Department of Social Sciences

The Department of Social Sciences, together with the Department of Law, constitutes the academic locus of the School of Law and Social Sciences and is one of the largest departments in the university.  The department consists of 44 academic staff, 8 full-time and 4 part-time PhD students.

We are located on the 5th floor of the Hamish Wood Building that dominates the western side of the university campus.

We are home to a number of academic disciplines; Criminology, Sociology, Politics, and History. For organisational purposes, these disciplines are divided into clusters. These are:

  • Criminology
  • Sociology and Social Policy
  • Politics
  • History

The research clusters and subject groups are the key players in the everyday operational activities of the division and both learning and teaching and research activities are developed through and monitored.

Staff research

We have an active research culture and submitted under 2 units of assessment (Sociology and History) in the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE 2008). A high proportion of staff were entered in RAE2008 as well as contributing individuals to submissions of other Schools. The results indicated progress from RAE2001. In History 'most of the outputs were of international quality with a proportion being of world-leading quality' and the research structure and strategy of the unit was 'excellent with some outstanding elements.  Sociology maintained its 2001 position with more than half of its outputs rated international quality or above.

Our core research themes are as follows:

  • Violence, violation and public health
  • Regulation, policing and security
  • Lifestyle, ageing and health
  • Poverty and social inclusion
  • Political sociology
  • Relations in the workplace
  • European politics and multi-level governance
  • Political theory and ideology
  • The history of health and welfare
  • The history of war and society
  •  Modern Scottish history

Research centres

Research centres connected to the Division include-:

Scottish Poverty Information Unit (SPIU)

Caledonian Centre for Equality and Diversity (CCED)

Organisations Work and Care group (OWC)

Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare (CSHHH): a joint venture with the University of Strathclyde

Centre for Public Policy and Management (CPPM): Based in Caledonian Business School

The division is home to the Scottish Poverty Information Unit (SPIU), which has a distinguished record of studying and providing information about social exclusion and promoting social inclusion.

The main area of research to have developed in History is the history of health, with core areas of expertise in the history of Occupational Health and Safety, the History of Social Welfare and the Medicalisation of Life and Death in Scotland. Most significantly, the Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare was launched in November 2005, as a partnership venture with the University of Strathclyde (http://www.caledonian.ac.uk/historyofhealth)

In collaboration with the universities of Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow, we also contribute to the successful SHEFC funded Centre for Research into Families and Relationships (CRFR).

Study options

Glasgow Caledonian University began enrolment for its 1st degree programme in 1973, the BA(Hons) Social Sciences. Hosted by the Department of Social Sciences, the programme is over 30 years old and it continues to adapt to the needs of students and prospective students from a wide variety of backgrounds.

The school has a variety of undergraduate programmes in Social Sciences, Criminology, LLB, Business Law, MSc Applied Social Research/Contract Social Researcher, LLM Masters in Law streams and MSc Health History.