| CODE | YTH5035 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Understanding Communities: Cultures, Contexts and the Socio-Psychological Perspective | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Youth, Community and Migration Studies | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Communities are made of people and as such are complex formations, depending on geographical space and its history, which determines predominant cultural milieus, power relations, social structures and institutions. This study-unit explores these different aspects that constitute how a community is molded, and the impact that they have upon that community's understanding of itself and its relations with other communities outside of it; how a community's own narratives impact upon the members that constitute it, their identified roles, positions of dominance and subservience and how this ensures cohesion and survival, not just as a social unit but also economically within the context of a more globalised reality where boundaries can become as issue of contention as much as a source of cross fertilisation. Furthermore, the impact on individual lives and personal narratives of such elements will be explored and how such narratives lead towards change or reaction, transforming the community and propelling it towards the future. Study-Unit Aims: This study-unit aims to provide a complex overview of social relations existing within a community, the importance of the geographical space and history in the shaping of such relations, and the impact these have in establishing a predominant culture, power relations and the dominant narrative by which a community identifies itself. Students will be able to explore the relations between different communities and the context within which such interactions happen. They will also be able to explore and engage with the psychological and social relationship between the individual and the community and to what extent and how this influences both. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Discuss social realties through thorough analysis of the impact (relevance and extent) of socio-demographic variables and their intersections; - Review the relevance of power structures and dynamics on individual narratives and roles; - Discuss geospatial and the historical impacts upon the formation and development of the community; - Explain complexities of change and cementation of a community and the impact this has at individual and social group levels. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Employ analytical skills to understand community relations in terms of gender, class, race and other related factors at play; - Synthesize possibilities, opportunities and threats that would encourage or hinder the cohesion and development of an existing community, and generate possible strategies that would further the development of such community. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: Ife Jim, Community Development in an Uncertain World (Revised Edition), Cambridge University Press, UK, 2013. Brennan Mark, Birdger Jeffrey, and Alter Theodore R. (eds.), Theory, Practice and Community Development, Routledge, UK, 2013. Supplementary Readings: Shaw May and Mayo Marjorie, Class, Inequality and Community Development, Policy Press, UK, 2016. Ledwith Margaret, Community Development: A Critical Approach (2nd ed.), Policy Press, UK, 2011. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Albert Bell |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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