Department of Sociology and Criminology

Why Choosing Sociology at UWE?

Teaching Quality

All of our staff are professional sociologists who are committed to providing students with the highest quality of sociological education possible. Our teaching has been rated as 'excellent' by the Higher Education Quality Assurance Agency, ranking us with the most highly rated sociology departments at any UK university. The Sociology Department was congratulated, in particular, for its friendly and supportive staff, the support it gives to students, and the excellent quality of the sociology teaching on offer. All of our students are regarded as important members of the Department. More details about the quality of teaching on offer.

Flexibility and Choice

The Department offers outstanding choices of degree programme and modules one can study. Within the Department we offer a full degree programme in sociology, but we also offer a number of half awards - in sociology and criminology, as well as providing a significant contribution to the faculty field and award in philosophy. All of these half awards can be studied in combination with many other subjects giving students an excellent choice of degree programme.

The Department is committed to providing students with a broad based sociological education. Within this, staff have expertise in many areas of sociological research and teaching and offer a wide range of sociology modules in these areas. There is a choice of over 30 modules taught by Department members, ranging from modules in, for example, sexuality, through race, gender, psychoanalysis, social psychology, anthropology, criminology, to religion and magic.

Study Abroad

Students are encouraged to study abroad during their time in the Department. During the second year of study, students can deepen their sociological understanding of different societies by reading sociology in a European or North American university. 

Employment

The very flexibility of a sociological education is an important asset to our graduates. Sociology graduates are increasingly valued by employers for their research and IT skills, their literacy and numeracy, and incisive understanding of individuals, social institutions and processes. We are very proud of our graduates and maintain close links with many of them. In recent years our graduates have pursued careers in research, information work, education, social work, charity work, and the service sector, whilst a number have gone to become professional sociologists and educators themselves.

Further Study

Many of our graduates go on to study on the various higher taught and research degrees available within the Department of Sociology and Criminology. An undergraduate sociology degree at UWE provides students with an excellent foundation for further study and academic research.

Research

As well as being committed teachers, our staff are also committed researchers. Our improving score in the periodic Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) sociological research puts us up there with sociology departments in the best new universities in the UK . Our commitment to conducting cutting edge sociological research, coupled with our links to university-wide research centres, such as the Centre for Psychosocial Studies (CPSS), mean that much of the research conducted in the Department is of international significance. All of this research feeds back into our teaching meaning that students directly benefit from the most up to date and innovative sociological thinking.