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Postgraduate Study

5 courses offered in the Department of Sociology

There is an organised programme of courses for first-year PhD students, which has three major components:

  1. Basic academic and research skills, designed to provide the essential tools of academic work
  2. The core training programme, which covers issues of social science research in general
  3. Issues of research specific to particular disciplines or areas of interest, and research design, including the integration of methodological, theoretical and substantive issues

 

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This MPhil pathway is designed to give students a basic understanding of major themes and debates in political and economic sociology. There are four core substantive modules on political and economic sociology that students are expected to attend.

Other substantive modules may also have an economic sociology component, and these would complement the core modules well. In addition, all students must attend the module on comparative historical research methods as well as one other methods module to be decided in consultation with their supervisor.

Students have the option of doing one of their coursework essays on a topic taught on any sociology MPhil module (for instance, media, culture, globalisation or reproduction); all of the rest of the coursework essays and the dissertation (based on original research) must relate to the political and economic sociology options.

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The Sociology of Marginality and Exclusion pathway, within the MPhil in Sociology, provides students with the opportunity to study the logics and processes of marginality and exclusion at an advanced level. The programme offers a firm grounding in their theoretical and empirical analysis, which are at the core of understanding the workings of social inequality. The pathway will allow students to explore research-led areas of marginalisation and forms of exclusion in depth, examining their contextual specificity, their transformations over time and their impact on other aspects of social and political life.

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The MPhil in Sociology of Media and Culture pathway provides students with the opportunity to study the nature and transformation of media and cultural forms at an advanced level. The programme gives students a firm grounding in the theoretical and empirical analysis of media and culture and enables them to study particular media and cultural forms in depth, examining their transformations over time and their impact on other aspects of social and political life.

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This MPhil pathway is designed to give students a basic understanding of major themes and debates in the sociology of reproduction and reproductive technology. A two-hour core module, running for four weeks, introduces students to this specialist area, followed by a two-hour methodology module, running also for four weeks. In addition, all students may select additional modules in consultation with their supervisor. Students have the option of doing one of their coursework essays on a topic taught on any sociology MPhil module (for instance, media, culture, globalisation or politics); most of the coursework essays and the dissertation (based on original research) will relate to the sociology of reproduction options.

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1 course also advertised in the Department of Sociology

From the Department of History and Philosophy of Science

The MPhil in Health, Medicine and Society is a full-time one year course run jointly by the Departments of History and Philosophy of Science, Sociology and Social Anthropology. It introduces students from a range of backgrounds to research skills and specialist knowledge relevant to their research interests, and provides them with the opportunity to carry out focused research under close supervision by senior members of the University. Students will develop a critical and well-informed understanding of discourses of history, philosophy, sociology and anthropology of health and medicine, and those intending to go on to doctoral work will learn the skills needed to help them prepare a well-planned and focused PhD proposal.

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Department Members


Dr Brendan Burchell
Head of Department

  • 25 Academic Staff
  • 9 Postdoctoral Researchers
  • 87 Graduate Students
  • 159 Undergraduates

http://www.sociology.cam.ac.uk/

Research Areas