Page 200 - SYU Prospectus

Shue Yan University Prospectus 2021-22

proceed to analyse how various informal control mechanisms, i.e. social customs and practice,
school syllabus and medical professionals influence our daily lives. Towards the end of this
course, we will examine the possibilities of individuals to resist social control.

SOC 406 Selected Topics
1 Term; 3 Credits
This course is designed as a highly flexible option to allow examination and discussion of
special topics not included in the regular degree curriculum. It is an exploration and analysis of
selected topics involved in the study of social life and society with a specific theme indicated
by course title listed in the course schedule for that semester. The course draws upon the rich
and diverse intellectual traditions that constitute the Department of Sociology, which includes
sociology, anthropology, philosophy and liberal studies. The specific content of the course will
vary from year to year, depending on the instructor’s area of expertise and theoretical interests.
In most cases the course will relate to the instructor’s research interests. The overall aim of this
course is to encourage students to critically analyse major issues currently debated in the study
of social life and society.

SOC 409 Collective Memory and Social Change
1 Term; 3 Credits
This course explains collective memory not as a static entity, but rather as an ongoing
process of forgetting, remembering, encoding and reworking of the past. It examines how the
past is recalled and understood via the categories and schemata of our own cultures. It also
investigates how collective memories are conceptualized through a variety of means. Oral
histories, narratives, public rituals, heritage, monuments, public space, and capitalism will be
analysed to understand their role in shaping, reshaping, and maintaining memories within a
community. Students are encouraged to critically examine how Hong Kong people remember
their collective past and how this collective memory has changed over time, and to understand
the dynamics of the heritage scene in Hong Kong.

SOC 410 Sociology of Organizations
1 Term; 3 Credits
This course aims to provide students with a deeper understanding of the nature of
complex organizations in a modernized, industrialized and urbanized setting. In this context,
organizations are viewed as structural entities as well as dynamic processes that exert
immense influences on individuals, groups, institutions and societies in the areas of economic,
political, social and even cultural development.

SOC 412 Contemporary Consumer and the Changing Community
1 Term; 3 Credits
Consumer lifestyles and mass consumption are central features of life in contemporary
societies. Sociologists believe that consumption is more than a simple economic exchange
involving the buying and selling of goods and services. Consumption is a fundamental element

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