Bachelor
2022/2023
Contemporary Sociology in Global Age 2
Type:
Elective course (International Programme in Economics and Finance)
Area of studies:
Economics
Delivered by:
International College of Economics and Finance
When:
2 year, 3, 4 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Open to:
students of one campus
Instructors:
Elena Danilova
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
3
Contact hours:
52
Course Syllabus
Abstract
Students are supposed to be familiar with World Intellectual History or History of Western Philosophy, and English for Academic Writing. Contemporary Sociology in a Global Age 1 is also a pre-requisite for this course.
This is a course that will introduce you to sociological ways of analysing
the rapidly changing social world of the 21st century. It covers different areas that today's sociologists focus their research on.
Sociology is the study of society. But what is sociology? In which way sociological thinking is different from economic explanations? Whereas economists focus on costs and benefits, sociologists are interested in the impact of informal social norms, networks, culture, ideology, power and the like on human behaviour. For example, traditional economic analysis takes the atomistic individual as its starting point, sociology generally begins with groups, or whole societies, which it views as existing independently of and partially constituting the individual. When economic sociologists do focus on individuals, it is generally to examine the ways in which their interests, beliefs, and motivations to act are mutually shaped through the interactions between them. This focus on economic action as social—that is, as oriented toward other people—allows economic sociologists to consider power, culture, organizations, and institutions as being important factors which shapes economic behaviour. During the course students are introduced to sociological explanations of human behaviour as an alternative way of explanation.