Digital Societies (L4080B)

15 credits, Level 5

Spring teaching

This module critically explores how contemporary societies are being shaped by digital technologies.

It will place the emergence of ‘the digital’ in historical perspective and examine its relationship to a number of historic and contemporary inequalities. It will draw on contemporary sociological theories to explore digital technologies both as ‘socially shaped’ by dominant norms and assumptions, and as technical objects that transform our social world.

Across the module, we will investigate a range of contemporary debates regarding digital infrastructures, social media networks, and algorithms & AI. This will allow us to assess how digital technologies impact upon core sociological issues, especially questions of race, class, and gender.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 22 hours of contact time and about 128 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.