Combined Honours in Social Sciences

If you are curious about the big issues that shape our society, this course may be for you. Taking a research-led approach, Combined Honours in Social Sciences explores systems, institutions, cultures and behaviours that shape the lives of people across the world. 

A multidisciplinary qualification that sits outside of traditional boundaries, this bespoke, academically ambitious course offers exceptional flexibility. 

You can choose to focus on two subjects or spread your learning across three or four to suit your individual interests, strengths and career plans. You can also apply to add a placement year or year abroad to your degree, increasing the course from three years to four.

Learning from academics working at the forefront of their specialisms, our students graduate feeling confident, intellectually engaged and well prepared for employment or further study. As a graduate you will be well placed to take up a career in fields as diverse as teaching, journalism, social work, in financial services or the charity sector.

In the Social Sciences you can choose from:

• Anthropology
• Archaeology
• Economics
• Education
• Geography
• Management
• Politics and International Relations
• Sociology and Criminology
• Sport

Up to half of your modules can be chosen from subjects in the Arts and Humanities (subject to timetable compatibility and entry requirements):

• Classics and Ancient History
• English Literature 
• History
• Music 
• Philosophy 
• Theology and Religious Studies
• Visual Arts
• Languages, currently Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish

The degree culminates in a dissertation on a relevant topic which draws together the skills developed throughout the course.

Years 1 and 2

The first two years follow a similar structure. In each year you will study 120 credits, chosen from a minimum of two and a maximum of four subjects.

Year 3 (Year 4 if undertaking a placement or year abroad)

In your final year, you will complete a dissertation in one of your subjects, alongside your remaining credits from a total of two or three subjects.

The availability of modules varies from year to year. Below are examples of the possible areas you may cover within the subject.

Social Sciences subjects

Anthropology includes cultural anthropology and physical anthropology, and a range of modules concerned with material culture, the physical and social evolution of humans, and topics such as medical anthropology and development anthropology.

Archaeology focuses on particular periods and places, including prehistoric archaeology, Roman archaeology, mediaeval and post-mediaeval archaeology, and the archaeology of Britain, Europe, Egypt, India and the Near East, as well as study of the employment of scientific methods in archaeology.

Management includes modules in entrepreneurship, management and governance, and some students choose to study additional modules in business management and marketing.

Economics includesmicroeconomics, macroeconomics and topics such as the history of economic thought, environmental economics, development economics, monetary economics and the economics of social policy.

Education includes central issues in school and higher education involving the study of the historical, philosophical, psychological, sociological and political dimensions of educational theory and practice, and the development of the social sciences in the modern and postmodern periods.

Geography includes human geography and a range of modules concerned with geographical theory and methods as well as special topics in urban transformation, environmental change, development, and hazard and risk.

Politics and International Relations includes politics in Europe, the USA, the Middle East and the Far East, as well as the history of political thought and international relations.

Sociology includes theories and methods, social structures, social policy, social exclusion, and the sociology of health, the city, and popular music.

Criminology includes theories and methods, crime and deviance, policing, sociology of punishment and the criminal justice system.

Sport includes modules on the sociology of sport and on sport and social policy.

Arts and Humanities subjects

Classics and Ancient History includes translation, the history, philosophy, literature and culture of the ancient world, and the study of Greek and Latin at several different levels, opening up the literatures of the Greek and Roman worlds in their original languages.

English Literature includes specific literary genres, such as poetry, drama and the novel. Also, the literatures of specific periods, including Medieval, Renaissance, Romantic, Victorian and Modern Literature, as well as studies in the theory and practice of literary criticism.

History includes medieval, early modern and late modern history through a range of modules in economic, social, religious, cultural, political and diplomatic history, focusing on Britain, continental Europe, Africa, China and the USA.

Modern Languages and Cultures includes the principal languages of Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish. Each offers core language modules and ‘culture’ modules which cover a broad range of themes in history, politics, literature, film, the media, linguistics, translation and interpreting.

If you are not taking a modern language as one of your main subjects, you can study one of a number of languages, currently including Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish, at various levels, from beginners’ to advanced level, in the School’s Centre for Foreign Language Study (CFLS).

Music includes musicology, including the history of music, music theory and analysis, and ethnomusicology, and, where these are studied alongside musicology, performance, composition and other practice-based disciplines.

Philosophy includes many of the principal philosophical disciplines, including metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and aesthetics, and also the history and philosophy of science and medicine.

Theology and Religion includes biblical studies, Christian theology, including the history of theology, contemporary theology, the philosophy of religion, and ethics and religious studies, including the sociology and anthropology of religion.

Visual Arts combines high-level critical and historical study of visual arts and film with a range of practical skills.

Certain elements of the course are defined by the choice of subject, for example:

• If your principal subjects include a modern language, then your studies will be extended from three years to four. The third year is spent abroad studying at university, teaching English or undertaking internships.
• If your primary interest lies in the Arts and Humanities, you should apply for the Liberal Arts degree instead.
• If you are only interested in modern languages subjects, you should apply for the Modern Languages and Cultures degree instead.
• It is not possible to study Management and Economics alone. For this combination you would need to look at courses offered by the Business School.
• Your choice of modules is subject to availability, timetable compatibility and the approval of the Director of Combined Honours in Social Sciences. You may also be required to meet specific A level or equivalent requirements.

Course structure

Year 1 modules

Core modules:

Dissertation Prerequisites

Each department has required preparatory modules for the completion of a compulsory dissertation in the final year.

Optional modules:

Decolonising Knowledge and Power

We examine the meaning of decolonisation which means different things in different places. Historically, decolonisation referred to the dismantling of various European colonial empires–notably the British, French and Belgian empires–and anticolonial struggles in what was once referred to as the ‘Third World’ in the postwar period.   

Year 2 modules

Core modules:

Dissertation Prerequisites

Each department has required preparatory modules for the completion of a compulsory dissertation in the final year.

Additional Pathways

Students can apply to be transferred onto either the with  Year Abroad or with Placement pathway during the second year. Places on these pathways are in high demand and if you are chosen your studies will extend from three years to four.