Enrolments for 2020 have closed.
Theories of Modernity
Undergraduate | MAQ-SOCX2010 | 2020
Previously MAQ-SOCX222
Course information for 2020 intake View information for 2024 course intake
Identify key characteristics of modern societies. See how capitalism, industrialism and individualism instruct social development. Get to know the writings of thinkers like Marx, Foucault and Nietzsche. Consider their insights and their shortcomings
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Entry requirements
- Prior study needed
- Duration
- 18 weeks
HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Theories of Modernity
About this subject
By the end of this subject it is anticipated you should be able to:
- identify the distinguishing figures, topics and texts of Social Theory and Sociology as a field of study and investigate its points of connection and disconnection in contemporary society
- explain the origin, characteristics and complexity of modern societies
- articulate a coherent, developed account of what it means to live in modern societies
- analyse and assess a variety of texts (print, oral, film, multimedia) and data sources critically within their historical, social and discursive contexts
- Sociology and Modernity
- Capitalism and Industrialisation
- Democracy and Equality
- Political Power and Bureaucracy
- Religions and Belief Systems
- Science and Technology
- Identity
This subject was previously known as SGYX222, SOCX222 Sociological Theories of Modernity.
Modernity ushered in major social and political changes. In this unit, we will be examining how major social thinkers attempted to understand and explain the changes, ruptures and crises they saw unfold. Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Simmel – key figures in the development of Sociology – but also later theorists developed distinctive perspectives and conceptual apparatuses in their diagnoses of modernity and the experience of uncertainty that characterises modern life. Their work remains a vital source of illumination into tendencies and potentials of the contemporary world. But there are also tensions with the present, which we will explore in order to better understand the contexts of our own ‘modern’ lives.
- Essay 1 (30%)
- Essay 2 (40%)
- Participation (30%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
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- 10
- Times Higher Education Ranking 2024:
- 10
Entry requirements
Prior study
To help set you up for success before you start this subject, we suggest completing or having equivalent knowledge in:
one of
MAQ-SOCX175-Australian Society (no longer available)
MAQ-SGY110 (Not currently available)
- MAQ-SOCX1000-Australian and Global Societies
and one of
MAQ-SOCX180-Sociology of Everyday Life (no longer available)
MAQ-SGYX120 (Not currently available)
- MAQ-SOCX1010-Sociology of Everyday Life
Equivalent subjects
You should not enrol in this subject if you have successfully completed any of the following subject(s) because they are considered academically equivalent:
MAQ-SGYX222 (Not currently available)
MAQ-SOCX222-Theories of Modernity (no longer available)
Additional requirements
- Other requirements -
Students who have an Academic Standing of Suspension or Exclusion under Macquarie University's Academic Progression Policy are not permitted to enrol in OUA units offered by Macquarie University. Students with an Academic Standing of Suspension or Exclusion who have enrolled in units through OUA will be withdrawn.
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
What to study next?
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
UndergraduateMAQ-ART-DEG
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