Study Programmes 2016-2017
SOCI0078-2  
Advanced questions of Sociology
Duration :
30h Th, 30h Pr
Number of credits :
Bachelor in human and social sciences6
Bachelor in sociology and anthropology6
Master in sociology and anthropology (60 ECTS)6
Lecturer :
Jean-François Guillaume
Language(s) of instruction :
French language
Organisation and examination :
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite :
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents :
The training provided in the course of Further issues of sociology aims to get students to take a "different" view of everyday social reality. Students are required to exercise their observation skills and critical thinking. This implies a systematic distrust of common sense proposals, made ¿¿ideas, a socio-psychological Vulgate or ideological assertions.
The course of Further issues of sociology  (30h + 30h, 6 credits) is associated in Sociology (45 hours, 6 credits).
Learning outcomes of the learning unit :
The course aims to develop the following competences:




  • the capacity to observe a context of interaction and write a competent report on the facts observed;
  • the capacity to deconstruct common-sense propositions of meaning that present themselves as obvious, as pre-determined ideas or convictions etc.
  • the capacity to question the organization of this context and the social conduct related to the context by mobilizing the theoretical tools covered in class and reproduced in the written work;
  • the capacity to proceed methodically in the analysis approach to social conduct in the observed context;
  • the capacity to extract relevant information from existing data: statistical tables and written observations.
Among the tasks that students will be expected to complete are: a written account of an observed context of human exchange; a written account of statements in the same context, corrected and amended based on the assessment that will be made from the first written account; to detect errors committed by the author of the written accounts; to analyze the written accounts of observations or statements by using the concepts covered in class; to extract information from a statistical table.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills :
Proficiency in the French language. The ability to research information (internet, library, etc.).
Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
The course sessions will be based on the resolution of questions or problems relating to the working and organization of human exchanges. The students will be expected to answer questions individually. The suggested responses will then be corrected collectively. In order to do this they will have a written account of the problems and useful theoretical elements for their resolution, complementary bibliographic references. In addition to the problems covered in class, several individual works will constitute the basis for a formative assessment. These works will have to be edited in the period announced during the course.
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :
The presence of students will be required given the layout of the course. There will be a possibility for distance-learning based on the back-up materials and documents which will be supplied during classes.
Recommended or required readings :
A syllabus will be made available; individual exercises will be covered during class; individual work will be carried out externally to the classes; there will be a collective summary of exercises and individual work. The situations of everyday interaction which will be subjected to analysis will be taken mainly from family life school-life and some more precise contexts (beaches, roads, etc.,) In the context of the Contemporary Sociological questions, a particular author may not be specified: It will not be necessary to proceed with a systematic presentation of a theoretical paradigm. It will be more a question of mobilizing a series of tools that make it possible to establish the necessary distance to see social exchanges in a "different" way. Some of the theoretical propositions of Emile Durkheim (1897, On the division of labor in society), George-Herbert Mead (1963, Mind, self and society), Anthony Giddens (1987, The constitution of society), Alfred Schultz (1962, Collected papers), Erving Goffman (1974, Les rites de l'interaction), Jean-Claude Kaufmann (1998, Corps de femmes, regards d'homme. Sociologie des seins nus), Guy Bajoit (2003, Le changement social. Approche sociologique des sociétés contemporaines).
Assessment methods and criteria :
An overall mark of 200 marks will be distributed as follows:


  • 60 marks will be allotted for written work requested during class (points acquired if the work is submitted within the required time scale; the content will not be the subject of a summative assessment)
  • 40 marks will be allotted for the completion of an analysis report of observations carried out on the imposed object.
  • 100 points will be allotted for a written exam. The paper will be assessed based on the exactness and precision of the sociological content, the integration of ideas used in a global analysis, the finesse and originality of the analysis presented.
In case of serious deficiency in the written exam and/or in the analysis report, the students overall result will be marked accordingly.
Work placement(s) :
There will be no course but there will be practical observation exercises.
Organizational remarks :
The students must use a written support (paper or digitally) during the classes.
Contacts :
Jean-François Guillaume, Professeur. 04/366.35.03 Jean-Francois.Guillaume@ulg.ac.be Office 1.90 (Building B31, Faculté de Droit, Sart Tilman).
Items online :
Feedback of formative assessment 4 2016-2017
Feedback of the 4th formative assessment with a precision on the ethical register.
Feedback of the 5th formative evaluation
Feedback, comments and questions about the 5th formative evaluation.
Feedback of the 6th formative evaluation
Feedback, comments and questions about the 6th formative evaluation.
Feedback of the 7th formative evaluation
In this feedback, a special focus on the notions of value and interest.
Feedback of the 8th formative evaluation
Comments on Formative Evaluation 8, with important details for the January 2017 review.
Feedback of formative assessments 1 1bis 2 3 2016-2017
Feedback of the first three formative assessments, with tracks for further reflection.
Folder "Reading statistics"
The analysis of statistics folders will be developped during the last sessions of the lecture.
Syllabus 2016-2017 - Questions complémentaires de sociologie
Syllabus for course.