social practices of exclusion in its many manifestations
such as nationalism, ethnicity, religious, sexual and economic life.
Content: Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis; Relational psychoanalysis;
transference and identification; new form of hatreds; perception of the self in late
capitalism; self-mutilation.
Teaching: Ten two-hour seminars on a weekly basis during Michaelmas term.
Written work: A 1,500-2000 word essay (formally assessed) is required as well as a
1,500 formative essay.
Reading list: There is no recommended textbook. The following are some of the
books that will be used in the course. Stephen J. Costello, The Pale Criminal, Karnac
Books 2002; Bruce Fink, A Clinical Introduction to Lacanian Psychoanalysis Chapter
9 Perversion, Harvard University Press 97; Sue Gerhardt, Why Love Matters. How
affection shapes a baby’s brain. Brunner-Routledge 2004; Jacques Lacan, The
Ethics of Psychoanalysis, W.W.Norton 1992; Jacques Lacan, The Four Fundamental
Concepts of Psycho-Analysis, W.W. Norton, 1987; Darian Leader, Why Do Women
Write More Letters than they post Faber 1996; Susie Orbach, The Impossibility of
Sex, p151- 209, Penguin 1999; Renata Salecl, (Per)versions of Love and Hate,
Verso 1998; Renata Salecl, On Anxiety, Routledge, 2004 D.W. Winnicott, The
Maturational Processes and the Facilitating Environment. Hogarth Press 1965
A more comprehensive bibliography will be available to students taking this course.
Assessment: A) a three-hour unseen examination (70% of the total mark) from
which three questions are to be answered; b) an assessed essay of 1,500-2,000
words (30%) to be handed in to the Sociology Administration Office, Room S219a,
before 4.30pm on the first Wednesday of ST.

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SO451 Cities by Design H
Teacher responsible: Professor Robert Tavernor, Y308
Cities by Design tutors: Various
Availability: Compulsory for MSc City Design and Social Science and optional for
MSc Sociology. Other graduate students may attend only with the permission of the
teacher responsible.
Core syllabus: The course examines key issues in contemporary urban design and
architecture, by studying the evolving form of the western city since classical
antiquity and the Renaissance; through the industrialised and post-industrialised
cities, to the contrasting approaches of New Urbanism and tall building this century.
In particular, it provides a critical understanding of the impact of architectural and
urban theory and practice - in specific political and social contexts - on the shape,
structure and design of cities.
Content: The course outlines the idea of the classical western city and its
reinterpretation in Renaissance Italy and England, and its translation to America.
This is contrasted with the reactive technical urban 'surgery' of Nash and Bazalgette
in London, in response to the congestion of the industrialised city. This introductory
overview concludes with Sitte's principles for a humanised townscape. Detailed
studies on Bath, Edinburgh and London provide separate historical narratives on the
relation of urban theory to practice. The second half of the course examines current
planning policy and legislation in contemporary London with a particular focus on The
London Plan. The objective is to understand the principal influences that shape the
urban environment through influential theory and practice. Seminars will centre on
key urban case studies.
Teaching: Teaching consists of ten one-hour lectures and ten one-hour seminars led
by invited speakers in MT.
Reading list: Joseph Rykwert, The Idea of a Town, Cambridge, 1988; Richard
Sennett, Flesh and Stone, London, 2003; Robert Tavernor, Palladio and
Palladianism, London, 1991; Patrick Geddes, Cities in Evolution, London, 1915; Le
Corbusier, The City of Tomorrow and its planning, London, 1929; A Rossi, The
Architecture of the City, Cambridge, 1983; G Cullen, The Concise Townscape,
Oxford, 1971; K Lynch, The Image of the City, Cambridge, 1960; R Rogers et al,
Towards an Urban Renaissance - the report of the Urban Task Force, London, 1999;
The London Plan, GLA, 2004.
Assessment: An illustrated course essay of not more than 5,000 words (50%) on an
approved topic to be submitted at the beginning of the ST. A two-hour seen
examination in the ST (50%).

SO453 Gender and Postcolonial Theory H

Teacher responsible: Dr Suki Ali, S206
Availability: MSc Sociology, MSc Culture and Society, MSc Health, Community and
Development, MSc Human Rights, MSc Gender, MSc Gender, Development and
Globalisation and MSc Political Sociology.
Core syllabus: This course is designed to provide an introduction to some of the
main authors and themes within postcolonial theory with a special focus on the
intersections between gender and postcolonial theories. Both postcolonial and
gender theories offer critiques of modernist conceptions of the subject, foregrounding
issues of power. They also raise important methodological questions for
understanding political, economic and social relations in the postcolonial era. The
sessions will be run in such a way as to enable students to critically engage with the
complex concepts, and sometimes difficult texts of postcolonial theory. Therefore it is
essential that the set texts are read prior to the sessions and students come
prepared to participate and raise questions.
Content: The course focused on in-depth readings and historical and political
contextualisation of key authors such as Edward Said, Frantz Fanon, Gayatri Spivak

36
and Homi Bhabha. We will also engage with particular arenas (case studies) of
importance to the development of postcolonial feminist thought e.g. sexuality.
Teaching: Teaching: 10 x two-hour integrated lectures and seminars.
Reading list: J Alexander & C T Mohanty, Feminist Genealogies, Colonial Legacies,
Democratic Futures, Routledge, New York (1997); Homi K Bhabha, The Location of
Culture, Routledge (1994);; Frantz Fanon, Black Skin/White Masks, Grove Press,
New York (1967); A Loomba, Colonialism/postcolonialism, Routledge (1998); J M
John, Discrepant Dislocations: Feminism, Theory, and Postcolonial Histories,
University of California Press (1996); D Landry & G MacLean (Eds), The Spivak
Reader, Routledge (1995);; A McClintock, Imperial Leather: Race, Gender and
Sexuality in the Colonial Contest, Routledge (1995);; Edward W Said, Orientalism,
Penguin(1987); Achlle Mbembe On the Postcolony. University of California Press,
2001. A detailed Reading List and course overview will be provided in the first week
of term.
Assessment: One 5,000-word assessed essay to be handed in to the Sociology
Administration Office, Room S219a, by 4.30pm on the first Thursday of ST.

SO456 Race, Ethnicity and Difference: Theoretical Perspectives H n/a 2006/7

Teacher responsible: Dr Claire Alexander, S284
Availability: Optional course for MSc Sociology, MSc Culture and Society, MSc
Gender, MSc Human Rights, MSc Gender and Social Policy, MSc Gender,
Development and Globalisation and MSc Political Sociology. Other students may
take this course as permitted by the regulation of their degrees.
Core syllabus: The course provides an introduction to theoretical and contemporary
debates around race, ethnicity, and difference. It explores the main theoretical
perspectives which have been used to analyse racial and ethnic relations and then
considers some of the key theoretical debates in contemporary racial and ethnic
studies.
Content: Race, identity and difference; race and representation; race and class;
race, ethnicity and gender; racial states; multiculturalism; diaspora and hybridity;
mixed race; postcolonial theory=; whiteness.
Teaching: 10 combined lectures/seminars held weekly in MT.
Written work: Each student is expected to produce a paper for class presentation
and an outline of their final essay
Reading list: L Back & J Solomos (Eds), Theories of Race and Racism (Routledge,
2000); M Bulmer & J Solomos (Eds), Racism (OUP, 1999); M Banton, Racial
Theories (CUP, 1998), J Solomos & L Back, Racism and Society (Macmillan, 1996),
R Miles, Racism after Race Relations (Routledge, 1993); M Bulmer & J Solomos
(Eds), Racial and Ethnic Studies Today (Routledge, 1999); H Mirza (Ed), Black
British Feminism (Routledge, 1997); K Owusu (Ed), Black British Cultural Studies
(Routledge, 1999); D T Goldberg, Racist Culture (Blackwell, 1993); M Mac An Ghaill,
Contemporary Racisms and Ethnicities (Open University Press, 1999); P Gilroy,
Between Camps (Allen Lane, 2000); J Donald & A Rattansi (Eds), Race, Culture and
Difference (Sage, 1992); P Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought (Routledge, 1991);
CCCS, The Empire Strikes Back (Hutchinson, 1982); B Hesse (Ed), Un/Settled
Multiculturalisms (Zed, 2000); A Sharma, J Hutnyk & A Sharma (Eds), DisOrienting
Rhythms (Zed, 1996), D T Goldberg (Ed), Multiculturalism: A Critical Reader
(Blackwell, 1994); R Frankenburg, White Women, Race Matters (Routledge 1993); R
Delgado & J Stefancie (Eds), Critical White Studies (Temple University Press, 1997);
F W Twine & J Warren (Eds), Raceing Research, Researching Race (NYU, 2000); I
Chambers & L Curti (Eds), The Postcolonial Question (Routledge, 1996); H Bhabha,
The Location of Culture (Routledge, 1994).
Assessment: A 5,000 word assessed essay, three copies to be handed in to the
Sociology Administration Office, S219a, no later than 4.00pm on the first Friday of
LT.

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SO457 Political Reconciliation H
Teacher Responsible: Dr Claire Moon
Availability: Optional course. All students wishing to take this course must
apply for enrolment to the course convener, Dr Claire Moon, via email
([email protected]) by the end of the first week of the MT. They must state the
MSc programme for which they are registered, their reasons for wishing to
take the course, and their background in the field, if any. Priority is given to
students on the following programmes: MSc Human Rights, MSc Political
Sociology and MSc Sociology, but as this is a high demand course enrolment
cannot be guaranteed. Students from other programmes are welcome to
apply where their degree regulations permit, but can be accommodated only if
space is available.
Core syllabus: The course explores the politics of reconciliation by identifying and
examining its key themes, the practices and institutions in which it is embedded
(namely truth commissions), and the political subjects of reconciliation discourse. It is
an interdisciplinary course that draws upon literature from law, political theory,
sociology, and philosophy amongst others, because any investigation of
reconciliation must be approached from a variety of perspectives in order to
understand and interpret its wider social and political reach, as well as its limitations.
The course introduces students to current research in the field of transitional justice
and draws upon a range of examples from Africa, Latin America and post-communist
Europe.
Content: Topics include a history and definition of reconciliation; retributive and
restorative legal narratives; transitional justice; truth commissions; victims and
perpetrators; trauma and memory; responsibility; truth; amnesty; forgiveness.
Teaching: 10 lectures and 10 seminars in MT.
Reading list: Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of
Evil (Penguin Books, 1977); Priscilla Hayner, Unspeakable Truths: Confronting State
Terror and Atrocity (Routledge, 2001);Michael Humphrey, The Politics of Atrocity and
Reconciliation: From Terror to Trauma (Routledge, 2002); Karl Jaspers, The
Question of German Guilt (Capricorn Books, 1961); Neil Kritz, Transitional Justice:
How Emerging Democracies Reckon with Former Regimes (US Institute of Peace,
1995); Judith Shklar, Legalism: Law, Morals, and Political Trials (Harvard University
Press, 1986); Nicholas Tavuchis & Mea Culpa, A Sociology of Apology and
Reconciliation (Stanford University Press, 1991); Richard Wilson, The Politics of
Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa: Legitimizing the Post-Apartheid State
(Cambridge University Press, 2001).
Assessment: One 3,000 word essay (70% of the overall mark) to be handed in to
the Sociology Administration Office, S219, before 4.30pm on the first Friday of LT
and one two-hour unseen examination (30% of the overall mark) in which candidates
answer two questions out of six.

SO458 Gender and Societies H

Teacher responsible: Dr Suki Ali, S206
Availability: MSc Sociology, MSc Social Research Methods, MSc Gender and
Social Policy, MSc Political Sociology and others where regulations permit.
Core syllabus: Theorisation of gender and its articulation with other kinds of social
difference such as 'race', ethnicity, class and sexualities.
Content: Theoretical debates and contemporary issues; femininities/masculinities;
sexualities; nation and family; work; education; violence; transnational feminism;
politics.
Teaching: 10 Seminars on a weekly basis in MT.
Indicative reading: Narayan, U and Harding, S Decentering the centre: philosophy
for a multicultural, postcolonial and feminist world Bloomington:Indiana University

38
Press 2000; Marshall, B and Witz, A (eds) Engendering the Social: Feminist
Encounters with Sociological Theory. Buckingham: Open University Press. 2004;
Ahmed, S (Differences That Matter: Feminist Theory and Postmodernism.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1999;Nicholoson, L (ed.) The Second
Wave: A Reader in Feminist Theory. London and New York: Routledge. Abelove, et
al, The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader, Routledge, 1993; J Alexander & C T
Mohanty, Feminist Genealogies, Colonial Legacies, Democratic Futures, New York,
Routledge, 1997; Edwards and Wajcman (2005) The Politics of Working Life, Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
A more detailed reading list will be provided at the beginning of the course.
Assessment: One 5,000 word assessed essay, three copies to be handed in to the
Sociology Administration Office, Room S219a, by 4.30pm on the first Thursday of LT.

SO459 Gender, Identity and Difference H

Teacher responsible: Dr Suki Ali, S206
Availability: For all Sociology Masters students as well as those from MSc Social
Research Methods (Sociology), MSc Gender and Social Policy, and others where
regulations permit.
Core syllabus: Theoretical debates about the production of social identities,
subjectivity and difference.
Content: Key concepts from psychoanalysis, post-colonial and post-structuralist
theory; feminist theories of subjectivity; alterity; performativity; cultural theories of
‘race’ and ethnicity; sexualities; kinship; belonging; racial science;
Teaching: 10 Seminars on a weekly basis in LT.
Indicative reading: J Butler, Antigone's claim: kinship between life and death,
Columbia University Press, 2000; R J C Young, Colonial Desire: hybridity in theory,
culture and race, Routledge, 1995; J Lacan, Ecrits, Routledge; E Gross, Antigone's
claim: kinship between life and death; Homi K Bhabha, The Location of Culture,
Routledge, 1994; J Rose & J Juliet Mitchell (Eds), Feminine Sexuality: Jacques
Lacan and the école freudienne Norton; N Zack, Philosophy of science and race,
Routledge,2002; D Haraway, Modest Witness@the Second Millennium: FeMale
Man, Meets Onco Mouse: feminism and technoscience, Routledge; J Carsten, After
Kinship, Cambridge University Press, 2004; K Mercer, Welcome to the jungle: new
positions in black cultural studies, Routledge,1994.
Assessment: One 5,000 word assessed essay, three copies to be handed in to the
Sociology Administration Office, Room S219a, by 4.30pm on the first Thursday of
ST.

SO461 Racial Formations of Modernity H

Teacher responsible: Professor Paul Gilroy
Availability: MSc Sociology, MSc Human Rights, MSc Political Sociology, MSc
Culture and Society. Outside option: (This is mainly for Undergraduates) Available to
students following other MSc programmes subject to numbers, their own degree
regulations and at the discretion of the teacher responsible.
Content: The intellectual core of this course is historical and sociological but we will
also be reading a range of material drawn from a variety of different disciplinary
sources. The underlying approach is comparative in character. Students will be
asked to become familiar with a number of contrasting historical cases and to
examine a wealth of theoretical perspectives that have been applied to the analysis
of races, racisms and raciologies by writers who have often enjoyed more than an
exclusively scholarly relationship to their analyses of race and racism.
Students will become familiar with these debates. They will learn to grasp them
within the contexts provided by a range of historical cases and to apply our
exploration of these issues in a thoughtful, rational and perhaps even a creative
manner.

39
Core syllabus: The course is composed of ten one hour lectures and ten matching
seminars. Students are required:
• to make a presentation to the seminar,
• to circulate their presentation electronically,
• to read the texts set each week,
• to participate fully in the collective life of the class.

The course will explore some of the sociological, political and philosophical debates
that have emerged where the concept of modernity intersects with the formation and
reproduction of racial hierarchy. It will look in particular at articulations of modernity
with colonial power, war, national character and, above all, with the idea of “race”.

Four inter-linked lines of enquiry will be followed:

• We will explore some of the different ways that the subject of modernity has
been imagined and articulated in racialised forms;
• We will see what attributes and experiences have qualified that subject as
properly human and rational. How has it been endowed with or deprived of
rights?
• We will try to understand where its human identity has been recognised as
coming from, both culturally and materially.
• We will explore where cosmopolitan loyalties have emerged in conjunction
with demands to see and act beyond the boundaries of immediate
particularity.

These inquiries will be pursued in the urgent spirit that follows from another timely
desire: the need to find histories of our multi-cultural present. These tasks involve re-
reading some of the "canonical texts" of modern social theory against the grain and
with a number of very specific problems in mind. We will survey the repressed
presence of non-Europeans in these works and try to make sense of the distinctive
forms of knowledge that modern subjects are supposed to produce and affirm.
Written work: One formative essay will be required.
Assessment: Students will be expected to complete the reading assignments each
week, to participate in class discussions and at some point during the term, to make
a presentation to our seminar group. Assessment is by one final essay of 5,000
words.
Teaching: Lectures and seminars:
• Introducton
• Race-talk in the expansion of Europe
• Emergent humanism(s)
• Sovereignty, slavery and property
• Bodies, bones and blood
• Orientalism, alterity and ethncocentrism
• Anthropology and cosmopolitanism
• Capitalism, progress and stagnation
• Colonial wars and imperial laws
• Genocide and racial science
Essential Reading List:
General works:
Stephen Toulmin, Cosmopolis; Ivan Hannaford; Race (Johns Hopkins); George
Fredrickson, Racism: A Short History (Princeton); David Goldberg, The Racial State
(Blackwell)
Part One:
Tzetan Todorov, The Conquest of America; Enrique Dussel, excerpts from The
Invention of America; Humanism and Alterity, “On Cruelty”, “On The Cannibals”, and

40
selections from Meditations and Discourse on Method; Michel Foucault from Order of
Things”; Peter Osbourne “Modernity is a Qualitative not a chronological category”;
Defoe, Locke & Sovereignty, Robinson Crusoe & excerpts from The Second Treatise
On Government; Peter Hulme “Crusoe and Friday” from Colonial Encounters; Londa
Schiebinger, Nature’s Body (Beacon); Peter Hulme “The Hidden Hand of Nature”
from Peter Hulme and Ludmilla Jordanova eds. The Enlightenment and Its Shadows
Routledge, 1989; Leon Poliakov The Aryan Myth [chapter on the anthropology of the
enlightenment].
Part Two:
Montesquieu, Persian Letters; Charles Taylor, The Malaise of Modernity; Kant &
Hegel, “Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Intent”, Anthropology,
Perpetual Peace & selections from The Philosophy of History; Berel Lang, “Genocide
In Kant’s Enlightenment”; Anthony Pagden, “The Savage Decomposed”; Susan
Buck Morss, “Hegel and Haiti” Critical Inquiry Vol. 26, no.4, September 2000, pp.
821-865; Marx & Engels, The Communist Manifesto; Marx Pre-capitalist Modes of
Production (on the Asiatic mode of Production) and some of their newspaper articles
on colonial history; Bipan Chandra “Karl Marx, His theories of Asian Society and
Colonial Rule” in Sociological Theories: race and colonialism ed. M. O’Callaghan
(UNESCO)
Part Three
Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism; Robert Proctor “From Anthropologie
to Rassenkunde in the German Anthropological Tradition” in (ed.) George Stocking
Bones, Bodies, Behaviour; Sven Lindqvist, Exterminate All The Brutes (New Press)
26th October; Enzo Traverso, The Origins of Nazi Violence (New Press) 2nd
November; Olivier Razac, Barbed Wire a Political History; Immanuel Wallerstein,
“The Albatross of Racism” London Review of Books; Emmanuel Eze, Achieving Our
Humanity Routledge, 2001, Chap.1; K. Anthony Appiah, “Race, Culture and Identity:
Misunderstood Connections” from Appiah and Gutman Color Conscious, Princeton
pp. 30-105; Sarah E. Chinn, Technology and The Logic of American Racism
Continuum); Donna Haraway, “Universal Donors In A Vampire Culture: It’s All In The
Family: Biological Kinship Categories in the Twentieth Century United States” from
W. Cronon (ed.) Uncommon Ground Norton,1995, pp.321-366. This essay is also to
be found in Haraway’s own book Modest Witness @ Second Millennium (Routledge);
John Hartigan Jr., Racial Situations (Princeton); Amitai Etzioni, from The
Monochrome Society; Loic Wacquant, “Deadly Symbiosis” Punishment and Society
3,1, Jan 2001; Stanley Cohen, States of Denial (Polity); Zygmunt Bauman, “Tribal
Moralities” from Life In Fragments (Blackwells); William Boelhower “Open Secrets:
African American Testimony and the paradigm of the camp”.
Core readings will be supplemented weekly by a comprehensive combination of
essays, journal articles and online materials.

Mi451 Quantitative Analysis 1: Description and Inference H

Teachers responsible: Dr Paul Mitchell, K308
Availability: Compulsory for MSc Sociology (Research); optional for MSc
Sociology, MSc Political Sociology, MSc Criminology and MSc Criminology.
Core syllabus: An intensive introduction to quantitative data analysis in the social
sciences.
Content: The course is intended for students with no previous experience of
quantitative methods or statistics. It covers the foundations of descriptive statistics
and statistical estimation and inference. At the end of the course students should be
able to carry out univariate and bivariate data analysis and have an appreciation of
multiple regression. The computer classes give ‘hands-on’ training in the application
of statistical techniques to real social science research problems using the SPSS
computer package (no prior knowledge of SPSS is necessary).
Teaching: 10 x 2-hour lectures and 9 x 1-hour computer classes in the MT. Weekly

41
assignments are required.
Reading list: A course pack will be handed out at the beginning of the course. It will
be the core text for the course. A Agresti & B Finlay, Statistical Methods for the
Social Sciences (1997) is recommended as additional background reading.
Assessment: A two-hour open book unseen examination in ST.

Mi452 Quantitative Analysis 2: The Generalized Linear Model H

Teachers responsible: Dr Jonathan Jackson, B812 and Dr Satoshi Kanazawa,
B809
Availability: Compulsory for MSc Sociology (Research). This course is designed to
follow in sequence from Quantitative Analysis I. Students are required to have
completed MI451 or an equivalent level statistics course.
Core syllabus: The course is designed for students with a good working knowledge
of elementary descriptive statistics; sampling distributions; one and two sample tests
for means and proportions; correlation and the least squares regression model with
one or more predictor variables. The course is concerned with deepening the
understanding of the generalized linear model and its application to social science
data. The main topics covered are: least-squares regression; logistic regression;
among others. Class exercises and homework will be carried out using the SPSS
package.
Teaching: 9 x 2-hour lectures and 9 x 1-hour computer classes. Weekly
assignments are required. This course is given twice per Session, starting in the
second week of each of the MT and LT.
Reading list: A Agresti & B Finlay, Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences; M
Lewis-Beck, Applied Regression: An Introduction; J Aldrich & F D Nelson, Linear
Probability, Logit, and Probit Models. A course pack will be provided at the beginning
of the course and additional reading will be recommended.
Assessment: A two-hour open book unseen examination in ST.

Mi456 Special Topics in Quantitative Analysis H

Teacher responsible: Dr Jouni Kuha, B808
Availability:. Students taking Master’s degrees may be admitted, space and
timetabling permitting, and with the approval of their department and the course
teacher. The course is open to PhD students.
Pre requisites: The course will assume a knowledge of standard regression models,
to the level covered in MI452.
Core syllabus: The aim of the course is to introduce students to advanced
quantitative analytic methods frequently used in leading-edge social research.
Content: The content of the course will change from year to year. Possible topics
include advanced models for categorical data (e.g. models for multinomial and
ordinal data), event history analysis, and structural equation modelling. Details of the
content for any one year will be available from the Methodology Institute office.
Teaching: Lectures: 10 LT. Computer classes: 5 two-hour sessions LT.
Written work: One piece of assessed coursework.
Reading list: Readings for this course will vary according to the topics covered each
year. A reading list will be provided at the beginning of the course. Examples of
readings for the topics mentioned above at the level of this course are A Agresti,
Categorical data analysis; Box-Steffensmeier and Jones, Event history modelling;
Kaplan, D., Structural equation modelling.
Assessment: Two-hour written examination in the ST (50%); coursework (50%)
.

42
 Studying
The first section of this part of the handbook provides information about the
academic provisions of the programme—i.e. supervisory and teaching provision.
The next section describes formative work and the assessment system. The
assessment section includes: a mark frame, information on examinations and the
dissertation. The final section includes notes on word processing, public folders, a list
of significant dates in the course and the dissertation cover sheet.

Supervision

During your year at the LSE you will be assigned a personal tutor who will oversee
your progress throughout the session. You should meet your personal tutor at regular
intervals to discuss the progress of your work, as well as any problems of a more
personal nature that may arise. As well as overseeing your general progress, your
personal tutor will help you develop your dissertation topic. However, we also
encourage you, during the course of preparing for your dissertation to approach other
members of staff who may be able to help you with your dissertation.

Personal tutors will, as far as possible, be allocated by the end of the first full week of
the Michaelmas Term. A list of personal tutors and tutees will be prominently
displayed on the Departmental notice board outside S219a during the second week
of the Michaelmas Term. As soon as you know the name of your personal tutor,
please make contact with them and arrange an appointment. It is important to do this
as soon as possible, especially if you are uncertain about the options course that you
wish to take. All staff have allocated office hour/s which are displayed on their door.
However, staff are also happy to arrange appointments for supervision discussions to
be held at other, mutually acceptable, times. You can contact staff via email,
telephone or by leaving a note in their pigeon hole in S219a.

There is no single model for the relationship between you and your MSc personal
tutor. However, the relationship is important when you are preparing your MSc
dissertation. We strongly recommend students start thinking about their dissertation
early in the course and seek assistance in doing so. We hold a dissertation workshop
in the last week of the Michaelmas Term to help prepare you. We ask students to
produce a dissertation title and abstract by the beginning of the Lent Term.

You have the right to expect your personal tutor to be available to see you during
Term-time. However, although your personal tutor may be willing to see you outside
Term-time, you cannot expect this to be the case, especially during the Summer
vacation when you may be working on your dissertation. You should therefore plan
your work so that, if necessary, you are in a position to receive final advice on your
dissertation before the end of the Summer Term. Departmental practice is that your
personal tutor may comment on your early efforts on your dissertation. However, in
the interest of equity between students, you cannot expect your personal tutor to
read, or offer extensive comments on, your final dissertation draft.

Should any problems arise concerning supervision, you should in the first instance
consult the MSc Sociology Programme Tutor.

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 Teaching

Teaching normally begins in the first week of Term. Details of lecture times and
locations are posted on the web at http://www.lse.ac.uk/admin/timetables/ and in the
Public Folders on Outlook. Graduates are primarily taught through classes or
seminars and lectures. The formal courses provide you with guidelines and an
overview, but you must take responsibility for your own learning. You are not
expected to read everything on the reading lists, however, you will be expected to
prepare for all lectures. You must read sufficiently to be able to regularly participate
in seminar discussion.

Accessing Sociology Lectures (Public Folders)

You can find most lecture and class notes on Public Folders. Please take a look at
the link below for instructions how to access this information.

www.ittraining.lse.ac.uk/Documentation/Files/Outlook-Public-Folders.pdf

Evaluation

We want you to get the best out of this course and evaluation is an important
element of this. At key stages during the year we will ask you to complete
(anonymously) course evaluations. The information provided from these is
invaluable to us in terms of developing the course for future years. You do not need
to wait for evaluations however to express your feelings about the course (either
good or bad!) and we will do our best to respond to your comments. (See page 8 for
the different Departmental Committees, and what they are responsible for.)

Course readings

All courses make use of the Course Collection in the Library. This is a collection of
photocopied articles and book chapters which are available for short-term loan
(periods range from one hour to one week, but most are on loan for three days or so)
only to LSE students and staff. Please be aware of the punitive fines which apply
to these books when they are overdue. Additionally on some courses, photocopies
of key readings are placed in the ‘Offprint’ collection (these will have classmarks on
the reading-list beginning with P, followed by four digits). Offprints are available for
loan periods of several hours, and often students will make their own copies of the
offprint. The shortened loan period for these key readings enables a large number of
students to borrow the same items within a short space of time. Many current journal
articles can be accessed online from computers that are within, or connected to the
School’s network. It is worth checking if articles on your course reading lists are
available this way, since printing these is cheap and straightforward. In addition to
the BPLES main collection of books and online articles, and the course collection,
some teachers are utilising Web reading packs, known as 'WebCT'. E-packs are set
up by course teachers prior to the start of the year and they will guide you through
the use of WebCT materials.

‘Formative’ assessment

In most full unit MSc courses, in preparation for the assessed components of the
course (long essays and/or the examination) you will be expected to submit a
minimum of two written papers in the course of the year. You will also be expected

44
to participate in seminar presentations and discussions. These aspects of your
coursework are formative, that is they often do not count towards the final grade. The
course teachers will provide you with feedback usually in the form of written
comments and a mark. This feedback is invaluable in your preparation for the formal
assessments. Below is the general mark frame which illustrates the assessment
criteria that your course teachers are employing. Please refer to the postgraduate
mark frame under ‘Formal’ assessment for the classification criteria.

Formal assessment:
Essays, examinations and the dissertation
In the ‘assessment’ section of each course description above, you will see what the
particular requirements of each course are. Some courses include a long assessed
essay (usually due in Lent Term), while others rely solely on a final examination in
Summer Term. It is worth taking careful note of the forms of assessment employed in
the courses you select and setting out a schedule that suits you and which ensures
that you are able to work to your best ability throughout the year.

Towards the end of the Michaelmas Term you will be allocated your candidate
examination number by the Graduate School Systems section, which organises
examinations. Examination entry forms have to be returned to the Graduate School
by mid-January. Information on dates and location of examinations will be
announced on the LSE webpages by the end of the Lent Term.

No examination results will be available until after the School-wide ratification board,
which takes place some time in November. No results are disclosed before this
examiners’ meeting. Your results will then be made available on LSE For You. An
external (non-LSE) examiner participates in all stages of the examining process,
including vetting examination papers, grading scripts, dissertations and course work
– as is usual in all British universities.

Assessment Criteria

The candidate’s performance shall be assessed across four modules, or module

equivalents comprising of half-units (hereinafter referred to generically as ‘modules’).
Marks for pairs of half-units shall be combined and percentaged as module
equivalents (given the possible maximum of four half-units) by combining the best
two half-unit marks, and then (if relevant) the remaining two. In such calculations
and all others involving compositing to a full module, a result with a trailing fraction of
exactly 0.5 shall be rounded to the whole number immediately above. Trailing
fractions below and above 0.5 should be rounded respectively downward and
upward.

45
Scheme for the award of a Taught Masters Degree for students entering
in or after the academic year 2006/2007:

This scheme should be read in conjunction with the General Regulations for
Candidates, the Regulations for Masters degrees, and the programme regulations for
the Masters degree on which the candidate is registered.

1. Responsibilities of Sub-Boards of Examiners

1.1 The Graduate Studies Sub-Committee shall have the authority to approve
variations to this Scheme, as recommended by Departments.

1.2 Each course shall be the responsibility of a single Sub-Board of Examiners,

which shall include at least one external examiner competent to judge the
candidates concerned. The Sub-Board shall determine the result, in the
form of mark and corresponding grade, for each element of assessment
submitted by any candidate taking the course, irrespective of whether the
candidate concerned is registered on a degree programme within its area
of competence. The Sub-Boards shall, where a candidate is being
assessed for the award of a degree by another Sub-Board, promptly
convey to that Sub-Board the overall result that it has determined, once all
component elements of assessment required for the course have been
marked by internal examiners and, as appropriate, an external examiner.
1.3 Each degree programme shall be the responsibility of a single Sub-Board
of Examiners, which shall include at least one external examiner competent
to judge the candidates concerned. The Sub-Board shall, taking into
account all information properly presented to it and by exercising its
academic judgement, decide if each candidate registered on the
programme has satisfactorily completed all elements of assessment
prescribed for the degree. In each case where the Sub-Board recommends
that an award should be made, it will also determine the overall
classification of the award in accordance with section 6 below.
2. External Examiners

No mark or grade shall be assigned for any course or component element of a

course without the external examiner having been able to approve it, whether or
not s/he attended a meeting of examiners.

3. Mark and Grade for a Course:

3.1 Each candidate shall be given an overall result for each course as follows:

Mark Grade

0 – 39 Bad Fail

40 - 49% Fail

50 - 59% Pass

60 - 69% Merit

70% and over Distinction

46
3.2 The grade of Bad Fail will be used internally to indicate when a fail cannot
be compensated and, therefore, must be re-attempted. It will not appear on
official transcripts. Examiners of papers s

3.3 Examiners of papers shall mark work without reference to medical and/or
extenuating circumstances, which will be considered by the Sub-Board of
Examiners at the meeting where the award of degrees is considered.

4. Eligibility for Award of Degree

4.1 Candidates must have attempted and completed all component elements
of assessment required for the course as set out in the programme
regulations for the Masters degree on which the candidate is registeAn
unauthorised absence in any/all element(s) of assessment does not count
as completing the course, but does count as one of the two attempts
permitted for the course.

4.2 A candidate will not be recommended for the award of a degree if s/he has
failed courses to the value of one or more units, subject to paragraph 5.3.2
or, in the judgement of the examiners, as a direct result of medical and/or
extenuating circumstances.

5. Calculation of the Award of Degree

5.1 The Sub-Board of examiners can designate courses to the value of one
unit as being critical to assessment for a programme and, thereby,
establish that it be given special consideration in the awarding of the
degree: for example, a degree cannot be awarded unless the designated
course(s) has been passed or the award classification cannot be higher
than the result awarded in the designated course(s).1

5.2 The overall classification of an award shall, subject to the penalty rules for
failed courses in section 5.3 below, be calculated as follows:

5.2.1 For a Distinction

(a) marks of a Distinction grade in courses to the value of 3.5 units or

more

(b) Marks of a Distinction grade in courses to the value of 3.0 units and
a mark of Merit grade in a course of 0.5 unit value

(c) marks of a Distinction grade in courses to the value of 2.5 u and

marks of a Merit grade in courses to the value of 1.0 unit

5.2.2 Either a Distinction or a Merit (at the discretion of the Sub-

Board)

(d) marks of a Distinction grade in courses to the value of 3.0 units, but
no marks of a Merit grade in any course

(e) marks of a Distinction grade in courses to the value of 2.5 units and
marks of a Merit grade in a course of 0.5 unit value

47
 (f) Marks of a Distinction grade in courses to the value of 2.0 units and
marks of a Merit grade in courses to the value of 2.0 units

5.2.3. For a Merit:

(g) marks of a Distinction grade in courses to the value of 2.0 units, but
no marks of a Merit grade in any course marks

(h) of a Merit grade (or higher) in courses to units or more to the value
of 2.5 units or more

5.2.4 Either a Merit or a Pass (at the discretion of the Sub-Board)

(i) marks of a Distinction grade in courses to the value of 1.5 units and
a mark of Merit grade in a course of 0.5 unit value

5.2.5 For a pass

(j) marks of at least a Pass grade in all courses.

5.3 The overall classification of award for candidates with a fail mark in
any course(s) shall be calculated as follows:

5.3.1 A fail (but not a bad fail) in a course of 0.5 unit value may, at the
discretion of the Sub-Board, result in a drop in the overall award
classification where a distinction or merit would otherwise have been
awarded.

5.3.2 A fail (but not a bad fail) in a course to the value of 1 unit must be
compensated by a mark of at least 60% in a course(s) to the value
of 1 unit and shall result in a drop in the overall award classification
where a distinction or merit would otherwise have been awarded. A
Department or Institute can, with the approval of the Graduate
Studies Sub-Committee, establish a compensation mark of 55%.1

5.3.3 A bad fail mark in any course of any unit value will result in an
overall fail for the degree

6. Failure to Achieve an Award

6.1 If a candidate has not been awarded a degree, s/he shall normally be
entitled to re-sit the failed courses only (on one occasion) and at the
normal opportunity. Results obtained at re-sit shall bear their normal value.

6.2 If a candidate has passed courses on a re-sit attempt and had met the
requirements for the award of a degree, s/he can only be recommended for
the award of a Pass degree unless, in the judgement of the examiners the
initial failure(s) was at least in part a direct result of medical and/or
extenuating circumstances.

48
 7. Appeals against decisions

Appeals against decisions of Sub-Board of Examiners and assessment offences

will be handled according to School Regulations, as published in the School
Calendar.

8. General Proviso

While the examiners shall have regard to this Scheme, they reserve the right to
recommend to the Graduate School Board of Examiners any departure from it if,
in their judgement, this would be equitable for any individual candidate or any
group of candidates as a direct result of medical and/or extenuating circumstances
extraneous to the normal assessment process applying to that candidate or group
of candidates only.

Footnote: In respect of paragraphs 3.1., 5.1 and 5.3.2, the Department, Institute or
Sub-Board of Examiners shall clearly publish course and programme specific
information in the School Calendar and, where appropriate, in programme
handbooks.

In respect of paragraph 3.1, the mark of 39 is a Bad Fail mark for all courses offered
by the Sociology Department.

Dissertations that are general satisfactory but fall short of the required standard of
presentation may be referred for emendation within one month of the examiners’
meeting. Please note the requirement that in order to pass your whole MSc, you
must pass the dissertation with a mark of at least 50.

Feedback on Assessed Essays

The School recommends that no feedback be given on assessed essays, however, it

does not prevent individual departments from doing so. Within the Sociology
Department, it is left up to individual lecturers to decide whether feedback will be
given. On courses where the grade is based solely on assessed coursework, no
feedback will be given. As the feedback on assessed work is given by candidate
number, thereby maintaining the anonymity of the student, there can be no
discussion with the lecturer about the content of the feedback. This feedback can be
helpful whether you are preparing for another piece of assessed coursework or a sat
exam in that particular course or any other. It is not a custom at the School to supply
formal feedback on examination performance.

Plagiarism Detection

You are required to post a copy of your coursework and dissertation into a specific
WebCT site against which the JISC Plagiarism Detection Service software can be
run. This is in addition to the three hard copies that you will turn into the
department’s administration office. You can take a look at their website at
www.submit.ac.uk to see how it all works. Further details will be provided by the
course convenor.

Please note that the MSc Sociology Examination Board meets only once a year
for the purpose of determining degree results; if you do not submit your
dissertation in time for it to be assessed, you will have to wait until the

49
following year to receive your degree.

Part-time students are required to be examined in two papers at the end of the first
year and in the remaining two at the end of their second year. The dissertation
(which counts as one paper) may be submitted at the end of either year, although
normally it is submitted at the end of the second year.

Below is a general mark frame which illustrates the assessment criteria that your
course teachers are employing.

Postgraduate Mark Frame

Distinction (70 per cent or higher)

This class of pass is awarded when the essay demonstrates clarity of analysis,
engages directly with the question, and attempts an independent and critical
interpretation of the issues raised by it. The essay shows exemplary skill in
presenting a logical and coherent argument and an outstanding breadth and depth of
reading. The essay is presented in a polished and professional manner, and all
citations, footnotes and bibliography are rendered in the proper academic form.
Essays in the upper range of this class (80 per cent and higher) may make an
original academic contribution to the subject under discussions.
Merit (60-60 per cent)
This class of pass is awarded when the essay attempts a systematic analysis of the
issues raised by the question and shows some signs of independent thought. The
essay shows some skill in presenting a clearly reasoned argument, and draws on a
good range of relevant literature. The essay is well-presented and citations, footnotes
and bibliography are rendered in the proper academic form.
Pass (50-59 per cent)
This class of pass is awarded when the essay shows an awareness of the issues
rraised by the question, but relies primarily on description rather than on analysis.
There may be some inconsistencies, irrelevant points, and unsubstantiated claims in
the argument and the essay draws upon a limited range of literature. Presentation
and referencing is adequate but may contain inaccuracies.

Late submission of assessed coursework

The Department has agreed the following guidelines for the submission of
coursework.

i. where a course includes coursework as part of its assessment, all

students must be given clear instructions on what is required and the
deadline for its submission;
ii. if a student believes the s/he has good cause not to meet the deadline
(e.g. illness), s/he should seek a formal extension from the Chair of
the MSc Examination Board. Normally, extensions should be granted
only where there is a good reason backed by supporting evidence
(e.g. a medical certificate);
iii. if a student misses the deadline for submission but believes s/he had
good cause which could not have been anticipated, s/he should first
discuss the matter with the course teacher and seek a formal
extension. Normally, extensions should be granted only where there is
a good reason backed up by supporting evidence (e.g. a medical

50
 certificate);
iv. any extension should be confirmed in writing (or e-mail) to the student;
v. if a student fails to submit by the set deadline (or extended deadline
as appropriate), the following penalties shall normally apply:

• for each working day or part thereof (excluding weekends and

any public holidays) that the submission is overdue by up to
five working days, a deduction of 10 per cent of the mark
awarded to that particular piece of work
• after the submission is overdue by six to nine working days or
part-days (excluding weekends and bank holidays), it will be
marked with a maximum of the lowest passing mark;
• after the submission is overdue by ten or more working days or
part-day (excluding weekends and any public holidays), it shall
be failed and awarded a mark of zero.

vi. Candidates using word-processing equipment during the

preparation of their work are strongly advised to make frequent
back-up copies of their text. Disc, computer or printer failure will
not be regarded as a legitimate excuse for late submission of a
piece of course work.

Submitting your dissertation title and Abstract

and the MSc dissertation Workshop

You must submit a working title and a brief Abstract of your intended dissertation (up
to an A4 page, double-space) by 23 February 2007. This should be handed to the
MSc Sociology Administrator in Room S219a, who will give you a signed receipt.
These Abstracts are the basis for the MSc dissertation Workshop that is
organised in the last week of the Lent Term, normally on the morning of the
Friday. Attendance at this is optional but you are, of course, encouraged to
attend.

The organisation of the workshop is participatory. After a brief introduction that

repeats and elaborates the general expectations concerning the dissertation,
individual Workshop participants make short (i.e., three to five minutes each)
presentations about the status of their dissertation plans and about their proposed
approach to their topic, including describing in a general way any data and evidence
to be used.

There is then an opportunity for everybody to make suggestions and constructive

criticisms about each contribution. All members of staff are invited to attend this
Workshop in order to offer their views on students’ dissertation plans.

The nature of the dissertation

1. Purpose

The dissertation or long essay is an integral part of the course requirements for the
MSc. It is an important opportunity to study, in depth, a topic of special interest to you
and for you to apply knowledge and skills gained on other parts of the MSc course.
Your study should involve the application of one or more of the research approaches
covered in other parts of the MSc programme to a question within the field of
sociology. Whatever your choice, the dissertation should be logically structured, well

51
researched and clearly written. The dissertation accounts for one quarter of the MSc
programme requirements and you should allocate your time and effort accordingly.
You should plan your work in order to ensure that you meet with your tutor within the
Term-time, since sometimes academics are absent during out of Term periods, often
so in the summer period. From the end of the Summer Term, however, you will be
expected to have developed the structure of your dissertation and to start to work
independently; consult the section above on 'Supervision' for a full statement of the
situation.

2. Content and approach

The dissertation is an extended piece of written work that critically appraises

evidence and opinion to reach a conclusion about a sociological question. The key
requirement is that the dissertation should demonstrate a high level of independent
critical ability. You must show your ability to organise your material clearly and
logically and to sustain a reasoned and cogent argument from beginning to end.
Where appropriate you should explain clearly the research method(s) that you have
applied and the reasons for your choice of approach. You should show awareness of
any shortcomings of your study in relation to methods employed and quality or
quantity of the data. Dissertations can take a number of forms. For example:

• a library-based project utilising existing secondary sources

• an empirical investigation using existing data-sets or published data

• a research report based on the collection of primary data, for example, of

survey or ethnographic evidence

Where the project involves the collection of your own data, appropriate credit will be
given. Whatever the nature of your dissertation, it is never appropriate to present
merely an accumulation of disparate and perhaps ill-organised factual material,
without placing this in the context of a body of sociological literature or a sociological
debate, or using it in order to address a sociological question, or applying it to assess
the correctness or otherwise of a recognised sociological theory or set of theories, or
interpreting it with sociological insights. The principal lesson to be drawn from these
admonitions is the importance of using and making specifically sociological insights.
Mere empiricism will not be acceptable.

3. Format and style

Whatever the form of the dissertation, you must demonstrate a thorough knowledge
of the academic and professional literature relevant to the research topic, and a
critical awareness of the contribution of different writers and schools of thought. This
will usually take the form of a literature review presented early in the dissertation.

The dissertation should be no longer than 10,000 words (excluding tables, figures
and bibliography but including footnotes/endnotes). In fairness to those who take
pains to abide by this requirement and to ensure parity of treatment between
candidates, this limit will be strictly enforced. Reports in excess of this may be
penalised or not accepted. Include a note of word-length on the title page or
contents-page of your dissertation. The manuscript should be printed in double or
sesque spacing, in portrait mode using at least 12 point type on A4 paper with a 25-
mm margin left and right, and page numbers. The finished product is to be bound in
some simple pinch-back or similar type of folder with a transparent cover (so that the

52
cover page is visible without opening the dissertation). A copy of this front page can
be found on Sociology’s Public Folders.

When preparing their dissertation, students should bear in mind that great
importance is attached to proper noting, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and
referencing, and they should adopt a consistent set of conventions. Examples of
recommended style are given below.

Footnotes These are a way of saying something extra that amplifies a point which
has been made in the main text but is peripheral to it and would result in the main
text containing distracting extra material. They should be numbered consecutively
within each chapter. You can make them literally footnotes, at the foot of the page,
but just as easily as endnotes at the end of each chapter. Try to avoid very long
notes.

Textual references Unless a dissertation cites many primary sources and/or legal
cases, referencing in the text should be done within parentheses (round brackets)
using the so-called Harvard system of author(s), year of publication and (where
appropriate) page-number(s). These references should be inserted into the text as
close as possible to the relevant point as is consistent with clarity and legibility. The
usages contained in the following various examples should be followed as
appropriate; these cover all major situations and the point being demonstrated is
made explicit where it is not immediately obvious.

• As Dollard (1988) argues, . . . ; Dollard’s (1988) classic study; (Perrineau

1985)

• (Messina 1989, pp. 23-6) – use the minimum number of digits in page-
numbers, except between ‘10’ and ‘19’, ‘110’ and ‘119’, etc.; referencing to
individual chapters according their inclusive page-numbers in the edition
being cited rather than to chapter-numbers is preferred

• (Banton 1987a; 1987b) – two or more references to works by the same

author published in the same year should be distinguished in this way

• (Banton 1983; 1987a) but (Banton 1983, p. 104; Banton 1987a, p. 129) – omit
the author’s surname after the first reference only if he or she is the only one
being cited within a set of parentheses and if only years of publication but not
page-numbers are being used in all instances

• (Banton 1987a; Anthias 1992) – order by ascending year of publication

rather than alphabetically by surname of author, using the latter criterion only
when citing different authored publications from the same year

• (Butler and Stokes 1974; Himmelweit et al. 1981) – works by up to three co-
authors should cite the surnames of all co-authors, while those with four or
more co-authors should cite the surname of the first, followed by ‘et al’.

The corresponding list of References should be typed or printed separately double-

or sesque-spaced at the end of the dissertation beginning on a new page and titled
merely ‘References’. The list should be alphabetical by surname or author or first
co-author and should be in the style of the following examples. It is important to
include, where they exist, part-numbers as well as volume-numbers of cited journals

53
and inclusive page-numbers of material from journals and edited collections. It is also
important to provide any subtitle of a book or an article, as well as the forenames
and/or initials of authors of cited material, whatever was given in the original
reference. You should also take care that only those references cited in the text
appear in the list of References and vice versa. General bibliographies should not
normally be given. Also, avoid citation mania – the tendency to provide citations even
for the most trivial or banal assertions.

ANTHIAS, FLOYA 1992 ‘Connecting “race” and ethnic phenomena’, Sociology, vol.
26, no. 3, pp. 421–38
BANTON, MICHAEL 11983 Racial and Ethnic Competition, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press
____ 1987a Racial Theories, Cambridge: Cambridge University
____ 1987b ‘The beginning and the end of the racial issue in British politics’, Policy
and Politics, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 39-47
BUTLER, DAVID and STOKES, DONALD 1974 Political Change in Britain: the
Evolution of Electoral Choice, 2nd edn, London: Macmillan
AKIN, SIMON and MORRIS, GILLIAN S 1998 Labour Law, 2nd edn, London:
Butterworths
DOLLARD, JOHN 1988 Caste and Class in a Southern Town, 4th edn, Madison, WI:
University of Wisconsin Press [1st edn, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press,
1937]
ENGBERSEN, GODFRIED and van der LEUN, JOANNE 1998 ‘Illegality and
criminality: the differential opportunity structure of undocumented immigrants’, in
Khalid Koser and Helma Lutz (eds), The New Migration in Europe: Social
Constructions and Social Realities, Basingstoke: Macmillan Press Ltd, pp. 199–
223
HIMMELWEIT, HILDE T, et al. 1981 How Voters Decide: A Longitudinal Study of
Political Attitudes and Voting Extending Over Fifteen Years, London: Academic
Press
MESSINA, ANTHONY M 1989 Race and Party Competition in Britain, Oxford:
Clarendon Press
PERRINEAU, PASCAL 1985 ‘Le Front National: un electoral autoritaire’, Revue
Politique et Parlementaire, no. 918, pp. 24–31
SOMBART, WERNER 1976 Why Is There No Socialism in the United States?,
London: Macmillan [first published in German in 1906]
THOMAS, J J R 1985 ‘Rationalization and the status of gender divisions’, Sociology,
vol 19, no. 3, pp. 409–20 IN,
ALVIN, JAMES 1982 ‘Black caricature: the roots of racialism’, in Charles Husband
(ed.), 'Race' in Britain: Continuity and Change, London: Hutchinson, pp. 59–72

Give only the first-named place of publication if more than one are listed on the title-
page of a book. It is now conventional that the names of American towns or cities
(except New York) are followed by the Post-Office-authorised two-letter abbreviation
of the state concerned; e.g., Cambridge, Massachusetts, should be identified as
‘Cambridge, MA’. Publications with up to three co-authors should be referenced as in
the Butler/Stokes example; those with four or more co-authors should be referenced
as in the Himmelweit example.

Internet references Internet references should be given in the text as in the

following examples, normally – though not necessarily in every case – identifying
simultaneously the holder of the website.

‘The website of the Commission for Racial Equality [www.cre.gov.uk] is merely one
source for …….’ However, note: ‘There are several internet sources providing basic

54
information about current legislation on racial discrimination in employment (e.g.,
www.cre.gov.uk/rights) . . .’

Where it is necessary to give textual and Internet references simultaneously, all the
former should be listed first (ordered according to the principles for textural
references given above) and all the latter should be listed second, in alphabetical
order. All individual references of whatever type should be separated by semi-colons.
A demonstrative example follows:

‘There are numerous sources providing information about current legislation on racial
discrimination in employment (e.g., Deakin and Morris 1998, pp. 543-626;
www.cre.gov.uk/rights

Where a referenced website has been located via a link from some other site, it is
usually necessary to identify only the destination site.

All Internet references should also be listed at the end of the article after the textual
References and with the title ‘Internet references’. They should be listed in
alphabetical order of holder of the website, giving the date on which each was
accessed for the information being cited (accurate to the day or, if not feasible, as
close thereto as possible), and website address. If a website has been merely cited
without having accessed it, ‘n.ac.’ (for ‘not accessed’) should be substituted for date
of access. The following examples demonstrate these principles.

Commission for Racial Equality, 27 November 1999, www.cre.gov

Le Monde, 29 November 1999, www.lemonde.fr
University of Surrey, n.ac., www.surrey.ac.uk

4. Submission date and method

Three bound copies the dissertation are to be submitted to Tia Exelby, room S219a,
by 1600 on Wednesday 29th August 2007. On all three copies, the front cover of
your dissertation should be transparent to allow the title and your candidate
examination number (but not your name) to be read without opening. Submitted
copies must be identical in every respect. Finally, to repeat: do not put your name
on your dissertation.

At the time you submit the three copies of your dissertation, you will be asked to
complete and sign a form entitled ‘Dissertation Submission Form & Plagiarism
Statement’. The bottom part of this form is also your receipt. Plagiarism
(unacknowledged borrowing and quotation) is an examination offence and carries
heavy penalties. The form you will be asked to sign states the following:

I declare that, apart from properly referenced quotations, this dissertation is my

own work, and contains no plagiarism; it has not been submitted previously for
any other assessed unit on this or other degree courses.

I have read and understood the School’s rules on assessment offences as stated
in the Graduate/Undergraduate School Calendar.

It is suggested that, for your own records, you prepare and retain a fourth copy of
your dissertation, since the three submitted copies will not be returned to you.

55
5. Failure to meet the dissertation deadline

If you believe that you have good cause why you will not be able to meet the
dissertation submission deadline (e.g., illness or family bereavement), you should
first discuss the matter with the MSc Sociology Programme Tutor and seek a formal
extension from him as Chair of the MSc Examination Board. Extensions are normally
granted only where there is good cause supported, where feasible, by relevant
evidence (e.g., a medical certificate in the case of illness).

If you miss the deadline for submission but believe that you had good cause that
could not have been anticipated, you should discuss the matter with the MSc
Programmes Tutor and seek a formal extension from him. As in the previous case,
extensions are normally granted only where there is good cause supported, where
feasible, by relevant evidence (e.g., a medical certificate in the case of illness).

Any extension given will be communicated to you in writing or by email, indicating the
date of the revised deadline.

If you fail to submit your dissertation by the set deadline (or the extended deadline, if
granted an extension as above), the following marking penalties shall normally apply:

• For each working day or part thereof (excluding weekends and any
public holidays) the submission is overdue, up to a maximum of five such
working days, a deduction of 10 per cent of the marks available (100) for the
dissertation for each day by which the submission is late
• After the submission is overdue by six to nine working days or part-days
(excluding weekends and any public holidays), it shall be marked with a
maximum of the lowest passing mark
• After being overdue by ten or more working days or part-day (excluding
weekends and any public holidays), it shall be failed and awarded a mark of
zero.

Candidates using word-processing equipment during the preparation of their

dissertation are strongly advised to make frequent back-up copies of their text.
Disc, computer or printer failure will not be regarded as a legitimate excuse for
late submission of the dissertation.

Code of Practice for Taught Masters Programmes:

Teaching, Learning and Assessment
Introduction

This Code sets out the general School practices for all taught graduate programmes
(there is a separate code for research degree programmes). It sets out basic
reciprocal obligations and responsibilities of staff and students. It should be read in
conjunction with all other School's policies, regulations, codes of practice and
procedures as set out in the School's Calendar. The expectation is that all
programmes will meet the standards set out in the paragraphs below. They serve to
inform students of what they may reasonably expect and to departments of what they
are expected, at a minimum, to provide. Each department will provide a detailed
statement of its provision under this Code, to be published in departmental
handbooks and on departmental websites. These statements will provide a basis for

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monitoring the academic activity of departments through the Teaching, Learning and
Assessment Committee and its internal reviews of teaching. They will also provide a
basis for monitoring the pastoral provision of departments by the Student Affairs
Committee.

Supervisory Arrangements

1.1 On joining the School each student is allocated a member of the academic staff
in his or her department as a supervisor (known as ‘personal tutor’ in some
departments).

1.2 Each department sets out in the relevant handbook its own detailed guidelines
regarding the arrangements for supervision and the role of the supervisor.
Among those responsibilities that a supervisor is normally expected to carry out
are:

• To provide students with academic guidance and feedback on the

student’s progress and performance and to discuss any academic
problems they may experience.
• To provide pastoral support on non-academic issues and to refer
students, as necessary, to the appropriate support agencies within the
School.
• To implement the provisions outlined in Individual Student Support
Agreements (ISSAs) for students with disabilities, in liaison with the
School’s Disability Office.
• To maintain regular contact with the student on academic and pastoral
issues through direct one-to-one meetings and other means of
communication, such as emails. The number and nature of meetings may
vary between departments and programmes as detailed in the relevant
handbook.
• To agree students’ course choices.
• To inform the Programme Director and School of any students whose
progress is not satisfactory.

1.3 Each supervisor must have a good working knowledge of the structure and
regulations of degree programmes in the department.

1.4 Each supervisor must have a good working knowledge of the various academic
and pastoral support agencies within the School.

1.5 Each supervisor must publish regular periods of time when they are available to
meet with their students.

1.6 If the relationship between a supervisor and student is unsatisfactory, the

department must have in place an appropriate mechanism for arranging a
change of supervisor.

1.7 A Programme Director is appointed for each taught masters programme. The
responsibilities of the Programme Director include:

• Arranging to provide incoming students with detailed information on their

respective programme, including up-to-date information on the availability
of optional courses in the coming session via departmental web pages.

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 • Providing a departmental induction programme for new students,
including information on the selection of options and arrangements for
supervision.
• Monitoring the academic and pastoral care provided by members of his or
her department, including the provision of reasonable adjustments for
students with disabilities.
• Arranging regular termly meetings of a staff-student liaison committee and
the nomination of a representative to the School’s taught postgraduate
students’ consultative forum.
• Providing a direct channel of communication between the School and any
student who is encountering academic or pastoral difficulties.
• Agreeing, where appropriate, a student’s request for course choice
outside the degree regulations.
• Agreeing, where appropriate, a student’s request for a degree transfer.

Teaching

2.1 The detailed requirements of each programme and course are provided in the
on-line Calendar, in the relevant handbook and on departmental web pages.
Students are obliged to complete all course requirements as specified in their
degree regulations

2.2 Teaching at the postgraduate level will be a combination of lectures and

seminars. The teaching method used will largely be determined by the size of
the programme and the nature of the subject covered in a particular
paper/course.

2.3 Lectures are an important part of the teaching and learning experience. The
structure and content of each course are set out in the on-line Course Guide.
Lecturers must ensure that their teaching is consistent with this information.

2.4 Lecturers are responsible for organising the seminar programmes for their
courses and liaising with seminar chairs to ensure that the seminars they are
operly coordinated with their lectures.

2.5 Seminars are the core of teaching and learning experience at the graduate
level. The nature and format of seminars may vary depending on the subject
material of the course and will be detailed in the course syllabus.

2.6 Seminars will normally give students the opportunity to participate in a

discussion of material relevant to the course. The nature and format of these
discussions will vary according to the subject matter of the course.

2.7 Lectures and seminars start at five minutes past the hour and end at five
minutes to the hour. Staff and students should make every effort to start and
finish on time.

2.8 Formative coursework is an essential part of the teaching and learning

experience at the School. It should be introduced at an early stage of a course
and normally before the submission of assessed coursework. Students will
normally be given the opportunity to produce essays, problem sets or other
forms of written work. The number of these pieces of work for each course will
be detailed in the on-line Course Guide.

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2.9 Feedback on formative course work is an essential part of the teaching and
learning experience at the School. Seminar chairs and/or the course lecturer
must mark formative course work and return it with constructive comments to
students normally within two weeks of submission.

2.10 Seminar chairs should inform a student's Programme Director if he or she is not
making satisfactory progress.

2.11 All full-time members of staff and part-time and occasional teachers must have
regular weekly office hours during term-time when they are available to
students to discuss issues relating to the courses they are teaching. These
hours should be displayed outside their offices.

Responsibilities of the Student

3.1 Students are required to attend the School for the full duration of each term.
Students who wish to be away for good reason in term time must first obtain the
consent of their supervisor. Students away through illness must inform their
supervisor and seminar chairs and, where the absence is for more than a
fortnight, the Student Services Centre.

3.2 Students with disabilities which may impact on their studies should contact the
Adviser to Students with Disabilities and/or Dyslexia in good time to negotiate
reasonable adjustments which will be set out in an Individual Student Support
Agreement. They must also agree to the extent to which this information will be
shared within the School. If the School is not informed about a disability in good
time, may not be able to make the appropriate reasonable adjustments.

3.3 Students must maintain regular contact with their supervisor to discuss relevant
academic and pastoral care issues affecting their course of study. These
should include:

• Guidance at the start of the session regarding course choice

• Discussion of academic progress
• Assistance, advice and guidance on the long essay/project/dissertation

3.4 These discussions should take place through direct one-to-one meetings
and other means of communication, such as emails. The number and
nature of meetings may vary between departments and programmes as
detailed in the relevant handbook.

3.5 Students are expected to regularly attend and participate in seminars.

3.6 Students must submit all required course work, whether assessed or non-
assessed, on time. In submitting course work, students must abided with the
School's policy on plagiarism as set out in the School's on-line Calendar.

3.7 Students should ensure the accuracy of the information regarding their course
of study, including their optional papers. All changes in course choices must be
communicated to the Student Services Centre. Failure to report changes will
result in a student being required to take the examination in the course for
which he or she was originally registered.

3.8 Students must communicate changes of term time and home addresses to the

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 Student Services Centre via LSEforYou as soon as they occur.

3.9 Students must pay School fees when due. Failure to pay fees could result in
the withdrawal of Library rights, termination of registration, and/or the
withholding of transcripts and/or degree award certificate.

3.10 Students who decide to interrupt their studies or withdraw from the
School must inform their supervisor, the Programme Director and the
Student Services Centre in writing. Failure to inform the School could
result in a demand for fee payments for the full session.

Examination and Assessment

4.1 Students must complete all elements of assessed work for each course.
Methods of examination and assessment for each course are detailed in the
on-line Course Guide. In submitting course work, students must abided with the
School's policy on plagiarism as set out in the School's on-line Calendar.

4.2 Students must be given clear advance warning of any new or approved
changes to examination format. When the content of a course changes to the
extent that previous examination papers may not be a reliable guide to future
papers, lecturers should warn students and should produce sample questions
for the new parts of the course. When the course is new and, there are no
previous papers, a full sample paper should be produced.

4.3 School policy does not require individual feedback on summative assessment.
Where feedback on summative assessed coursework (but not examinations) is
provided, the nature and extent of such feedback will be detailed in the relevant
handbook.

4.4 Any student who requires special examination arrangements must contact the
Adviser to Students with Disabilities and /or Dyslexia so that reasonable
adjustments can be made. Applications for special exam arrangements should
normally be made no later than 7 weeks before the date of the student’s first
examination.

4.4 Any mitigating circumstances in the period preceding or during the

examinations that may affect a student’s attendance at, or performance in,
examinations must be communicated in writing to the Student Services Centre
with all relevant supporting documentation, such as medical certificates, not
later than 7 days after her/his last exam.

Regulations on assessment offences and plagiarism

Introduction
1. These Regulations apply to the making of allegations of assessment misconduct
against any student, to the subsequent hearing of those allegations and the
actions that may then follow. They apply to all work submitted by a student for
any kind of opinion or assessment by staff of the School or under School
regulations. Allegations of plagiarism against a student that are outside these
Regulations, for example in connection with external publications, shall fall under
the regulations governing student discipline and may also fall under those
governing academic conduct.

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2. In these Regulations the following definitions apply:
script refers to work of any kind submitted for assessment or opinion by staff of
the School or under School regulations, examination board refers to the body of
examiners that initially considers the work of the student, and award means the
result decided by an examination board in any course or programme, howsoever
expressed.

All action under these Regulations, whether by the student or by the School, should
be expeditiously conducted.
3. Assessment is the means by which the standards that students have achieved
are declared to the School and beyond, and which provides students with
detached and impartial feedback on their performance. It is also a significant part
of the process by which the School monitors its own standards of teaching and
student support. It follows that all work presented for assessment must be that of
the student and must be prepared and completed according to regulation and to
the instructions of examination boards.
4. Infringement of these Regulations shall render a student liable to action under
these Regulations and/or under the Regulations for Students.

Assessment offences and plagiarism

5. An assessment offence can take place in connection with any work submitted for
assessment in connection with the requirements of an award. The offence of
plagiarism, however, can take place in any work, whether submitted for
assessment in connection with the requirements for an award or for other
purposes.
6. Plagiarism is defined in regulations 10 and 11. An assessment offence under
these Regulations is any of the following:
6.1 the bringing of books, notes, instruments or other materials however they
are stored or transported, which might be used to the student's advantage
and are not expressly permitted by the examiners under regulation 8, or the
use of such articles in the examination room;
6.2 communication in any form by a student during the examination to another
individual or individuals except where expressly permitted by the
examiners;
6.3 in the examination room, copying or reading from the work of another
student or from another student's books, notes, instruments, computer files
or other materials or aids, unless expressly permitted by the examiners;
6.4 offering an inducement of any kind to an invigilator, examiner or other
person connected with assessment calculated to obtain an advantage not
otherwise obtainable;
6.5 the use of software or of information stored electronically in any form that is
not expressly permitted by the examiners;
6.6 failure to comply with the reasonable request of an invigilator under these
or other regulations and rules, normally made at the end of the
examination;
6.7 any conduct of which the result would be an advantage for the student
obtained by subterfuge or action contrary to regulation or published rules;
6.8 the unauthorised removal from the examination room of stationery or other
materials supplied by the School for examination purposes.

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7. An attempt to plagiarise or to commit an assessment offence is itself an
assessment offence.

8. The examination board shall specify such books, notes, instruments, computer
files or other materials or aids as are permitted to be used in conjunction with
assessment, and any such articles not expressly so specified may not be
brought into, handled or consulted during an examination. Any such articles in
the possession of a student on entry to the examination room must be
deposited immediately with the invigilator.

The student must on request surrender to the invigilator any books, notes,
9. instruments, computer files or other materials or aids introduced into an
examination room that are reasonably believed by the invigilator not to be
permitted under regulation 8. The invigilator shall pass such articles to the
School, which may make copies of such articles and may retain the original
articles and the copies at its absolute discretion.

All work for classes and seminars as well as scripts (which include, for
10. example, examinations, essays, dissertations and any other work, including
computer programs) must be the student's own work. The definition of a
student's own work shall include work produced by collaboration expressly
permitted by the department or institute concerned. Quotations must be placed
properly within quotation marks and must be cited fully and all paraphrased
material must be acknowledged completely. Infringing this requirement,
whether deliberately or not, or the deliberate or accidental passing off of the
work of others as the work of the student is plagiarism.

11. Each department and institute is responsible for instructing students on the
conventions required for the citation and acknowledgement of sources in its
disciplines. The term sources includes not only published primary and
secondary material from any source whatever but also information and opinions
gained directly from other people, including students and tutors. The
responsibility for learning the proper forms of citation lies with the individual
student.

*Reprinted from the School Calendar

Department Prizes

Prizes awarded for best performances in the MSc degrees in the Department of
Sociology.

There is an annual prize of £100 for the best overall performance in the
Department’s Masters programmes by a student registered in the Department of
Sociology. These programmes are: MSc Sociology, MSc Sociology (Research), MSc
Culture & Society, MSc Political Sociology, MSc Criminology, MSc Biomedicine and
MSc Human Rights.

There shall be a further annually awarded prize of £100 for the best dissertation in
the Department’s Masters programmes that has been written by a student registered
in the Department of Sociology. These programmes are: MSc Sociology, MSc
Sociology (Research), MSc Culture & Society, MSc Political Sociology, MSc

62
Criminology, MSc Biomedicine and MSc Human Rights.

In the event of there being more than one performance or dissertation qualifying as
‘best’, each respective best performer shall receive a prize to the full value of £100
and, in terms of defining the winner of the prize, each such award shall be
designated as shared.

All prizes are to be given in the form of book tokens.

Candidates for nomination to be recipients of prizes shall be selected by the relevant

MSc examination board. The Director of Taught Postgraduate Studies shall
determine the final winners of each prize from the nominees of the respective
examination boards. His or her decision of these matters shall normally be made
solely on the basis of the respective marks of each nominee.

Requesting Written References

If you are asking an academic to write a reference for you, you should be aware of
the following guidelines:

• Please five referees at least three weeks before the reference is due. If you
give them less than this, don’t be surprised if they say they cannot do the
reference for you.

• Senior member of staff in particular may well be asked to write scores

of references every Term. Often each reference requires updating or
adaptation to a specific job or scholarship. It’s vastly in students’ own
interest to give the referee enough time to do it justice.

• Never put down someone’s name as a referee without asking them in

advance. Provide all the information needed to write the reference. Make sure
that you have filled out your part of any form you submit. Busy referees go
berserk if they have to chase up students who haven’t filled out forms
correctly. Remember that it’s in your interest to keep your referee happy.

• Sometimes an application requires a reference from the head of Department.

If so, the usual rule is for your tutor to produce a draft which the Convenor will
then sign.

• Once someone agrees to be a referee, he or she has the obligation to do the

job on time. Inevitably, busy people writing scores of references sometimes
forget so gentle reminders are worthwhile. If desperate (or furious) at an
academic’s failure to produce a reference, you can complain to the MSc
coordinator (Chris Husbands) if you are an MSc student or to Dr Don Slater if
you are a research student or Dr Claire Alexander, the Undergraduate
Departmental Tutor.

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 Word-processing:

Notes for Sociology Students

Word-processors
Word-processing in particular and computer skills in general are not only useful to
students, but are valued by employers and always look good as part of a person’s CV.
You would be strongly advised to use a word-processor for your essays and class
presentations, and indeed for all your written work. In the case of the third-year,
10,000-word Sociological Project, presentation is a key issue, and word-processing
essential.

The standard School word-processing package is Microsoft Word. IT Services

provides basic introductory classes for students in Word along with individual user-
support. Detailed notes can be obtained from the IT Services Information Point in the
library.

Attend a course on Word as soon as possible so that you learn the correct
procedures from the beginning.

Packages like Word can seem intimidating and confusing because they contain
many features that most users will either not need at all, or only use rarely. However,
some basic principles and functions must be mastered before you can do any useful
work, and time spent on learning them will save you much trouble later. The most
important and fundamental of these are listed here.

Organize your work. Much time and aggravation can be saved by organizing your
work carefully from the start.

• Always put a label on your CD or floppy disk and remember to write at least
your name and department on it.
• Label all your disks, directories, folders and files clearly.
• Adopt a hierarchic (i.e., branching) or alphanumeric (i.e., 123ABC) listing
system that organizes your work logically.
• Use transparent file names that will not require efforts of memory to recall
what they contain. (Windows file names cannot contain the \/:*?”<>or |
characters.)

Complex work like a thesis should be split into several different files and special care
needs to be taken when naming them. Eg, each file might have a three-part file
name:

1. an alphanumeric place holder which determines that the file is always listed in
the right place (eg, the first chapter in a thesis might be preceded by ‘1’—or
‘01’ if there are going to be 10 or more).
2. an abbreviated but informative name that reveals contents (eg ‘Intro’)
3. a version number that is incremented every time the file is saved with
significant changes and which distinguishes it clearly from earlier, superseded
versions: e.g., 1Intro3.5 would mean that this is the fifth version of the third
major revision of the first, introductory chapter. (Incremental numbering may
not seem important if you simply add material to each new version of a

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 document. However, if you delete or radically alter something and then want
to undo the changes, being able to trace an earlier version that contained the
original material is much easier if you used incremental numbering and kept
copies of earlier, superseded versions.)

Attaching ‘.DOC’ to the end of the file name will ensure that it is recognized as a
document file by Windows operating systems.

It is always easier to organize your work before you begin than after you have
done it.

Save frequently. Only when you save your work is it secure and physically written to
the disk. Otherwise it exists only in a volatile memory that vanishes with power loss,
system failures and other things.

• Always save before you leave your work.

• Always save after a complex change or extensive re-writing.
• Always save before you do something that you think might have unforeseen
or unpredictable effects on your work (eg, an unfamiliar routine).
• Always save your work onto a removable medium (eg CD or memory stick) or
your home (H) space on the network. Work saved on a shared computer hard
disk can be accessed and deleted, either deliberately or inadvertently, by
other users.
• Do NOT keep your only copy of your work on a single disk. Always keep a
copy on your network space (H:)
• Don’t create documents that are too large. As a rough guide, 30-40 pages of
A4 is as large as any document should be. Small documents are easier to
edit and if something goes wrong with a small document less work is lost or
has to be recovered from backups.

In the Save tab under Options in the Tools menu, Word allows you to set various
options for automatically saving and backing up your work automatically, including an
AutoRecover option which it is important to have turned on.

You can never save too often.

Backup frequently. Backup copies are essential. Sooner or later you will lose data,
often through no fault of your own. And although Word allows you to set an automatic
backup facility (Tools Options Save Always create backup copy), it is unwise to
rely on this alone since such automatically saved backups can easily be lost or
inadvertently erased.

• Always backup to a disk that is different from the one your originals are on
(auto-backup probably won’t do this)
• Always keep at least two—and preferably three—backups of important work
in different places. (Three backups guards against a drive being faulty and
erasing your work. The chances are that it will only be after the second
backup is erased that you will realize what is happening! Keeping backups in
different places guards against fire and theft. Free backup on the internet is
also possible, and may be available from your Internet Service Provider)
• Cumulative backup (i.e., adding later backups to earlier ones) preserves
earlier versions of your work that you may wish to go back to later. (You can
do this easily if, rather than keeping a box of blank disks, you use them to
backup sequentially, taking one from the front and replacing it at the back.

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 This way you preserve the order of your backups, and don’t waste disks.
Alternatively, many CD burner applications allow incremental backup—i.e.,
only save changes or new files.)

You can’t backup too often or too much. Never end a work session without
making at least one backup.

AAAbbbccc Use different fonts and formats. Documents look a lot better if you
follow a few basic principles:

• Learn to use italics, bold and CAPITALS as appropriate. (Avoid underlining to

indicate italics, since this is now totally unnecessary.)
• Use serif fonts like this one (Times New Roman) for paragraph text and avoid
sans-serif ones like this one (Arial) for entire documents, EXCEPT FOR
HEADINGS (Arial Narrow) or EMPHASIS (Arial Black).
• Don’t use more than two or three different fonts in the same document.
• Avoid single spacing for long documents.
• Headers can ensure that detached pages of your work can be identified.
• Page numbers are essential in documents of more than three pages.
• In drafts, you can use strikethrough like this or even double strikethrough like
this (Format Font Effects) to indicate something you may wish to delete,
but are not sure about yet. Word also allows you to add comments (Insert
Comment) to annotate a text. You can also add text in different fonts like
this to make it stand out, for example as an addition you are still thinking
about. Text can also be coloured (but on a black-and-white printer the effect
will obviously be lost, and some colours may result in illegible print).
• You can also set Word to track changes, which means that the system keeps
a record of all your editing changes and can display them if required (Tools
Track Changes).
• If you need special characters like ¿, õ, or é, you can find them in the
Character Map accessory in Windows 2000 (Start Programs Accessories
System Tools Character Map). Simply select, copy, and paste into your
document.

Take care printing. Inevitably, you will have to print your work. Much time can be
saved by mastering the process before you try to print something important.

• Always save before you print.

• Look at your document in print preview to check that the pages look as you
want them.
• Check by inspecting a sample page that the output is as you wish it to be and
that the printer is functioning correctly.
• Ensure that the paper size and/or Page Setup are correct and that page
breaks on the paper you are printing on coincide with the breaks in your
document. This is a common reason for documents not printing properly.
• If you are including illustrations, or printing PowerPoint slides, avoid too much
use of black or dark backgrounds. This will use a lot of toner, and slow down
printing.

Never leave a document to print without supervision.

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Don’t panic! Even if you save and backup conscientiously, things can still go wrong
and you can lose valuable work. The following points are worth bearing in mind:

• If something unexpected happens, try the Undo command in the Edit menu
(also often on the menu bar indicated by ) before you do anything else (undo
can only undo the previous key stroke or mouse click).
• In the event of a crash, Word will probably have saved files that you can
access as soon as you re-launch it if you had the AutoRecover feature turned
on (Tools Options Save Save AutoRecover info).
• Take viruses seriously and routinely disinfect your disks, especially if you use
public computer rooms or other people’s disks or machines. This not only
protects you, but protects others who you might infect accidentally. If you
have a home PC you can obtain Anti-Virus Software from the IT Services
Helpdesk or on-line.
• Data is never deleted from a computer disk until it is over-written by later
saves. This means that although your files may appear to be lost—eg,
through unintended deletion—saved versions are still on the disk. The good
news is that file-recovery software exists that can restore saved but deleted
files. The bad news is that it doesn’t always work!

Don’t save any further data to a disk that contains lost or damaged files.

EndNote Plus
Entering reference citations is an essential part of preparing any piece of scholarly
writing, and correct and helpful citation can make a huge difference to readers of your
work. However, providing references is also a vastly time-consuming and often fiddly
chore. EndNote Plus is a specialized piece of reference-management software that is
supported by the IT Services, used in the Library, and installed on standard
workstations throughout the School. It makes referencing quick, easy, and accurate,
and you should use it from the beginning of your studies at LSE. Students can sign up
for courses which are run regularly in the Library.

Attend a course on EndNote as soon as possible. The time devoted to it will be

quickly be repaid once you start to use it.

EndNote is first and foremost a database: in other words, it provides you with ready-
made fields in which to enter all the relevant bibliographical data about a publication
you may wish to cite. And once entered, none of this data need ever be entered
again, either into EndNote, nor into anything you may subsequently write. Such data
is entered into a Library, and you can also include your own notes, quotations, and in
the latest version, even graphics.

The second thing that EndNote does is to automatically format anything you write in
any bibliographical style it supports (hundreds!). You simply copy and paste in
temporary citation markers from your library as you go, and then EndNote will either
format immediately (cite-while-you-write) or whenever you ask it to do so. In other
words, it will enter text citations in the correct style and then add a corresponding

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bibliography at the end. Nothing could be simpler, but here are a few tips:

• Limit yourself to one library, so that any and all additions to your
bibliographical database are stored in the same place. Processing papers is
much easier if you only have one library (if you have more than one, you
need to specify which library EndNote is to use each time, and confusion and
complications can follow if you get it wrong).
• Backup your library: if you lose it entirely, EndNote cannot format anything
you may have written using it in the past. And if your library is large, it will
represent hours of work entering data, so you can’t afford to lose it!
• Use EndNote for efficient note-taking related to particular things you read.
(If you choose Annotated as the output style, all fields are printed in the
bibliography, including your notes.)
• Use Copy Formatted for quick citations of selected references in PowerPoint
slides or handouts (The British Journal of Sociology—the house journal—has
a nice-looking and appropriate citation style which is included in EndNote
styles.)
• Learn EndNote’s basic rules about entering author names, titles, and so on
at the beginning, so as to avoid problems later.
• Download EndNote-compatible references from the Library catalogue and
many other remote databases.

Don’t cite titles you haven’t read: it’s dishonest, and can occasionally make a
complete fool of you (as many students and some academics have learnt to their
cost!).

Accessing Sociology Lectures (Public Folders)

You can find most lecture and class notes on Public Folders. Please take a look at
the link below for instructions how to access this information.

www.ittraining.lse.ac.uk/Documentation/Files/Outlook-Public-Folders.pdf

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