As one of the courses of the MSc Equality and Human Rights, the primary aim of the course is to introduce students to sexualities in contemporary society - Scotland and the UK, in international perspective - and their contested relationships to conceptions of 'equality' and 'human rights', and 'citizenship'. The course will explore theoretical approaches to sexualities in sociology, drawing contrasts with biological and psychological theories, and also explore the relationship of these approaches to contemporary debates over law and policy with some reference to research in socio-legal studies, social policy and politics. Inter-relationships between sexuality and other dimensions of inequality such as gender, 'race', class and 'age' will be analysed.

One hour lecture and one hour seminar per week (in adjacent time slots)

As one of the courses of the MSc Equality and Human Rights, the primary aim of the course is to introduce students to sexualities in contemporary society - Scotland and the UK, in international perspective - and their contested relationships to conceptions of 'equality' and 'human rights', and 'citizenship'. The course will explore theoretical approaches to sexualities in sociology, drawing contrasts with biological and psychological theories, and also explore the relationship of these approaches to contemporary debates over law and policy with some reference to research in socio-legal studies, social policy and politics. Inter-relationships between sexuality and other dimensions of inequality such as gender, 'race', class and 'age' will be analysed.

By the end of this course students will be able to:By the end of the course students will be able to:

- identify, discuss and evaluate major concepts and theories in the field of sexuality studies, including contested conceptions of 'equality', 'human rights', and 'citizenship';

- analyse inequalities experienced by people in relation to sexualities in Scotland and the United Kingdom, in international context;

- analyse the inter-relationships between sexualities and other dimensions of social inequality such as gender, 'race' and class;

- apply theoretical analyses of sexualities, 'equality' and 'human rights' to analyse specific elements of law, policy and institutional practice relating to sexualities;

- use oral and written communication skills to present such analyses and demonstrate knowledge of concepts and theories;

- use basic information technology skills to search online databases and the internet for relevant primary empirical sources and articles;

- critically debate such analyses in a group, and respond to criticism.