Disability, Inequality, and the Life Course is a Year 2 optional module that introduces students to the sociology of disability. The particular focus of the module is to provide explanations for numerous disability inequalities that exist across the life course. Upon completion of the module, students will have an appreciation of existing theoretical approaches to understanding disability inequalities as well as knowledge of empirical research on a wide range of relevant topics. The module is primarily research-led: we will regularly engage with existing empirical work on disability in order to better understand mechanisms and social processes behind the association of disability with social inequality.
This module seeks to promote teaching on the historical and contemporary experiences of transgender people. It fosters critical analysis of gender in relation to trans binary and non-binary genders and focuses on the meaning of transgender for everyday social life in a local as well as global context. ‘Trans’ may be taken to mean anyone who is uncomfortable with, or transgresses, usual gender roles and ‘can cover a variety of experiences’ (Whittle, 2006) including gender variance, permanent or temporary cross dressing, transsexuality and transgenderism. It aims to introduce students to gender as a question of being or doing beyond ‘the binary’ and introduce them to the theory and practice of trans epistemologies in contemporary society. Taking a trans-feminist perspective, the course recognizes the increasingly critical field of inquiry in trans binary and non-binary social life (including socio and medico legal frameworks) and how this is cross cut by other variables such as race, impairment, class, sexuality and religion. The course will address socio and medico legal issues such as healthcare, young people, surgery as well as research methodologies and media representation and presentation.