SOCIOL 334 : Youth Sociology

Arts

2020 Semester Two (1205) (15 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Introduces students to literature in the social constructions of youth identity in society by exploring relationships between youth identity, crime, deviance, public policy, media and moral panics, popular culture, class, gender and ethnicity in modern society using 'youth-focused' theoretical and empirical work.

Course Overview

Across time and history youth has been both idealised and feared. On the one hand their innocence, their freshness, their innovation and their creativity has been seen to provide the opportunities for a ‘brave new world’ – they are perceived as the authors of what is to become. It then becomes the responsibility of ‘society’ to provide the conditions for the young to grow and mature into the future adults who will create a new world for the next generation. Yet history also shows us that across time youth has been feared - they are the ‘hooligan’ waiting to disrupt the status quo, the revolutionary who wants to undo the success of past generations, or the instigator of social problems in our communities. As a result youth then needs to be controlled, regulated and educated (or directed) in the ways of the world they inherit, to conform and be assimilated into how things need to be done. It is these embedded tensions that shape our understanding of what it means to be young in late modernity. The study of youth in the life course has a long and illustrious history in sociology. The ‘youth question’ or ‘what is to be done about young people’ has created significant policy interest and intervention and been a contributor to reconfiguring what it means to be young. Policy helps shape the ecological context of growing up through the life course. Youth has been of significant interest across a wide range of academic disciplines especially within the social sciences. The sociology of youth has sought to explain, understand and clarify the conceptual status of ‘youth’ as a part of the life course and its location within-in modern society. Sociological theory and empirical investigation into the ‘meaning of youth’ have both historically and contemporarily had a major role to play in the social sciences. This course will introduce students to these political processes, social practices, and theoretical groundings of what youth means in late modernity. 
Delivery

12 lectures and weekly seminars

Course Requirements

Prerequisite: 60 points passed at Stage II in the BA

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: Disciplinary Knowledge and Practice
Capability 2: Critical Thinking
Capability 3: Solution Seeking
Capability 4: Communication and Engagement
Capability 6: Social and Environmental Responsibilities
Graduate Profile: Bachelor of Arts

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Describe an understanding of the institutional nature of youth and show how it shapes and contextualises our understanding if youth (Capability 1.1, 3.1 and 6.2)
  2. Demonstrate an understanding of the historical nature of the sociological study of youth and how it has been conceptualised (Capability 1.1, 2.3, 3.1 and 6.2)
  3. Critically analyse the competing explanations of youth (Capability 1.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.1 and 6.2)
  4. Identify an understanding of the relationship between youth and social change (Capability 1.2, 2.1, 4.2 and 6.2)
  5. Demonstrate an understanding of the nature and dynamics of social divisions amongst youth (e.g. inequality in relation to class, gender, ethnicity, and geography). (Capability 1.1, 2.1, 2.3, 3.1, 4.2 and 6.2)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Coursework 20% Individual Coursework
Coursework 40% Individual Coursework
Final Exam 40% Individual Examination

Next offered

Semester 2 2020

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.

For this course, you can expect 2 hours of lectures, a 1 hour tutorial, 5 hours of reading and thinking about the content and  50 hours of work on assignments and/or test preparation.

Digital Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against online source material using computerised detection mechanisms.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website at http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Well-being always comes first
We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. There is lots of help out there - for more information, look at this Canvas page (https://canvas.auckland.ac.nz/courses/33894), which has links to various support services in the University and the wider community.

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter (https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html).

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.

Published on 25/06/2020 12:50 p.m.