Politics, Psychology & Sociology

From October 2013, this course will be replaced by Human, Social, and Political Sciences, and by Psychological and Behavioural Sciences. Further information about the new courses will be available here in early March.

How do human beings live together? What accounts for the differences among them? Who gets what, when and how? To what extent do our inherited dispositions as opposed to our experiences make us who we are? This degree tackles deep questions like these from several different perspectives.

A passionate detachment

The Politics, Psychology and Sociology (PPS) course explores many of the questions about human beings that excite great passions, enabling you to consider them in a coherent and detached manner, drawing on the great traditions of social science. It encourages you to think for yourself about these questions and to understand why others answer them differently.

What’s different about PPS at Cambridge?

PPS is distinctive among social sciences degrees due to the range of subjects and choices available within the course. In few other institutions are politics and international studies, social and developmental psychology (in contrast to experimental psychology), and sociology taught together under the same roof.

"I chose PPS because it’s a unique mix of subjects that I really felt would teach me more about the world in general and our role in it – and it’s totally fulfilled expectations!" - Lucy

Part 1
In the first year (Part I), you’re introduced to two of the three core disciplines (ie politics, psychology, and sociology) and take two optional papers. The optional papers include the opportunity to take a third paper from the core disciplines, or papers in Archaeology and Anthropology, Computer Science, Economics, Education, and International Studies. Assessment is primarily through a three-hour written examination for each paper, although some of the optional papers include other forms of assessment.

Part II
In Part II, you specialise in one of the following pathways: Politics and International Studies; Psychology; or Sociology. There's also the option to take a combination of both Psychology and Sociology subjects.

In Politics and International Studies, you take papers in comparative politics, international politics and the history of political thought. The nature of politics and the importance of ideas, institutions and processes in shaping political developments are explored using philosophical and historical arguments, contemporary political analysis and theories of international relations. The third year allows for increasing specialisation, offering a range of papers in the politics of specific regions of the world, as well as some papers from other disciplines. Assessment includes long essays

The Psychology pathway offers the chance to concentrate on social and developmental psychology. In addition to research methods, you’ll explore the development of social behaviour, psychopathology, biological and cognitive psychology, gender, family relationships and influences, personality, and social behaviour in both small and large groups. The programme is fully accredited by the British Psychological Society, so students who select this option graduate with the ‘graduate recognition’ needed to pursue a career in psychology (eg clinical, forensic, educational, or academic psychology).Psychology students complete independent research projects in both the second and third years.

In Sociology, you can combine social theory and the empirical analysis of particular societies and institutions. You can explore the social organisation, cultures and economies of different societies and the theories that have shaped our understanding of them. In the third year, you can take interdisciplinary papers as well as papers from other disciplines. In Part IIA, you can choose to carry out your own sociological research project; and in Part IIB, you can opt for a 10,000 word dissertation.

Whatever your background, we teach you to think independently and critically, and to distinguish good arguments from bad ones. You have the chance to undertake research projects as well as write essays and a dissertation on the questions that interest you

PPS attracts, on average, more undergraduates from abroad (especially from Europe and Southeast Asia), from ethnic minorities, and from state schools than other arts courses; making our undergraduate community one of the most interesting and diverse in Cambridge.

Teaching

The course is taught by the Faculty of Politics, Psychology, Sociology and International Studies (PPSIS), which organises a series of lectures ranging from between one and four hours a week for each paper. For some papers, there are also classes and seminars, while the papers on cognitive and biological psychology, methods of inquiry, and statistics include practical demonstrations and exercises. You also have one or two supervisions a week to discuss your work. This teaching is focused on you and on developing your reasoning and ideas.

Within the Faculty we have a well-stocked library with computers and we organise occasions for you to meet other students and staff outside lectures. Some of our students writing dissertations use the summer vacation to pursue research abroad, sometimes financed by travel grants from their Colleges.

What are we looking for?

There is no 'typical' PPS student. We don't require any particular subjects at A Level/IB Higher Level. However, you should be intellectually curious, and should enjoy reading and considering questions about the way human beings live from different perspectives.

Changing course

You can transfer onto PPS from other subjects at the end of the first or second year. Conversely, after completing Part I or Part IIA of PPS, you can transfer to another course, such as Law, Archaeology and Anthropology, Management Studies or History.

Careers and research opportunities

PPS combines the opportunity to develop the skills and knowledge needed to enter a professional career (eg in psychology) with a broad education that can lead to careers in the media, management, the Civil Service, academia, diplomacy, national and international non-governmental organisations, and much else.

The course offers an unusually diverse range of career openings. Graduates of the psychology pathway are eligible for admission to professional courses in clinical, educational, forensic, or applied psychology through graduate membership of the British Psychological Society. In recent years, up to a third of our graduates have begun careers in finance, law and business, including consultancy, and many of our students pursue further study and research, frequently abroad.

Course outline

Year 1 Part I A broad introduction In Part I, you take a paper in two of the three core disciplines of politics, psychology and sociology. You look at questions about gender, social inequality, the media, the state, democracy, war and peace, child development, groups and crowds, ethnic minorities, and kinship. Your third and fourth papers can be chosen to give greater breadth, or be in a more closely-related field, such as communication and language for those interested in psychology, or in international relations for those interested in politics. Year 2 Part IIA Concentration on one discipline or combined disciplines For Part IIA, you choose one of four pathways to focus on. In Politics and International Studies, you take one paper in the history of political thought, one paper in comparative politics, and one in world politics. Each paper offers considerable choice within it. In Psychology, you take one paper in social psychology, one in either experimental or biological and cognitive psychology (both of which involve laboratory experiments), and another in research methods and statistics, which includes a research project you design with the help of a supervisor. In Sociology, you take a paper dealing with new developments in social theory; either a paper on elementary research methods (which includes a personal research project) or two long essays on subjects of your choice; and a third paper on either globalization or on comparative and international politics. In Psychology and Sociology, you take papers in social psychology, research methods and statistics, and choose between the two Part IIA papers in sociology (a paper on contemporary social theory or a paper on globalization).

Year 3 Part IIB Your particular interests In the third year (Part IIB), you have a wide range of options. You study either one or two papers from the pathway you took in Part IIA and pick the remaining papers from a selection offered in other subjects and from a range of interdisciplinary papers. Not all options listed are offered every year, but you're always able to pursue your particular interests in a dissertation. In Politics and International Studies, you choose three papers from a range on topics that usually include the history of political thought; modern political philosophy; theories of international relations; the politics of particular regions of the world (such as Europe, China and Southeast Asia, and Japan); international political economy; and the politics of international security and development. Alternatively, you can choose two of these papers and write a dissertation on a subject of your choice. You also take an unseen essay paper in which you display your understanding of politics after three years of study. In Psychology, you take a paper in developmental psychology and psychopathology, write a dissertation, and can choose other papers on current research interests in social psychology, psychology and social issues, or the social and biological bases of gender. You may also take one paper in Sociology or Politics or an interdisciplinary paper (eg on the family). In Sociology, you can choose from papers on media and culture, modern Britain, education, politics and religion, and health and illness. In addition, you can choose up to three papers from a selection in Politics, or take a paper in Psychology. You can also write a dissertation on a subject of your choice. In Psychology and Sociology, you choose from the papers in Sociology and Psychology or the interdisciplinary papers, and you may take two papers from a selection in Politics. Depending on the papers chosen, you can also get 'graduate recognition' from the British Psychological Society if you choose this pathway. The interdisciplinary papers available (which can vary each year) currently include Gender, Kinship, and Care; The Family; The Social and Political Economy of Capitalism; Criminology, Sentencing, and the Penal System; Advanced Research Methods; Society, Politics and Culture in Latin America; The History and Politics of South Asia; and The Anthropology of Colonialism and Empire