The School of Sociology will be launching a new major in 2019: Technology, Networks and Society! With the rise of digital technologies we are living in a society transformed by networks of data and intelligent machines. Technological change has profound effects on the structure and experience of social life and social relations, promoting widespread changes in identity, work, health, relationships, communication, economics and politics. This major gives students the tools to understand and analyse the social and cultural drivers and impact of technological change.

Technology, Networks and Society adopts a primarily sociological perspective to analyse the social impact of technological change. It explores central sociological concerns such as social inequalities and stratification, social movements, social change, production and consumption and the nature of power, all in the context of technological transformation. However, it is an interdisciplinary major, drawing on insights from communication and media studies, cultural studies, science and technology studies, economics, geography and political science.

With a special focus on digital technologies and social networks, the curriculum will provide students with the opportunity to explore topics such as digital cultures, network analysis, big data, surveillance and governance, biopolitics, posthuman embodiment, social media, cybercrime, networked publics and social identity. The program also enables students to develop skills in cutting-edge digital methods and to use these to conduct public sociology and online social research.

More information about the new major and associated courses will be released soon!