Course Title: Social and Political Theory
Part A: Course Overview
Course Title: Social and Political Theory
Credit Points: 12.00
Terms
Course Code |
Campus |
Career |
School |
Learning Mode |
Teaching Period(s) |
HUSO2075 |
City Campus |
Postgraduate |
330H Social Science & Planning |
Distance / Correspondence or Face-to-Face |
Sem 1 2006 |
HUSO2075 |
City Campus |
Postgraduate |
365H Global, Urban and Social Studies |
Distance / Correspondence or Face-to-Face |
Sem 1 2007, Sem 2 2007, Sem 2 2009, Sem 2 2010, Sem 2 2011, Sem 2 2012 |
HUSO2075 |
City Campus |
Postgraduate |
365H Global, Urban and Social Studies |
Face-to-Face |
Sem 1 2009, Sem 1 2010, Sem 1 2011, Sem 1 2012, Sem 1 2020, Sem 1 2022, Sem 1 2024 |
HUSO2075 |
City Campus |
Postgraduate |
365H Global, Urban and Social Studies |
Face-to-Face or Internet |
Sem 1 2017, Sem 1 2018, Sem 1 2019 |
HUSO2075 |
City Campus |
Postgraduate |
365H Global, Urban and Social Studies |
Internet |
Summer2014, Sem 2 2016, Sem 2 2017, Sem 2 2018 |
Flexible Terms
Course Code |
Campus |
Career |
School |
Learning Mode |
Teaching Period(s) |
HUSO2075 |
City Campus |
Postgraduate |
365H Global, Urban and Social Studies |
Face-to-Face |
PGRDFlex23 (FF) |
Course Coordinator: Professor Rob Watts
Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 8247
Course Coordinator Email: rob.watts@rmit.edu.au
Course Coordinator Location: Building 37. Floor 04. Room 14
Course Coordinator Availability: by appointment
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
None
Course Description
The course offers you an overview of major theoretical and political debates and provides an essential foundation for your studies in the Social Sciences. The course will help you to develop skills and understandings which can be usefully applied to your professional work. The course demonstrates that the best professional practice and social theory develop in various forms of dialogue. As a result, the course places strong emphasis on linking theoretical debates to practical examples and dilemmas.
In addition to a focus on applied theoretical content, the course will introduce you to a range of basic postgraduate writing and research skills and conventions. A range of topics can be covered under the heading ‘Social and Political Theory’ and it is necessary to strike an appropriate balance between breadth and depth. The course engages with a number of key themes, such as: wealth and poverty; crime; health care gender and sexualities; race, racisms and racialised states; contesting democracy; environmental social theory; materialism and over-consumption.
Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development
Upon successful completion of this course you be able to:
- Describe the key issues and questions that contemporary social and political theorists have explored
- Illustrate in written work the capacity to recognise the ways in which diverse theoretical perspectives lead to alternative and competing possibilities for analysis and action
- Use your knowledge of different theoretical perspectives to debate key social political issues and theories relevant to your chosen area of postgraduate study
- Illustrate in written work your skills in the preparation of critical written argument appropriate for studies at postgraduate level
In this course you will also develop the following graduate capabilities:
- Communication
- Critical analysis and conceptual development
- Ethics and values
Overview of Learning Activities
You will be able to engage in a variety of lectures and smaller classes.
Overview of Learning Resources
You will be provided with access to a range of electronic resources via myRMIT/studies.
Overview of Assessment
You will be assessed on the above learning outcomes and capabilities. You will be required to prepare assessment tasks with a total word length or equivalent of 5,000 words. Feedback will be given on all assessment tasks.
- If you have a long term medical condition and/or disability it may be possible to negotiate to vary aspects of the learning or assessment methods. You can contact the program coordinator or the Disability Liaison Unit if you would like to find out more.
- A student charter http://www.rmit.edu.au/about/studentcharter summarises your responsibilities as an RMIT student as well as those of your teachers.
- Your course assessment conforms to RMIT assessment principles, regulations, policies, procedures and instructions which are available for review online: http://www.rmit.edu.au/policies/academic#assessment