Understanding Social Change - Revised

Description

Understanding Social Change is the last in a series of four courses that will give you an understanding of how society changes through social movements and how these changes are researched.

You will learn about the role of social movements in a changing society, and why and how these movements form and evolve over time. You will learn about crowds and collective behaviour along with the emerging norms in a society. You will learn about how sociological research is carried out using scientific methods and the different methods used, such as surveys and field research as well as ethical considerations that need to be considered when doing research.

The course also reviews key social areas, such as aging, media, technology and deviance. You will learn how sociology defines deviance or non-conformity and how it differs from crime. For example, Rosa Parks violated social norms when she refused to move to the "black section" of a bus, yet her "deviant behavior" advanced civil rights for all African Americans. You will also look at how crime is categorized and the different areas of the criminal justice system.

The course then reviews how new technologies, particularly in the area of the media, impact societies globally and the divide between those who have early access to new technology and those who don't. You will also study the effect new media, television and advertising have on social homogenization and social fragmentation. As the role of the elderly in society changes, you will learn how this impacts on their lives through the need to work longer, and by being disenfranchised and sometimes abused. The course reviews how society will need to plan for and fund more resources in the future to support a growing elderly population.

This course will be of great interest to professionals in areas as diverse as medicine, politics, law, urban organization and marketing, and anybody who would like to know more about how cultures and societies evolve and change.