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for a past academic year. Please see the current academic year for up to date information.
| Unit name |
Risk, Danger and Disaster |
| Unit code |
SOCI30098 |
| Credit points |
20 |
| Level of study |
H/6
|
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
|
| Unit director |
Dr. Downer |
| Open unit status |
Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
none
|
| Co-requisites |
none
|
| School/department |
School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies |
| Faculty |
Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Description including Unit Aims
How probable is an accidental nuclear war? Why do men drive more dangerously than women, and 20 year-olds more dangerously than 30 year-olds? How seriously should we take climate change? Do crowds panic in disaster situations? Why do western societies see sex on tv as more ‘corruptive’ than violence? This course will look at all these questions and many more. Risk, danger and disaster are contested ideas, yet they frame everything from our relationship to modernity to our choice of breakfast food — we draw on them to construct our identities just as we invoke them to justify our state security policies. The course reflects this diversity; each week draws on a different literature around the theme of risk, danger and disaster to offer a window into the uncertainties and insecurities of modern life.
Unit aims:
- To introduce students to a critical examination of risk, danger and disaster, and their role in western society and socio-political thought.
- To outline different academic perspectives on the study of risk danger and disaster, and their relationships to each other.
- To enable students to make detailed and appropriate use of these insights to develop an informed perspective on risk danger and disaster and apply it to a case study with contemporary relevance.
Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to:
- critically examine the notions of risk, danger and disaster, and their role in western society and socio-political thought.
- articulate and engage with different academic perspective on the study of risk, danger and disaster and analyze their relationship to each other.
- Demonstrate ability to make detailed and appropriate use of these insights to develop an informed perspective on risk, danger and disaster and apply it to a case study with contemporary relevance.
Teaching Information
The unit will be taught through blended learning methods, including a mix of synchronous and asynchronous teaching activities
Assessment Information
- Formative essay (1500 words) (0%)
- Summative Essay (3000 words) (100%)
Both assessments assess all learning outcomes
Reading and References
- Lupton, D. (1999) Risk (Key Ideas). Routledge; New York.
- Sagan, S. (1993) The limits of Safety: Organizations, Accidents and Nuclear Weapons. Princeton University Press. Princeton.
- Perrow, C. (1999) Normal Accidents: Living with High-Risk Technologies, 2d ed. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press
- Beck, U. (1992) Risk Society London: Towards a New Modernity. Sage.
- Giddens, A. (1990) The Consequences of Modernity. Polity Press. Cambridge, UK.
- Lyng, S. (ed) (2005) Edgework: The Sociology of Risk-Taking. New York: Routledge
