City Open Days

Register for an open day, look around our campuses and speak with our staff and students to answer any questions you may have.

About
The department is a dynamic and thriving centre for sociological research and education.
It combines theoretical creativity, substantive empirical research and a tradition of engagement with public policy around important social issues.
We are one of the oldest and most well-established Sociology Departments in London and, with over 30 staff, also one of the biggest.
Our students receive a top-class education that is consistently informed by cutting-edge research and delivered by internationally recognised leaders in their fields.
Our range of courses involve a mixture of hands-on and theoretical learning through which students develop the sociological imagination, knowledge and research skills to engage with the key challenges and debates that are shaping policy formation, professional practice and social life in a rapidly changing world.
Our central London location gives students direct access to the learning and cultural resources of a global city.
The Department's academics have particular expertise in:
- criminology and criminal justice
- culture and the creative industries
- quantitative sociology, including survey methods and data analysis
- media and communications
- work, class and gender
- forced migration (especially in relation to Afghan migration)
- sociology of ‘race’ and racism
- social and political theory
- philosophy of the social sciences.
At the end of their studies, our students graduate with a highly marketable degree from an institution with an outstanding track record for student employability.
Events
Upcoming events
‘Academic Kindness’ roundtable
With Sarah Burton, Sahra Taylor, Jenny Mbaye, Sally Stares and Gerbrand Tholen, chaired by Ros Gill, (City, University of London),
5 March 2021, 1–2pm
This internal (closed) event follows on from Sarah Burton’s seminar on ‘Academic Kindness in the Neoliberal Academy’. The roundtable will critically engage with discourses of ‘academic kindness’ in relation to the challenges of balancing workload, caring responsibilities, teaching and research, in the context of COVID-19 lockdown and beyond.
‘The Police Response to Domestic Abuse during – and after – COVID-19’
Dr Katrin Hohl (City, University of London) and Kelly Johnson (Durham University), in collaboration with The Gender and Sexualities Research Centre (GSRC)
24 March 2021, 1–2pm
The webinar presents preliminary findings from an on-going ESRC-funded research project on domestic abuse during the Covid-19 pandemic as it comes to police attention, and police officers perspectives on the challenges of responding to domestic abuse during the pandemic.
The presentation has two parts. First, we present findings on the impact of the introduction and lifting of lockdown restrictions on domestic abuse based on large-scale data provided by seven English police forces. Second, we present findings from phone interviews with police officers of various ranks. The interviews capture officer experiences and perspectives on responding to domestic abuse during the first and second national lockdown in England, and how police forces have innovated and changed practice in order to adapt to the Covid-19 context.
About the speaker
Dr Katrin Hohl is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at City, University of London. She is the Principal Investigator on a ESRC funded project examining the impact of Covid-19 on domestic abuse reported to the police. Her research centres on police and criminal justice responses to domestic and sexual violence.
Dr Kelly Johnson is an Assistant Professor of Criminology at Durham University and the Co-Investigator on a ESRC-funded project examining the impact of Covid-19 on domestic abuse reported to the police. Her areas of research expertise include domestic and sexual violence, and policing, and has most recently focused on the policing of domestic abuse and image-based sexual abuse.
‘Reflections on Decolonising the University’
Gurminder K Bhambra, University of Sussex,
26 March, 1–2pm
*This is an internal event.
In recent years, there has been a coalescence of movements and campaigns under the broad term, ‘decolonising the university’. These movements have a new intensity in the light of the global resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movements and the debates around the toppling of statues.
In this talk, I will focus in particular on issues associated with decolonising the social sciences curriculum, which, for me, is about transforming the ‘common-sense’ narratives we have about how the world we share in common was configured.
I will also discuss some of the open access initiatives that I have set up to support the broadening of the curriculum such at the Global Social Theory website and the Connected Sociologies Curriculum Project.
About the speaker
Gurminder K Bhambra is Professor of Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies at the University of Sussex and a Fellow of the British Academy. She is author of Connected Sociologies (Bloomsbury, 2014), the award-winning Rethinking Modernity: Postcolonialism and the Sociological Imagination (Palgrave, 2007) and co-editor of Decolonising the University (Pluto Press, 2018).
Her latest book, Colonialism and Modern Social Theory is co-authored with John Holmwood and will be available from Polity in summer 2021. She tweets @gkbhambra and her website is gkbhambra.net/
Past Events
Watch the recordings of our past events:
‘Black Women’s Digital Experiences and Brand "Woke-Washing"’, Dr Francesca Sobande, Cardiff University
‘On The Space for Kindness in the Neoliberal Academy’, Dr Sarah Burton, City, University of London
‘Black History Month Unfiltered’, in support of City’s Network for Racial Justice (NRJ) launch event, with Kelly Foster (public historian), Nathan Richards (digital historian), Dr Jessica Jones Nielsen (City), Dr Louisa Egbunike (Durham) and Dr Jenny Mbaye (City, and Co-Chair City NRJ)
‘Racism and COVID-19’, department flagship event with Matiangay Sirleaf (University of Maryland), Gargi Bhattacharyya (University of East London), Nira Yuval-Davis (University of East London), Sivamohan Valluvan (University of Warwick), Vivian Shaw (Harvard University) and Colin Clark (University of the West of Scotland)
Study
The department offers a range of courses at undergraduate, postgraduate taught and research degree level.
See which course is right for you:
Undergraduate
- BSc (Hons) Criminology*
- BSc (Hons) Criminology and Psychology
- BSc (Hons) Criminology and Sociology*
- BSc (Hons) International Politics and Sociology
- BSc (Hons) Media, Communication and Sociology*
- BSc (Hons) Sociology*
- BSc (Hons) Sociology with Psychology
*All students enrolling on BSc Criminology, BSc Sociology, BSc Criminology and Sociology, BSc Media, Communication and Sociology and BSc Sociology with Psychology will have the option to apply to join a prestigious Quantitative Methods (QM) pathway at the end of their first year of study.
Postgraduate
- MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice
- MA Culture, Policy and Management
- MA Global Creative Industries
- MA International Communications and Development
- MA Media and Communications
- MSc Research Methods
Research degrees
- PhD/MPhil Culture and Creative Industries
- PhD/MPhil Sociology (including Criminology and Media Studies)
Studentships for 2020/21
SeNSS Studentships
The South East Network for Social Sciences (SeNSS) consortium of 10 leading UK universities offers fully funded doctoral studentships, post-doctoral fellowships and placements.
Find out more and apply for SeNSS Studentships.
SASS Studentships
The School of Arts and Social Sciences at City, University of London, is offering eight full-time, three-year doctoral studentships for 2020/21 entry.
Applications are invited from exceptional UK, EU, and international graduates wishing to pursue cutting-edge research within any of the School's departments.
Research
Research centres
Our research centres promote cutting-edge research that achieves impact and influence through working to improve: knowledge and understanding; policy and practice; training, standards and service provision; and wider behaviour change.
- Centre for City Criminology
- Centre for Crime and Justice Research (co-directed with City Law School)
- Centre for Culture and the Creative Industries
- Centre for Law, Justice and Journalism (co-directed with City Law School and Department of Journalism)
- European Social Survey (ESS)
- Gender and Sexualities Research Centre
- Jeremy Tunstall Global Media Research Centre
- The Centre for Research on Work and Society
- Violence and Society Centre
International Peer-Reviewed Journals based in the department
- Crime, Media, Culture: An International Journal
- International Journal of Digital Television
- Journal of Classical Sociology
- City Culture and Society
The Department of Sociology celebrated an outstanding performance in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) in 2014.
City is ranked as the 2nd strongest Sociology Department in London for research and our national research ranking rose seven places to joint-16th in the UK. 74% of City Sociology research was graded as world-leading (4*) or internationally excellent (3*), a huge increase from 45% in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).
This increase in the percentage of 4* and 3* research ranks the department as 12th in the UK for Research Power (Guardian analysis).
Sociology at City has an internationally recognised tradition of theoretically informed, empirical research that engages critically with defining societal transformations and policy challenges.
In recent years, we have consolidated and developed our research profile around four cross-cutting themes:
- European Social Research and Analysis
- Media, Communication and Society
- Policy and Governance
- and Structures of Inequality.
Staff
Featured academics
Academic staff
- Carolina Are, Visiting Lecturer
- Dr Gary Armstrong, Senior Lecturer in Criminology
- Dr Stephanie Alice Baker, Senior Lecturer in Sociology
- Dr Matt Barnes, Senior Lecturer in Sociology
- Dr Marco Bastos, Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication
- Dr Tobias Bennett, Research Fellow
- Dr Gemma Birkett, Senior Lecturer in Criminology
- Dr Elinor Carmi, Lectureship in Media and Communication
- Professor Jean K Chalaby, Professor of International Communication
- Professor Rachel Cohen, Professor
- Dr Ana Gaio, Programme Director MA Global Creative Industries
- Dr Vanessa Gash, Reader
- Professor Ros Gill, Professor of Cultural and Social Analysis
- Dr Katrin Hohl, Reader in Criminology
- Dr Jonathan Ilan, Senior Lecturer in Criminology
- Professor Petros Iosifidis, Professor of Media & Communication Policy
- Dr Riikka Kotanen, Lecturer in Sociology
- Professor Jo Littler, Professor of Social Analysis and Cultural Politics
- Dr Carolina Matos, Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Media
- Professor Eugene McLaughlin, Professor of Criminology
- Dr Dan Mercea, Reader in Media and Communication
- Dr Carrie Myers, Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Sociology
- Professor Andy Pratt, Professor of Cultural Economy & Director, CCCI
- Sara Rodriguez, Research Assistant (Q-Step Centre)
- Professor Chris Rojek, Professor of Sociology
- Dr Michael Saker, Senior Lecturer in Media and Communications
- Dr Marisol Sandoval Gomez, Senior Lecturer in Culture, Policy & Management
- Dr Liza Schuster, Reader in Sociology
- Dr Sally Stares, Senior Lecturer in Sociology
- Professor Simon Susen, Professor of Sociology
- Professor Emmeline Taylor, Professor of Criminology
- Dr Gerbrand Tholen, Senior Lecturer in Sociology
- Dr Diana Yeh, Associate Dean EDI.
Honorary research staff
- Professor John Coveney, Honorary Research Fellow
- Dr Geof Rayner, Honorary Research Fellow
- Dr Martha Van Der Bly, Honorary Visiting Fellow
Visiting lecturers
- Dr Sandya Bhattacharya
- Sue Brown, Visiting Lecturer
- Athina Caraba,Visiting Lecturer
- Piero Corcillo, Visiting Lecturer
- Jon Eilenberg, Visiting Lecturer
- Dr Delaram Ghanimifard, Visiting Lecturer
- Ioanna Gouseti, Visiting Lecturer
- Dr Chris Holly, Visiting Lecturer
- Professor John Howkins, Visiting Professor
- Deborah Humphry, Visiting Lecturer
- Patrick Igulot, Visiting Lecturer
- Dr Patty Kostkova, Visiting Lecturer
- Dr Kerry Lee, Visiting Lecturer
- Eric Lybeck, Visiting Lecturer
- Carina Mansey, Visiting Lecturer
- Naomi Oosterman, Visiting Lecturer
- Professor Papathanassopoulos Stylianos, Visiting Professor
- Holly Powell-Jones, Visiting Lecturer
- Professor Ali Rattansi, Honorary Visiting professor
- Dr Kate Stewart, Visiting Lecturer
- Dr Oddveig Storstad , Visiting Scholar
- Paul Watt, Visiting Lecturer
- Dr Annette-Carina van der Zaag, Visiting Lecturer
- Dr Matina Zestanaki, Visiting Lecturer
- Stamatia Zestanaki, Visiting Lecturer
- Clare Bowen, Visiting Lecturer
- Hannah Curran-Troop, Visiting Lecturer
- Dr Yvonne Ehrstein, Visiting Lecturer
- Penny Nakou, Visiting Lecturer
- Dr Pardis Asadi Zeidabadi, Visiting Lecturer
City Q-Step Centre
Why choose Q-Step?
City Q-Step Centre builds on the University's long-standing expertise in quantitative methods (QM).
In the 1990s City’s Social Statistics Research Unit (SSRU) was home to the National Child Development Study (NCDS) and oversaw the 5th (1991) sweep of this pioneering cohort study.
In the 2000s the Social Research Methodology Centre provided a forum for research training and methodological research within the University and the wider social research community in London.
Over a five-year period from 2013, 15 universities across the UK are delivering specialist undergraduate programmes, including new courses, work placements and pathways to postgraduate study.
Expertise and resources will be shared across the higher education sector through an accompanying support programme, which will also forge links with schools and employers.
City Q-Step Centre is based in the Department of Sociology at City, University of London.
We will be working with the following undergraduate programmes in the departments of Sociology and International Politics:
- Criminology
- Sociology
- Criminology and Sociology
- Media and Sociology
- Sociology with Psychology
- International Politics
- International Political Economy
- International Politics and Sociology.
Employability
We live in a data-rich society. Increasingly jobs require data management and analysis skills. City Q-Step will ensure that our graduates have the technical knowledge and experience to flourish in this job market. Find out more at the British Academy Guide to Maximising Your Prospects
Citizenship
To be an active citizen we need to be informed and form judgements about the world based on critical reasoning skills. You will work with real world data to gain the skills to reach your own conclusions and confidence to become actively engaged in your community, politics and society.
Social Science Expertise
If you are considering advanced training in a social science discipline it's essential to have the right methodological foundations. City Q-Step will ensure that, whatever your background, you develop the competence in quantitative methods necessary to pursue further studies. More at British Academy and ESRC.
New Possibilities
Developing data analysis skills opens up new ways of thinking, whether this is through working with international experts in comparative research or with partner institutions. You will have the chance to think about cutting edge topics and do hands-on analysis that puts you at the forefront of social science thinking.
The team
City Q-Step Coordinator: Dr Eric Harrison, Senior Lecturer in Quantitative Sociology and Deputy Director, European Social Survey HQ.
City Q-Step Deputy Coordinator: Dr Matt Barnes, Lecturer in Sociology (Quantitative Data Resources).
Centre Members
- Dr Rachel Cohen, Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Head of Department
- Dr Jason Dykes, Professor of Visualisation
- Dr Vanessa Gash, Senior Lecturer in Sociology
- Dr Katrin Hohl, Senior Lecturer in Criminology
- Dr Koen Slootmaeckers, Lecturer in International Politics
- Dr Sally Stares, Lecturer in Sociology (Quantitative Methods)
- Juvaria Jafri, Q-Step Teaching Fellow
- Nhlanhla Ndebele, Q-Step Teaching Fellow
- Tabitha Poulter, Q-Step Teaching Fellow.
Quantitative methods pathways
All students enrolling on a Sociology Department course will have the option to apply to join one of the following QM pathways at the end of their first year of study.
- Criminology with Quantitative Methods
- Sociology with Quantitative Methods
- Criminology and Sociology with Quantitative Methods
- Media and Sociology with Quantitative Methods
Students on a QM Pathway will, alongside their substantive modules, study quantitative analysis of social research data, data visualisation, comparative survey analysis and advanced quantitative methods.
All pathway students will undertake a graded research placement in a partner institution and will have the opportunity to apply for an international placement in the summer between their second and third years of study.
Partner organisations
Here at City we offer Q-Step pathways alongside our various undergraduate degrees, which cover sociology, criminology and media & communications.
Students who wish to specialise in quantitative methods from year 2 onwards take our ‘with Quantitative Methods’ pathway, meaning they take some compulsory quantitative modules alongside their substantive modules - and end up with, for example, a B.Sc. Sociology with Quantitative Methods degree.
Part of the training for the quantitative methods pathway in year 2 involves the students taking a compulsory quantitative placement module. The placement module gives the students the opportunity to apply their quantitative skills in the real world.
The students do ‘quantitative work’ on the placement which could involve producing, analysing or reporting quantitative data or statistics.
Skills that the students have learned during their degree to that point include survey design, statistical analysis using SPSS and data visualisation using Tableau, meaning that they can apply their skills to real life situations in organisations doing hands-on work with quantitative data.
Some of the organisations involved in hosting our students include:
- Kantar
- Full Fact
- Madano
- Which? policy
- Islington Council – children’s services
- British Transport Police
- BBC Media Action
- Project Oracle [competitive application via Project Oracle]
- City of London Police
- Student and Academic Services (City, University of London)
- Social Science Press Office (City, University of London)
- Careers Service (City, University of London)
- European Social Survey (City, University of London)
The placement module runs alongside the students’ other academic modules in term 2, meaning the students go to an organisation on placement for a day a week for 10 weeks from late January to mid-April.
The placement is an accredited module and part of the students’ degree course.
Students are assessed at the end of the placement via a written reflective review, and, a poster presentation. At the end of the placements, host organisations are invited to an informal lunch event at the university where they can talk to the students about their posters and time on placement.