Sociology triumphs in National Student Survey 2015

We are one of the UK’s top departments in National Student Survey (NSS) 2015

The recently published 2015 NSS results show that 91% of our students are satisfied with the quality of their Sociology course here at York.

Our students rate us

94% of final year sociology students said their experience in the Department was enhanced by the quality of the teaching on their course as well as by the enthusiasm of our lecturers.

Hannah Pinsent

2015 Graduate (BA Sociology with Social Psychology)

Student view:

 “The strong support I received from the staff throughout my course and their willingness to listen to student opinions is what I believe makes Sociology at York so excellent.”

Professor Ellen Annandale

Ellen Annandale, the Head of Department of Sociology is delighted with the recent National Student Survey (NSS) results. 

“These are outstanding results which demonstrate the very high quality of the sociology student experience here at York".

As well as achieving 91% overall satisfaction – this year’s results show an increase in student satisfaction within the Department across the board in every individual category of the survey.

We will continue to build on these excellent new NSS results.

Kirsteen Paton: Housing Austerity and Value in Land

Kirsteen Paton (University of Leeds) is presenting on 21st October to the Sociology Department as part of the Seminar Series run by Laurie Hanquinet.

Kirsteen will be talking about:

Poverty Porn' to 'Property Porn'?: Housing austerity and the logic of value in land and people

The logic of capital ostensibly commodifies every aspect of our lives:  this is evident no more so than in our relationship with land. The distinctly urban nature of the economic crisis has surfaced gross inequalities. While glib, if media representations of class are dubbed ‘poverty porn’ we might refer to this gratuitous commodification of land as ‘property porn’. Land value is a key form of capital and so the management of (working-class) places and people forms a crucial part of neoliberal governance. ‘Problem people’ ‘problem places’ are cast as deviant and recalcitrant barriers to neoliberalisng processes and are submitted to the logic of capital and rationalising discourses. Here, the value of land and the (de) value of people coalesce. This paper draws from research in Glasgow in different neighbourhoods with different regeneration projects – one pre-crisis, one post-crisis – and under different governments. This comparison reveals the evolution of state-led gentrification and its wider and deeper impacts and how this project matures. This involves devaluing the poor to achieve a revalorisation of land values and as means of governance – the crucial axis where territorial stigmatisation and gentrification meet.

Symposium: Fiction and the Social Imaginary

As part of the Culture Cluster, Dave Beer and Gareth Millington are running a symposium in March and are putting out a call for abstracts.

Book Launch - Handbook of Sociology of Arts and Culture

On Wednesday 7th October Laurie Hanquinet's new Routledge International Handbook of the Sociology of Arts and Culture whcih she co-edited with Mike Savage is having a book launch


The launch will take place from 6.30 to 8pm at the London School of Economice in CLM 6.02

Laurie Hanquinet and Mike Savage will introduce the Handbook, and there will be a response by Tony Bennett (University of Western Sydney). Several of the contributors to the book will also be present and will contribute to the discussion."

Farewell CSI - the show that made forensics fun

Ruth Penfold-Mounce's love of (and research interest in) popular culture and forensic science has led to her being published in The Conversation.

She has written an article marking the finale of the CSI series which is ending after 15 years. Follow the link: Farewell CSI - the show that made forensics fun

Materialities of Care conference

On Wednesday September 16^th and Thursday September 17^th, we hosted the Materialities of Care conference, which focused on the role of everyday artefacts (such as objects, dress and furniture) and spaces in the delivery and experience of care. This was an interdisciplinary event, gathering researchers with backgrounds spanning, amongst others, Archaeology, Geography, History, Museum Studies and Sociology. 

The Waiting Room by Carol Von Canon©

Day One presented a series of research papers across these disciplines, as well as a poster exhibition representing the projects of early career and established researchers who are interested in the intersection of material culture and caring practices. Amy Hunter, from the University of Leeds, won a Jury Prize for her conference poster. Day Two took the form of a number of methodological workshops, alongside a wider discussion of plans for the development of a longer term research network arising from the event.

Made possible through the support of the Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness, and co-organised by sociologists at York and Leeds, the conference successfully brought perspectives from across the humanities and social sciences into dialogue with each other, and thus laid the ground for a number of research plans for the future. Should you wish to be informed about future events and meetings around this theme, please contactchristina.buse@york.ac.uk or daryl.martin@york.ac.uk, and we will keep you up to date.

Workshop in Conversation Analysis: Shanxi University, China

Clare Jackson and Merran Toerien joined Professor Paul Drew (Loughborough University) and Dr Chase Raymond (UCLA, in the USA) at Shanxi University in Taiyuan, China to deliver a Workshop in Conversation Analysis (10^th - 14^th August 2015).  

Prepping for the start of the workshop - Clare and Merran with participants at the opening plenary session

Aimed at graduate students and faculty with an interest in developing their analytic skills, the workshop involved an intensive programme of lectures and small-group hands-on practical sessions.  Over 60 participants took part, including locals (from Shanxi University) and many from a diverse range of universities around China.  The workshop generated much online discussion among participants on ‘we-chat’ (a social networking forum in China), giving us instant feedback, insight into some of the debates students were having about the data they were working on, and lots of pictures of us all hard at work (okay and sometimes not)!  We were absolutely delighted by the level of engagement and effort put in by all participants, with some groups staying up into the early hours to work on the presentations they gave towards the end of the week.  The standard of work was very high and indicates a growing body of CA expertise in China - very exciting indeed! 

We are very grateful to Professors Guodong Yu and Yaxin Wu (of Shanxi University), who invited us, hosted the workshop and ensured such a great turnout and such an exceptionally well-organised event.  They also arranged some wonderful sight-seeing and cultural opportunities for us, which will remain with us as highlights for many years to come.  We are also deeply endebted to Jody Zhou, whose organisational skills, attention to detail and general care for us ensured that we were always beautifully looked after, both in the classroom and out.

Some much needed relaxation - sight-seeing at the Forbidden City (Chase Raymond, Clare Jackson, Merran Toerien)