| PROGRAMMES |
Presently, the Department is offering an Honours Diploma Programme in Sociology. By the 2005-2006
academic year, the Department will offer a Bachelor of Social Sciences with Honours in Sociology Programme.
4–Year
Honours Diploma Programme (2004-2005) |
The subjects in the department are designed according to the general objective of providing
students with a solid sociological background to understand the structure and dynamics of the
social system at both the macro and micro levels. Consequently they are intellectually prepared
for the pursuit of further studies at post-graduate level, or pursuing careers as sociology
graduates in a wide variety of job positions in the local community. The teaching proceeds along
three lines, namely, the theoretical, methodological, and substantive lines, which are equally
emphasized, and within each, critical analysis and application of existing knowledge are stressed.
The subjects in each line are classified into compulsory and elective courses.Links:
| CHI. 101-2, ENG. 111-2, 211-2 | 20 Credits |
SOC. 101-2, 103, 104, 105, 151-2, 203, 206, 221-2, 301-2, 303, 305, 306
307, 308, 309, 310, 341-2, 371-2, 405, 406, 407, 408, 411-2, 461-2;
PSY. 101-2, 201-2; Comp. 203
SOC. 106, 300, 304, 320.
CHI. 131-2, 251-2, ECON. 101-2, PE 101-2.
Service Courses:
SOC. 107, 150, 360.
| Minimum Requirement for Graduation | 135 Credits |
|
Course |
Title |
Number of Credits |
|
|
|
|
1st Term |
2nd Term |
| CHI.
101-2 |
First
Year Chinese I & II |
4 |
4 |
| COMP.
203 |
Computer Applications
in Social Sciences |
3 |
-
|
| 3 |
3 |
||
| 3 |
3 |
||
| 3 |
3 |
||
| 2 |
2 |
||
| 3 |
3 |
||
|
3 |
|||
| 3 |
-
|
||
| 3 |
(3) |
||
| 3 |
-
|
||
| - |
3 |
||
| 3 |
(3) |
||
| 2 |
2 |
||
| 3 |
-
|
||
| -
|
3 |
||
| 3 |
3 |
||
| 3 |
- |
||
| 3 |
3 |
||
| 3 |
-
|
||
| 3 |
-
|
||
| -
|
3 |
||
| 3 |
-
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| -
|
3 |
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| 3 |
-
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||
| -
|
3 |
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| -
|
3 |
||
| 3 |
3
|
||
| 3 |
(3) |
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| 3 |
-
|
||
| 3 |
3
|
||
| -
|
3
|
||
| 3 |
-
|
||
| -
|
3 |
||
| 3 |
-
|
||
| - |
3 |
||
| 3 |
3 |
||
| 3 |
3 |
||
| |
|
|
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| |
|
|
|
| Electives
|
|
|
|
| CHI.
131-2 |
Elementary
Putonghua I & II |
1 |
1 |
| CHI.
251-2 |
Applied Putonghua I & II |
1 |
1 |
| ECON.
101-2 |
3 |
3 |
|
| P.E.
101-2 |
Physical Education |
2 |
2
|
| SOC. 101-2 Principles of Sociology | 2
Terms; 6 Credits |
This is an extensive introduction to Sociology with the
aim of providing a solid conceptual
and factual background for pursuing more advanced sociological studies. Topics
are arranged
by substantive areas and within each the main theoretical orientation and
findings are
introduced. These include an introduction to different theoretical perspectives,
methods of
inquiry, family, education, work, social stratification, social organization,
deviance, power,
and politics. Students' ability of analyzing issues
of a society in general, and those of the
locality, is required.
| SOC. 103 Descriptive Statistics |
This is a conceptual and practical introduction to Descriptive
Statistics with the aim of enabling
students to present and digest quantitative data properly using relevant substantive
concepts.
Topics include methods of data presentation, measures of location, measures
of dispersion, measures
of statistical association at nominal, ordinal and interval levels, simple
and multiple regression,
correlation and sampling techniques under descriptive context. The understanding
of basic assumptions
and interpretations are emphasized in each topic.
| SOC.
103A Statistics (service course) |
This is a service course for non-sociology students
introducing the principles and practice in statistics.
Topics cover the measures of central tendency, variation, statistical relationships
(in terms of linear
correlation, regression and contingency tables), sampling, theoretical distributions,
point and interval
estimation, statistical significance testing, ANOVA and selected nonparametric
methods. The meanings
of statistics and statistical conclusions are stressed.
| SOC.
104 Inferential Statistics |
This is a further introduction to the elements of statistical
theory of sampling, estimation and testing which
underlie the statistical treatments and reasoning in sociological investigations.
Topics cover common types
of theoretical distributions, the concepts of multivariate and conditional
distributions, distributions of functions
of random variables, sample distributions of mean, variance and other functions
from normal and other populations,
the central limit theorem, point and interval estimation, testing of simple
and composite hypotheses under various
conditions (e.g., equal or unequal variances, large or small sample, normal
or other populations, correlated or
independent samples, etc.), simple ANOVA, and elementary nonparametric methods.
| SOC. 105 Understanding Culture in Modern World |
from a perspective that is based on
comparison, enabling them to gain an understanding of social transformation
in the historical context. This course will introduce students to cultural
variations within Hong Kong, within Asia,
and around the world in the context of rapid globalization. It covers
a variety of topics including ways or forms of
exchange, social inequalities, social construction of gender, politics of
gender and globalization of culture.
How did the process of globalization begin? Is cultural variation about
to be annihilated in the face of cultural
homogenization and "McDonaldization"? Or can we expect that local
cultural differences may intensify?
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to answer the questions
posed above. The course will also
equip students with the tools for understanding the processes of change that
have affected people's lives in Hong
Kong, as well as elsewhere in the world, by putting these changes into a historical
and comparative context.
| SOC. 106 Hong Kong: A Sociological Inquiry |
This
course provides an introduction to Hong Kong by concentrating on different
remarkable features and
interconnected issues in the territory at different arenas from different
sociological perspectives. In particular,
it covers: the colonial legacies, the demographic changes, the dynamics of
governance, the different rounds of
economic restructurings and their impacts upon local livelihood, the subject
matters in urban ecology
and social reproduction, and the consequential contestations among different
social identities. The ultimate
aim of this course is not to present more facts or data but instead promotes
more analytical perspectives
and reflexive insights for the discussion of Hong Kong. Upon the completion
of this course, students should
obtain the intellectual strength: 1) to unmask the common myths in the dominant
discourse of Hong Kong,
2) to grasp the major forces and agents in the formation of Hong Kong, 3)
to comprehend the practices
of people as social products and the complexity of the social world in which
they live, and 4) to examine the
current critical issues in Hong Kong on their own.
| SOC. 107 Understanding Sociology (service course) |
This
course aims to provide a concise introduction to sociology for non-major students
and enables them to
obtain a pertinent conception of human society. This course concentrates upon
the key paradigms in sociology,
essential
institutions of modern society. Special
attention is paid to family, marriage, education,
economy, work, religion, power and politics, deviance and social control,
social stratification and inequality,
race and ethnicity, population, urbanization and modernization process.
Upon the completion of this course,
students should be able: 1) to grasp the essential perspectives, theories
and concepts in Sociology, 2) to
comprehend the relationships between individual and society, 3) to examine
the key issues and major changes in
contemporary society, and 4) to undertake basic sociological research and
analysis on their own.
| SOC. 120 Hong Kong Society (service course) |
This course aims at introducing sociological perspectives
in studying the development of Hong Kong society.
Sociologists spotlight a number of concepts by which social phenomena are
viewed and analyzed in sensible
ways. While enabling students to use these analytical tools, Hong Kong society
becomes an experimental
arena of sociological analysis. Issues, such as ideology, social class, cultural
production and reproduction,
and critical review of Hong Kong studies, are examined through lectures, seminars,
film shows and tour visits.
| SOC.
150 Critical Thinking (service course) |
through studying sentential logic, and the ways to avoid irrational reasoning
through studying informal
fallacies. Students are expected to be able to apply what they learn to the
analysis and critique on the logical
dimension of arguments about substantive issues.
| SOC.
151-2 Thinking and Reasoning |
This is an introduction to logical reasoning and related
issues. It begins with an introduction to linguistic
analysis and proceeds to the nature and techniques of formal reasoning, which
leads to the core part of
elementary symbolic logic (covering such topics as the truth table, logical
relations and derivation, consistency
of premises, indirect proof, and inference in terms of qualifiers), and finally
proceeds to informal fallacies and
the logical dimension of scientific method.
| SOC. 203 Contemporary Social Problems |
This is an inquiry about the causes, consequences and
treatments of different types of social
problems existing in different societies in terms of existing theoretical
perspectives, which include social
pathology, social disorganization, value conflict theory, deviance theory,
labelling theory, and critical
approach. Problem areas include alcohol and drugs, suicide, illegal births,
abortion, marriage, sexism,
the elderly, and crimes. Global and local situations are equally emphasized.
| SOC. 206 Organization Studies |
This is an introduction to the theories of modern organizations,
which covers the nature and types of
organizations, theories of organizations, the structure of organizations,
power and leadership,
decision-making, communication, environment and inter-organizational
relationship, and the
effectiveness of organizations.
| SOC. 221-2 Social Research Methods |
This is a foundation research methods course which examines
the ways to conduct social research and
digest research results. Both principles and techniques are emphasized. Its
coverage includes the logic
of experimental and non-experimental designs, measurement, questionnaire construction,
data collection
(sampling, observation, interviewing and other techniques), data processing,
data description, data elaboration
and interpretation, report writing, plus special topics of the research up
to the interest of the instructor.
Qualitative and quantitative approaches to suitable topics mentioned above
are taught to about the same extent.
| SOC. 300 Law and Society |
This
course provides students with a critical examination at the relationship between
law and society,
and draws from several disciplines including sociology, criminology, anthropology,
and history.
It considers general theories and issues associated with the study of law
in society, and attempts to answer
such questions as: How do laws come into place? Does the law represent society’s
interest or the interests
of particular groups? Why are
some behaviours and actions legal in some cultures and at certain points
in time but illegal in other cultures and at other points of time?
| SOC. 301-2 Modern Sociological Theories |
This course is an extensive survey of the main approaches
in classical and modern sociological theories so
that students can acquire an adequate background for further theoretical and
empirical inquiries. Though
arrangement of materials depends on individual instructors, which may be person-oriented
or subject-oriented,
or a combination of these. It normally starts with the key classical authors,
and then proceeds to the main
orientation of conflict theory, structural-functionalism, interpretative sociology,
and critical sociology, which
cover the essence and key issues in the writings of Marx, Weber, Durkheim,
Parsons, Mead, Blumer, Goffman,
Garfinkel, Schutz, Elias, Gadamer, Habermas and others.
| SOC. 303 Criminology |
This is an introduction to the concept, nature, processes
and theories of crime and its control system in modern
societies. Topics cover the conceptualization and typology of crimes and deviance,
methodology of criminology,
psychological theories, theories of under and over control, theories of culture,
status and opportunity, the criminal
justice system, and the treatment and prevention of crimes.
| SOC. 304 Sociology of Deviance |
This is a study of deviant behaviours
and their social significance. Functional, labelling, and conflict
approaches are taught, in terms of which mental illness, alcoholism, use of
narcotics, suicide, industrial
sabotage, and other types of deviance of current interest are analyzed. World
and local situations are
equally emphasized.
| SOC. 305 Migration, Identities and Globalization |
Migration has been a common characteristic
of human societies throughout history. This course examines
the movement of people, whether forced or voluntary, from one homeland to
another. Not only does the
course shed light on the migration pattern of your great grandparents, but
it also examines the current state
of international migration, which is accelerating in an age of globalization
and rapid flows in capital, labour,
goods and information. The course also considers how the flow of people
occurs in a world which is
characterized by an increasing political, economic, and social interdependence
among nation states. In
addition, it examines how the concepts of homeland, roots and native place
are imagined, and how they
are used for the construction of ethnicity, the negotiation of cultural identity
and national identity. The
way in which migrants are caught between different cultures will be examined.
| SOC. 306 Collective Memory and Social Change |
This course considers collective memory not as a static entity, but rather
as an ongoing process of forgetting,
remembering, encoding and reworking of the past. Several questions will
be raised: How societies collectively
remember their past in order to create a sense of imagined community and shared
values in the present? What
is the relationship between history and memory? How does the state make use
of history to create public
memory? How do people contest the official history endorsed by the nation
state through making collective
memories? This course will also investigate how collective memories are
conceptualized through a variety
of means. Oral histories, narrative, public rituals, customs, museums,
heritage, monuments, and public space
will be analyzed to understand their role in shaping, reshaping, and maintaining
memories within a community.
Students are encouraged to take the case of Hong Kong to examine how people
who had lived through the period
of colonization and decolonization remember their collective past and how
has this collective memory of the past
changed over time.
| SOC. 307 State and Society: Culture in Everyday Life |
or in everyday conversation. Despite our familiarity with these concepts,
in the disciplines of anthropology and
sociology they have become highly contentious terms. We read about the
globalization of culture and how
telecommunications, tourism and migration are radically changing our ideas
about the world and our own identities.
But what does going "global" actually mean? This course seeks to
provide a more inclusive analysis of what these
terms mean and their usefulness in understanding social relations and cultural
practices. A pervasive theme in the
course is the interplay between "culture", society" and
the individual and this is examined through the study of
language, communication and gendered body, particularly the symbolic structures
embedded in understanding
cultures. We will also examine the role of the state in shaping cultures
and societies. This course will investigate
the rise of nationalism, and the political uses of history, ritual and space
in modern nation-states. The course
probes our commonsensical understandings of our lives, to make strange the
familiar in order to reexamine the
assumptions underlying cultural globalization and to interrogate prevailing
critiques of such processes.
| SOC. 308 Kinship and Family |
The study of kinship is a classical topic in social anthropology. A comparative
approach will be adopted here to
examine the meaning and structure of different kinds of kinship organizations.
This course will discuss how kinship
acts as an idiom for economics, politics, and social organizations.
We shall also examine the way in which kinship
ties in the family, lineage and clans are formed and manipulated at different
historical times and in different places.
Different approaches employed by different anthropologists in analysing kinship
structures and practices will be
examined. Students are encouraged to critically evaluate these ideas and apply
them to their own lives and
experiences.
| SOC. 309 Crime and Punishment in Hong Kong |
This course examines the nature of
crime and the administration of criminal justice in Hong Kong.
The course
introduces students to the major components of the system are the police,
courts and correctional agencies and
discusses how their activities are interconnected. Topics covered in the course
include: different types of
crime, popular images of crime and criminals, criminal law and the definition
of crime, the role of the police
in the prevention and control of crime, courts and sentencing, and the effectiveness
of punishment and corrections
in deterring crime.
| SOC. 310 Juvenile Delinquency |
Juvenile
delinquency is frequently seen as a serious problem in Hong Kong society.
This course adopts a
comparative approach in examining the various theoretical explanations of
juvenile delinquency and exploring
the historical changes in the way society responds to delinquent behaviour.
Topics covered in the course
include an overview of the juvenile justice system in Hong Kong, and the law
as it relates to balancing the
rights of children with the rights of society, as well as strategies of punishment,
rehabilitation, and prevention.
| SOC. 320 Sociology of the Family |
This course examines the family as a social
institution and looks at how families change as the society changes.
The family is examined in various cultural contexts but particular attention
is paid to the situation in
Hong Kong and surrounding region.
Topics
covered include dating and courtship, romantic love, mate
selection, the family in transition, gender roles, sexuality, communication,
power and conflict, spouse
abuse, parenthood, and divorce and remarriage.
| SOC. 341-2 Social Stratification |
This is a systematic study of the facts and analytic
concepts of social inequality through teaching a variety of related
theories and empirical researches. Generative theory of class state, ideology,
stratification theories of Marx-Engels,
Weber, Pareto-Mosca, Lenin, Althusser, Dahrendorf and Parsons are examined.
The longstanding controversy between
conflict and functional perspectives and their methodological implications
are reviewed. Special topics for discussion
on the sociology of inequality include: class, status, caste, gender, ethnicity,
wealth, power, schooling, social mobility,
and the overall materials and ideological manifestations of stratification
in life-chance and life-style. While
comparative approach is generally used, special attention is given to social
stratification in Asian societies.
| SOC. 360 Chinese Culture and Society (service course) |
This course provides an overview of Chinese culture and
society. It aims at widening the horizon of our students and
enhancing their cultural competence. It provides students with a good knowledge
of the social life and the history of
thought in traditional China. Discussions concentrate on the major social
changes and the classical thoughts of
China which have been influencing people's life in both traditional and contemporary
times, such as Confucianism,
Taoism, religions, value orientation, etc. A good understanding of China's
cultural heritage is also in line with the
total person education as advocated
by the College.
| SOC. 370 Anthropology |
This is an introductory Anthropology course which examines
its scope, theories, fields, usefulness and the holistic
approach of the subject. It focuses on the nature and development of human
beings and their culture. Examples
from different cultures of the past and the present will be used to illustrate
the similarities and variations among
human societies. The main sub-disciplines of the subject, such as linguistic
anthropology, economic anthropology,
anthropology of religion, political anthropology and anthropology of arts
will be introduced.
| SOC. 371-2 Chinese Culture and Society |
The course provides an intensive examination of the
relation between the main dimensions of Chinese
culture and its socio-economic-political structure through analyzing the roles
and functions of different
socio-economic-political structures of different eras, social and philosophical
thoughts of eminent
intellectuals, religious leaders and their thoughts, and the consequential
manifestations in arts, literature,
education and science, from ancient to modern. The impact of foreign cultures
in ancient times and the
influence of western ideas and its consequential revolutionary change in the
Chinese society are also analyzed.
| SOC. 380 Social Anthropology |
SOC. 405 Social Control |
This course examines some of the basic social
control mechanisms that hold society together. It starts
from the position that we are as much self-controlled as socially controlled.
Discussions of social
control are often linked with the control of deviant and criminal behaviour;
however, control mechanisms
regulate all forms of social behaviour. Formal control mechanisms are obviously
important but equal
attention is paid to such things as ‘taken for granted’ rules, shared values,
custom, and tradition. Key
social control mechanisms are to found in how people perceive and construe
the world around them.
Topics include law and formal rules as control mechanisms, the family and
control, education and
social placement, privacy and control of personal information, personal space
and image management,
and the use of language to control.
SOC. 406 Gender Relations in Hong Kong |
This course aims to provide students with the essential knowledge and concepts in gender studies as well as enhancing their awareness of the critical gender issues in Hong Kong . This course introduces a series of gender issues in Hong Kong through feminist critiques, historical perspective, cultural studies, political science and, above all, sociological analysis. The first half of the course concentrates upon the current gender structures, ideologies and practices from cultural, social, economic, daily and political dimensions. The second half of the course explores the evolution of patriarchal system, the roots of women's subordination, the gender negotiation process and the rise of feminist movements in Hong Kong . Upon the completion of this course, students should obtain the intellectual strength to individually and critically examine: 1) the remarkable gender features at different structural and practical levels, 2) the continuity of Chinese patriarchy under colonial rule, 3) the importance of feminist movements, and 4) the major issues against women today.
| SOC. 407 Seminar in Sociological Theories |
This is a more advanced study tackling selected issues
in sociological theory under the direction of the
instructor. Topics of discussion depend on individual instructors. They normally
cover hermeneutics
and critical theory, micro-macro link, rationalization, modernization, and
modern power. Presentation
and intensive discussion are required.
| SOC. 408 Directed Readings in Sociological Theories |
This is the continuation of Seminar in Sociological
Theories emphasizing students' independent studies in
selected theoretical issues. Students are expected to read and think intensively
in their selected problems,
communicate with the instructor according to a given schedule, and write a
sophisticated and very substantive
paper indicating satisfactory attainment of their work. A reasonable degree
of originality is required.
| SOC. 411-2 Industrial Sociology |
The course is organized around the concept and nature
of work and production process. Topics cover the
analysis of the concept of industrial sociology, capitalist society, work,
labour process and technology,
individual experience of work, organizations, industrial relation, trade unionism
and labour movement,
women and work, informal economy, and industrialism and post-industrialism.
| SOC. 461-2 Sociology of Development |
The course examines major perspectives of social development,
which cover the modernization
school, the dependency school, and the world system school. Special attention
is given to the applicability
of relevant theories in different countries of the Third World. It then proceeds
to more substantive problems
and issues of development such as the influence of traditional values, the
problem of foreign debt, the role
of bureaucratic-authoritarian state and the nature of transitional corporations.
The situations in China, Hong
Kong and Asia are analyzed in detail.
and approved by the Executive Council of the HKSAR Government for launch in September, 2005.
In upgrading our existing diploma programme to degree
level, several key changes have been adopted, viz.:
a.
Curriculum Reform.
In an effort to strengthen students’ broad-based
knowledge and skills in sociology as well as other related disciplines, several
reform measures have been taken:
1/
Elimination of year courses from the proposed degree programme to enable
students to take more courses to broaden their knowledge.
2/
Reduction of the number of Compulsory Sociology Courses.
3/
An increase of the number of Departmental Electives, thus maximising
student choice and flexibility.
4/
An increase of the number of Complementary Electives.
5/
Introduction of Honours Project and Senior Seminars for 4th
year students.
6/ Introduction of new courses to reflect current social trends.
7/ Introduction of a Student Advisory System by assigning a staff tutor to each Year 1 student at the start of the academic year.
8/ Reduction of the minimum credits for graduation from 135 to 124.
b.
Teaching/Learning Methods.
In contrast to the teacher-directed practices of the
diploma programme, the emphasis of the degree programme has shifted from
traditional lectures to more technology enriched, student-centred, interactive
and collaborative modes, including
seminars, tutorials, field visits and group projects, requiring the students to be increasingly involved in independent studies as
they progress from year to year.
Students are encouraged to read primary sources from year two and up, enriching
their knowledge of the subject matter concerned. Furthermore, students are
encouraged to make good use of the ILN (Interactive Learning Network). Such a
reform in teaching/learning methods should result in a more proactive,
interactive and problem-based atmosphere that will benefit both students and
instructors.
c.
Student Assessment.
In the
proposed degree programme continuous assessment accounts for an increasing
percentage of the total grade, from 60% in year 1 to 80% in year 4. There will
be no examination for the Senior Seminar and Honours Project. Continuous assessment exercises enable us to
develop and measure students’ skills in critical analysis, communication,
teamwork, time management, information literacy, ethics that are essential
attributes of graduates of SYC degree programmes.
Students are required to have: