This year long core module provides students with a comprehensive overview of major developments in contemporary social theory, using the themes of structure/agency; culture; gender and knowledge as anchors. The module analyses theoretically informed and empirically grounded sociological theories and approaches and encourages students to apply key frameworks and perspectives to major contemporary social issues. In the course of the module students will be invited to cogitate on the ways in which prominent thinkers have conceptualised underlying social processes and transformations in the contemporary era. The methodological focus will centre on the deployment of diverse methods and competing epistemologies and ontologies. The overall aim of the module is to provide students with a robust understanding of how sociological theorists have interpreted fundamental social and cultural changes and enabled us to understand and scrutinise the modern world.