Unit information: Sexuality and Society in 2026/27

Please note: Programme and unit information may change as the relevant academic field develops. We may also make changes to the structure of programmes and assessments to improve the student experience.

Unit name Sexuality and Society
Unit code SOCI20072
Credit points 20
Level of study I/5
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director Professor. O'Connell Davidson
Open unit status Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)

none

Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)

none

Units you may not take alongside this one

none

School/department School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies
Faculty Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Unit Information

This module introduces sociological debates on sexuality through a focus on the ways in which sexual lives have been and are socially and legally regulated and policed. It aims to familiarise students with some key examples of the legal and social regulation of female sexuality, homosexual sex, ‘interracial’ sex, paedophilia, and pornography, and to encourage them to think critically about the complicated relationships between sexuality on the one hand, and social divisions of gender, race, class, nation and age on the other, that underpin and are reproduced through such regulation.

Your learning on this unit

On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to:

  • Demonstrate understanding of arguments that sexuality is socially and politically constructed, as opposed to given by nature;
  • Gather, assess and interpret evidence on legal and/or social controls over sexuality;
  • Analyse examples of legal or social controls of sexuality and make reasoned arguments in relation to social hierarchies and inequalities of gender, race, age, class or nation;
  • Show recognition of the relevance of sociological knowledge to popular and policy debate on sexuality.

How you will learn

Two hours lecture and one hour seminar per week

How you will be assessed

  • Poster Presentation (25%)
  • 2500 word essay (75%)

Both assessments assess all learning outcomes

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. SOCI20072).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.

The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.