Undergraduate Programmes

Whether you are with us for one module, for a year or all the way to the degree we hope you find sociology enlightening. The School of Sociology is full of people who are passionately interested in topics from across the wide expanse that sociology spans. This is reflected in the range of module options taught in the School of Sociology covering topics such as gender, work, anthropology, the developing world, the state, health and illness, American society, childhood, the environment, education, cities, migration, etc.

Although you will find lots of other students with you in your sociology lectures, the School of Sociology is committed to small-group teaching. This is done by providing seminars to accompany the optional modules. The optional module seminars are taught almost exclusively by the lecturers themselves, thus giving you more face-to-face contact with your lecturers. 

Sociology: Programme Overview & Streams

This programme introduces students to sociology through four interconnected streams that address some of the most pressing questions of contemporary social life. Across all streams, students develop a strong foundation in sociological theory, research methods, and critical analysis, while exploring how societies are organised, governed, and transformed. Together, the streams offer complementary perspectives on global comparison, power and law, sustainability and health, and gendered and embodied inequalities. Students are encouraged to think across social contexts, historical periods, and levels of analysis, gaining the tools to understand both large-scale social processes and everyday lived experiences.

1. Comparative and Global Sociology

This stream focuses on understanding societies through comparison across regions, cultures, and historical contexts. Students examine how similar social forces such as globalisation, inequality, migration, and social change operate differently across societies, including Ireland, in a comparative perspective. The stream combines sociological theory, empirical research methods, and regionally focused case studies to develop students’ ability to analyse global patterns while remaining attentive to local specificities. It provides a strong foundation for thinking sociologically beyond national boundaries.

2. Power, Law, and Society

This stream explores how power is exercised, contested, and institutionalised in social life. Students examine the role of law, justice, conflict, and governance in shaping social order, alongside processes of resistance, activism, and social change. Through topics such as crime and deviance, democracy and civil society, surveillance, war, and social movements, the stream highlights the dynamic relationship between authority and opposition. It equips students with critical tools to analyse political institutions, legal frameworks, and struggles over rights and justice.

3. Sustainability, Health, and Society

This stream examines the social dimensions of health, illness, and environmental change. Students explore how social inequalities shape exposure to risk, access to care, and experiences of health across different populations, as well as how climate change and sustainability challenges are socially produced and governed. Drawing on sociological perspectives on the environment, science, education, gender, and inequality, the stream emphasises that health and sustainability are deeply social issues. It encourages students to critically assess how societies organise, value, and protect life.

4. Gender, Bodies, and Social Inequality

This stream focuses on how gender, embodiment, care, and intimacy are shaped by broader structures of social inequality. Students examine family life, ethical relations of care, health, the body, and social stratification through sociological theories of gender and power. The stream highlights how inequalities are lived, experienced, and reproduced through everyday practices and institutions. It provides students with tools to analyse how social differences are embodied and how gendered relations intersect with class, health, and other forms of inequality.

Sample course listings for each stream are available here.

Pathways to Postgraduate Study

These four streams provide strong preparation for postgraduate study across the School’s Master’s programmes. The emphasis on sociological theory, research methods, and independent inquiry equips graduates for both the MSc Sociology and MA Sociology, where students pursue advanced theoretical and empirical work across diverse areas of the discipline. The focus on environmental change, health, and inequality in Sustainability, Health, and Society aligns closely with the MSc Sustainable Societies, while the comparative and international orientation of Comparative and Global Sociology provides a natural pathway into the MSc Comparative Social Change. Across all pathways, students graduate with the analytical skills and sociological imagination required for advanced research, policy analysis, and further academic study.

Students can also study Sociology in the following programmes:

• (opens in a new window)BSc Social Sciences DN700
• (opens in a new window)Computational Social Science DN700
• BSocSc Social Policy & Sociology DN750
• (opens in a new window)Bachelor of Arts DN520