Cultural Sociology

You should choose this master programme if you have an interest in the relationship between society and people and in the cultural encounters that happen every time people meet across for instance age, professions, nationality, gender, health and religion.

Cultural Sociology: The path which starts in the heart leads to new horizons

The MSc Cultural Sociology consists of 120 ECTS, corresponding to 2 years full-study. The programme is offered in English.

The MSc Cultural Sociology covers a range of thematic areas and introduces the student to various sociological approaches to the description, understanding and interpretation of different social and cultural phenomena. For instance, we study how social and cultural identities are shaped by political structures and discourses, social systems, geographical and infrastructural conditions and by economic and religious forces.

The overall aim is to provide students with theoretical and methodological tools to understand culture, social relations and meaning production in local and global communities and thus enable them to independently investigate and analyze processes of social and cultural transformations. Besides classical and contemporary sociological theories and quantitative/statistical and advanced qualitative methods for collecting and analyzing empirical data, we study: How and why cultural identities and relations are changing and shaped by migration and other transnational flows, and how changes in popular culture and social formations are influenced by social media; The relation between gender issues and new body cultural phenomena; We critically analyze how cultural values shape economic practices and how emotions shape politics and social life in general; We work with issues of change in rural life conditions and rural identity and, not least, with subcultures, countercultures and social movements, civil society and new state-citizen relations.

The program contains two tracks: “Social transformation processes” (Track A) and “Rural Sociology” (Track B) as detailed in the table on the Course page.

Video spot of the programme.

 

Career Opportunities: Bridging gaps between sectors, organizations and people

With a MSc Cultural Sociology, you will be equipped with strong analytical and methodological skills. This will make you an attractive asset for national and international organizations and NGO’s that work with projects related to e.g. health promotion, human resources, poverty reduction measures, public administration, implementation and evaluation of welfare policies, rural planning, integration and inter sectorial cooperation.

 

NOTE: Students can either study for a full master degree or as exchange students for one or two semesters.