Sociology

BA Sociology (including Foundation Year) prepares you for university study while introducing topics such as sexualities, crime and childhood. Our BA Sociology (including Foundation Year) could be suitable for you if your academic qualifications do not yet meet our entry requirements for a three-year version of our social sciences courses and you want a programme that improves your skills to support your academic performance. You’ll explore what holds societies together, what drives social change, and why individuals, groups, and cultures behave differently.

Through sociological theory, research, and contemporary case studies, you’ll develop the knowledge and analytical skills to understand the forces shaping societies around the world. What holds societies together? Do people cooperate because they have to, or because they want to?

What motivates people to leave one society and build a life in another? Sociology explores these questions and many more, helping you understand how societies function and change. At Essex, we investigate both the connections that bring people together and the divisions that shape social life.

You’ll explore a wide range of contemporary issues, including digital media and society, psychiatry and mental illness, sexualities, crime, childhood, and representations of war through art, film, and personal testimony.