Sociology at York is a super fun and varied degree. The subject matter is vast, one week you could be in a lecture about memes and the next a lecture about the marketisation of body parts. I came to York having no previous experience with any type of social sciences. I don’t think I realised how broad the subject area really was until I started the course. Now, in my final year of doing sociology, I’m absolutely loving it. In this post, I will give you a bit of an overview of the type of stuff we get up to on a daily basis, and the type of stuff you can expect from one of the UK’s best sociology departments.
Academic life
Lectures
Over the course of this year I am doing four modules and then my dissertation running alongside it. This term my modules include ‘The Global Transformation of Health’ and ‘Crime, Gender & Sexuality’. We have two hours of lectures for each module each week – in some of them we will watch documentaries and then discuss, or we may have guest lecturers come in – as well as the normal format of our tutor lecturing us. The Sociology department at York is number 1 in the UK for research, so often lecturers use their own research to support ideas. This is so interesting.
Seminars
To go alongside our lectures we have an hour of seminars each week for each module.
We have set readings to complete for these seminars and then use the time to discuss them or ask any questions we had from the lecture.
Sometimes we may also do presentations or talk about a news article that is relevant to the module.
Supervisor meetings
At the beginning of first year, we are assigned a personal tutor. With this, you really do get out of it what you put in. There are compulsory meetings once a term but you can see them any time you need to.
I get on so well with my tutor and she has really helped me through some tough times. She also ran my favourite module in second year (The Globalisation of Health). If you are planning on coming to York – for whatever subject – I’d really recommend trying to develop a good relationship with your tutor from the beginning of first year. They can really improve your time at the University.
Life outside the lecture theatre
Apart from academic stuff, there are loads of other things you can do at York.
Make sure you sign up to everything that takes your interest at Freshers Fair – the first sessions are free and it’s a great way to meet people outside of your college.
For me, I quickly settled on a sport. It takes up a lot of time but I still manage to squeeze some fun stuff in.
Rowing
I decided to try out rowing in first year as I am quite tall and it seemed like a fun sport to have a go at. I’m now in my third year of rowing and I still love it just as much as I did when I first got in the boat. I train around 10-13 times a week which is an unusually high amount for a university sport, but I’ve met some of my closest friends through it and I love keeping mentally and physically fit, so it’s worth it for me.
There are at least 50 different sports to pick from. So, if you are interested in trying one out, I’m sure you’ll find one that suits you.
Socialising
An important part of uni is, of course, socialising and having fun. There are loads of campus bars which do some cool events. I like karaoke on a Friday night at Courtyard.
Apparently, there’s a pub for every day of the year in York. My favourite is ‘The Phoenix’ which hosts a jazz night every Sunday, would highly recommend!
There are loads of yummy cafes and restaurants in the city as well. Perfect for having a chat over some delicious food. I’d recommend ‘Brew & Brownie’ for the best pancakes, and ‘Gatehouse Coffee’ for some sweet sunset views.
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