Course details

Summary

The Bachelor of Arts (BA) is Otago's most flexible undergraduate degree programme, enabling students to study from a selection of more than 40 arts and social science subjects, as well as papers offered elsewhere in the University. Academic breadth is complemented by in-depth knowledge gained through majoring in one or two subjects with the option of minors in one or two others.

Students are taught by research-active scholars, are expected to undertake a diverse range of learning tasks and are challenged to develop their intellectual independence. Graduates of the programme are well-informed, versatile, independent thinkers with the information literacy, communication, research and interpersonal skills necessary for a career or further academic study. The completed BA is an entry qualification for the PGDipArts in the major subject of the degree.

Sociology

Sociology is the study of people, societies and social groups. The aim of sociology is to understand and explain aspects of social behaviour and relationships.

Sociology encourages the critical analysis of people's participation in social processes and focuses attention on the dynamics of power, inequality, social divisions, and personal and cultural identity. There is an emphasis on the way in which these dynamics and social structures change over time.

The subject matter of sociology traverses a broad range of topics including class, gender, and ethnicity; health, education and welfare; the media; politics; environmental issues; religion; social movements work; sport and leisure; and social policy.

Programme Requirements

100-level

• SOCI 101 Sociology of New Zealand Society
• SOCI 102 Cultural and Social Identities

200-level

• SOCI 201 Sociological Research in Practice
• Two further 200-level SOCI papers, one of which may be replaced with any 200-level GEND paper or CRIM 201 Crime, Justice and Society or PHSE 206 Sociology of Sport

300-level

• SOCI 301 Mixed Methods
• Three further 300-level SOCI papers, one of which may be replaced with any 300-level GEND paper or PHSE 338 Advanced Sociology of Sport.

Plus

198 further points; must include 54 points at 200-level or above.

Up to 90 points may be taken from outside Arts

Entry criteria

The minimum requirement for students is the completion of a high school qualification plus satisfactory completion of one year's study at an approved tertiary institution or successful completion New Zealand Foundation Year programme.

We also accept the following International qualifications: International Baccalaureate: IB Diploma with a minimum of 26 points; GCE Advanced Levels: minimum grade of 8.

English Language Requirements:

IELTS score of 6.0 in the academic module (with no individual band below 6.0); Internet-based TOEFL Score of 80 (writing 20); Paper-based TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score of 550 (TWE 4.5); CIE Cambridge International Examinations Grade E or better in AS English; Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) - Overall score of 176 (with no individual band below 169); Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE) - Overall score of 176 (with no individual band below 169); GCE 'A' Level or 'AS' Level English Language or English Literature - grade C or higher; GCE 'AS' Level General Paper (English) - grade C or higher; APIEL (Advanced Placement International English Language) Examination - grade 3 or higher; IB International Baccalaureate - English at Higher or Standard level in Language A: literature, Language A: language and literature, or at Higher level in Language B; Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic - Overall score of 58 with no communicative skills score below 50.