Identity and Interaction (L4066A)

15 credits, Level 6

Autumn teaching

On this module, you’ll explore interpretivist social theory, which investigates ideas of selfhood, social identity and social interaction at the level of analysis.

The theoretical emphasis is on:

• Symbolic Interactionism (SI)
• Goffman’s dramaturgy.

These are used to examine how social identities are formed and transformed through processes of interaction, particularly face-to-face encounters, and the meanings that actors give to these experiences.

SI is primarily concerned with documenting the details of interaction. You’ll investigate:

• how rather than why these social processes unfold.
• empirical applications of these theoretical models, with plenty of examples from published studies. 
• your own social identity (or identities) 
• your experiences of social interaction in everyday life.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 20 hours of contact time and about 130 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2026/27. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

Courses

This module is offered on the following courses:

• History and Sociology BA
• International Relations and Sociology BA
• Philosophy and Sociology BA
• Politics and Sociology BA
• Sociology BA
• Sociology and International Development BA
• Sociology with a Language BA