SD3D04 - Global Studies 01 Sep 2024 - 31 Aug 2030 | Version 2

Associated Module Information

Module Code: SD3D04
Module Title: Global Studies
Faculty: Faculty of Business and Creative Industries
Faculty Group: Leadership and Public Services
Faculty Sub Group: Leadership and Public Services
Module Leader: Palash Kamruzzaman
Module Team: David Phillips, Mohammad Kabir, Wendy Booth
First Intended Intake: SEP 2024 Final Year of Intake: 2023
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 40 Credit Level: 6
Language: English
Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: 0
Equivalent Module:
HECOS codes: 100505 - sociology
HECOS Code Weighting: 100

Document Version Information

Version 2
Valid From 01 Sep 2024
Valid To 31 Aug 2030

Module Aims

The aim of this module is to encourage students to engage with and analyse a range of contemporary global issues and trends.  

The objectives of this module are to: 

  • Engage in the field of Global Studies and sociological perspectives on globalisation and a range of issues (see above) that are important in obtaining an overall understanding of the contemporary world 

  • Analyse major topics such as globalisation, global ethics, emergence of the ‘Third world’, global organisations, development, global development goals such as MDGs and SDGs; international aid, hegemony, citizenship, global civil society, poverty, and some cross cutting issues such as gender and religion. 

  • Utilise high level scholarly and transferable skills 

Content Summary

Global Studies is the transdisciplinary field dedicated to the study of a range of issues that are relevant to contemporary world. The defining characteristic of this Global Studies module will be ‘connectedness’; that is, the commonalities and associations between multiple trends that can potentially influence all people, through varying degrees and scales of locality. Global Studies is the analysis of events, activities, processes, flows and ideas that are transnational or that can affect all areas of the world; some may be universal or occurring everywhere, while others are not, yet still transcend the established boundaries of nations and regions. 

As a contemporary form of sociological enquiry, Global Studies aims to present the global forces that shape communities across the contemporary world, while developing perspectives and practices that can contribute to alternative futures that maximise well-being for all global citizens. Through multiple viewpoints, Global Studies aims to grasp what Ulrich Beck (2016) calls the all-encompassing metamorphosis of the world, which is happening at an enormous acceleration that is overwhelming people’s lives and the institutions in our societies. 

Major topics of study in the module will include: the emergence of new technologies of automation and information set to reshape our lives in countless ways; the rise of ethnic and religious politics in a globalised world (looking at different regions, regimes, and struggles); the erosion and defence of the nation state (citizenship and global migration); the power and influence of global development through exploring what is development and the role of international and global organisations (such as the United Nations, World Bank, IMF, WTO) and; the making of ‘Third World’; intersection of global development (development goals such as MDGs and SDGs – more specifically the narratives of extreme poverty and the desire to eradicate extreme poverty by the end of 2030 (SDG1)), international aid and hegemony; and the future of global civil society and social movements; along with some cross cutting issues (such as gender and religion) in an era when all these issues are both pressing and inseparable

Learning and Teaching Methods

Activity Type Hours
Seminars 40
Lectures 40
Independent Study 244
Directed Study 76
Total Hours Selected 400

Learning Outcomes

# Learning Outcome
LO1 To critique interrelated issues, topics, and problems of contemporary globalisation and global connectedness in a well-informed manner
LO2 To apply problem-based and process-oriented analytic and sociological skills

Module Requisites

N/A

Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Synchronous Onsite Oral Assessment Oral Assessment (Internally assessed, Onsite) 1 Process orientated assessment. Tasks designed to assess the application of knowledge, analytical, problem-solving and evaluative skills. Including work set and observed in weekly sessions and termly small group tutorials 0 1500 50 No 40
Asynchronous Assessment Portfolio 1 Process orientated assessment. Tasks designed to assess the application of knowledge, analytical, problem-solving and evaluative skills. Including work set and observed in weekly sessions and termly small group tutorials 10 500 25 No 40
Asynchronous Assessment Poster 1 Campaign Pamphlet on a module theme 0 1500 25 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2
Oral Assessment (Internally assessed, Onsite) 1
Portfolio 1
Poster 1

Reading List


There is a wide range of potential reading material, at a range of different levels. Each topic within the unit has recommended reading from multiple texts. The following will be used as key and background readings. Additional readings will be recommended for specific topic and uploaded onto UniLearn/Blackboard. 

Cohen, R., and Kennedy, P. (2017). Global sociology Springer 

 
Juergensmeyer, M. (Ed.) (2014)
Thinking Globally: A Global Studies Reader, University of California Press 

 
Heywood, A. (2014)
Global Politics, 2nd edition, Palgrave Macmillan 

 
Steger, M.B. (Ed.) (2014)
The Global Studies Reader, 2nd edition, Open University Press 

 
O'Byrne, D. J. and Hensby, A. (2020).
Theorizing global studies. Palgrave Macmillan 

 

Lowenhaupt Tsing, A. et al. (2017) Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet, University of Minnesota Press 

 
Darian-Smith, E. and McCarty, P. C. (2017)
The Global Turn: Theories, Research Designs, and Methods for Global Studies, University of California Press 

 
Juergensmeyer, M (2017) Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence, 4th edition, University of California Press 

 
Marshall, T. (2016)
Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics, Elliott and Thompson Limited