BA (Hons) Social Sciences (Including Placement Year)

In a liberal society, can limitations on freedom of speech ever be justified? Do people pull together because they want to, or because they have to? Political, economic and social issues dominate domestic and international news, impacting on our day-to-day lives as well as shaping the future.

Studying topics in Sociology, Politics and Economics provides you with a greater understanding of the world around you. It teaches you about democracy and its relation to good government, how the economy functions, how people make decisions and how the economy impacts on the material wellbeing of human societies.

Our course provides a thorough training in the major areas of political science, economics and sociology, investigating the different kinds of social tensions, interactions and networks that make up everyday life. Offered at Essex by three of the UK’s leading social science departments, these three disciplines are fundamentally linked. Through developing your understanding of these fields, you explore and address the broadest questions about our society.

Due to the flexibility of our courses, you can choose from a broad range of areas including:

• Public policy regarding health, the environment, crime and aging
• Citizenship, multiculturalism and human rights
• The nature of work and commercial culture
• Political power
• Obligations, freedom, rights and equality
• Applied Economics and Policy
• Micro and Macroeconomics
• International Financial Institutions and Policy
• Strategies of Economic Development

Our Department of Sociology was rated top 10 in the UK for research quality (REF 2014). Meanwhile our Department of Government is one of the most prestigious in Europe, with an outstanding record of teaching, research and publication. We are rated top in the UK for research (REF 2014), and have consistently been the highest-rated politics department in the country since national assessments began. The Department of Economics is in the top 5 in the UK for research, with over 90% of our research rated as “world-leading” or “internationally excellent” (REF 2014).

Why we're great.

• Our teaching is underpinned by research - new ideas and theories are tested in the classroom.
• You acquire a range of skills valued by employers including research, interpreting data and debating.
• You develop the critical and inventive thinking skills necessary for many graduate jobs.