Course Details in 2025/26 Session

Module Title	LH Technology & Society
School	School of Social Policy
Department	Soc Policy, Sociology & Crimin
Module Code	08 23487
Module Lead	Neil Stephens
Level	Honours Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 2
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-20 hours Seminar-9 hours Guided independent study-171 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	In this module students will engage with a set of social science ideas to analyse the ways technology and society shape each other. Students will engage with a set of ideas that allow them to analyse and question the cultural and political context of technologies that we already have within society, and some technologies that are being developed. This will include discussing a broad range of new, old, and emergent technology, including everyday technologies, biomedical technologies, and digital technologies involving algorithms and forms of artificial intelligence. Students will learn social science perspectives that enable them to critically engage with role of technology in society, to ask questions about how they shape existing social divisions, such as gender and ethnicity, to read the implicit politics of new technologies, and to understand how our uses of technologies are changing society.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module the student should be able to: Understand and critically evaluate the concept of technology and its relationship to society Conceptualize the ethical and political questions generated by a range of technologies and analyse them in depth To critically apply knowledge about the humanity-technology relationship to a range of substantive topics
Assessment	23487-03 : Summative essay : Coursework (100%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: 3000 word coursework (80%), 8-10 minute recorded group podcast (20%) Reassessment: By failed component. Reassessment for podcast would be an individual podcast/videocast (if failed as an individual by not engaging), or a resubmission of a group podcast/videocast if they failed as a group.
Other
Reading List