Sociology of Emotions

• • • Emotion norms & emotion management.
  • • Emotional labour.
  • • Love and intimacy.
  • • The public emotions.
  • • Shame.
  • • Grief.

Others

Past La Trobe University students who have previously completed SOC3SEM (Sociology of Emotions) are ineligible to enrol in this subject. Pre-requisites: Students must have completed 15 credit points of Level one subjects.

Additional requirements

No additional requirements

Emotions are embedded in an individual's personal, biological and psychological experience of self, and in relationships with others. Emotionality, or the experience and expression of emotions, is fundamental to an individual's identity and more generally to the practices and tone of everyday social life. In this subject, we consider emotions as phenomena that are intimately experienced, socially contextualised, and culturally learned. Our inquiry leads us to explore particular realms of emotional experience from small-scale interactions to broader relationships between individuals, groups and society. The subject is organised around three modules: the emotional self; love; and suffering and sympathy.

• Posts to online discussion forums (800 words in total). Posts responding to specific questions on selected weekly required readings and lecture content. (20%)
• One 1200-word research assignment; e.g. in-depth review of a key research article from sociology of emotions. (30%)
• One 2000-word essay, exploring the social construction and significance of specific emotions (e.g. romantic love, grief), or emotions in specific social settings (e.g. gendered inequalities in emotional labour). (50%)

For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).