Department of Sociology and Criminology

About
Study
Research
Staff
Graduate opportunities

About

Our highly ranked Department brings together leading academics across sociology, criminology and digital studies who are committed to working together to address critical social challenges, the nature of social change and move towards greater social justice.

Our cutting-edge research informs multiple stakeholders, including academia, central and local government, civic society, trade unions, business and digital industries. Our knowledge and understanding shapes the future and provides our students with the conceptual and methodological tools to become tomorrow’s innovators, disrupters and leaders.

Our courses introduce students to the local and global forces which define our lives. They involve a mixture of practical and theoretical learning which help students develop the imagination, knowledge and research skills to engage with the key challenges and debates that are shaping policy formation and professional practice in a rapidly changing world.

City St George's location in the heart of one of the world’s great cities provides a stimulating real-world laboratory in which to explore issues including social diversity, social inequities, crime, social harm and criminal justice, digital society, data justice, social institutions and cultural transformations.

Our focus on methodological training (including survey methods and data analysis), enables students to develop highly sought-after skills. At the end of their studies, our students graduate with highly distinctive and marketable degrees from a university with an outstanding track record for student employability.

The Department of Sociology and Criminology is also home to the City St George’s Q-Step Centre. Q-Step is a national programme designed to transform undergraduate quantitative social science training across the UK.

Study

The department offers a range of courses at undergraduate, postgraduate taught and research degree level.

See which course is right for you:

Undergraduate

* All students enrolling on these undergraduate courses will have the option to apply to join a prestigious Quantitative Methods (QM) pathway at the end of their first year of study. See ‘City St George's Q-Step Centre’ tab for more information.

Postgraduate

Research degrees

PhD/MPhil Sociology.

Email us at spga-phd@city.ac.uk for research degree enquiries.

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.

Six PhD studentships are available across the departments of Sociology and Criminology, International Politics and, Economics: School of Policy & Global Affairs Doctoral Studentships

Related subjects

Sociology.

Research

Research centres

The Department is home to world-class quality research which has a direct and positive impact on policymakers, business and the professions.

In the recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021, which measures the quality and impact of research in universities across the UK, 88% of our research was rated as being of world-leading (4*) and internationally excellent (3*) quality.

This places us 6^th in the UK for Sociology research and 1^st in London.

We have an internationally recognised tradition of theoretically informed, empirical research that engages critically with defining societal transformations and policy challenges.

Our research centres work to improve knowledge and understanding, and influence policy and practice. Learn more about their activities below.

A number of international peer-reviewed journals are based in the department:

Crime, Media, Culture: An International Journal
International Journal of Digital Television
Journal of Classical Sociology
City Culture and Society

Staff

Academic staff

Dr Gary Armstrong, Reader Sociology & Criminology
Dr Stephanie Alice Baker, Professor
Dr Matt Barnes, Senior Lecturer in Sociology
Dr Gemma Birkett, Reader in Criminal Justice
Dr Steven Buckley, Lecturer in Media Digital Sociology
Dr Karis Campion, Senior Lecturer
Dr Elinor Carmi, Senior Lecturer in Data Politics & Data Justice
Professor Jean K Chalaby, Professor of International Communication
Professor Rachel Cohen, Professor of Sociology, Work and Employ
Dr Lambros Fatsis, Senior Lecturer in Criminology
Jennifer Fleetwood, Senior Lecturer in Criminology
Dr Vanessa Gash, Professor
Jacqueline Gibbs, Senior Lecturer in Sociology
Dr Karen Graham, Lecturer in Criminology
Dr Hester Hockin-Boyers, Senior Lecturer in Sociology of Health and Medicine, and Public Health
Professor Katrin Hohl OBE, Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice
Professor Petros Iosifidis, Professor of Media & Communication Policy
Dr Tony Karas, Research Fellow
Dr Theo Kindynis, Senior Lecturer in Criminology
Dr Riikka Kotanen, Senior Lecturer in Sociology
Professor Eugene McLaughlin, Honorary Professor of Criminology
Professor Dan Mercea, Professor of Digital and Social Change
Professor Carrie Myers, Professor of Criminology and Victimology
Professor Ian Pace, Professor of Music, Culture and Society
Professor Chris Rojek, Head of Department (Sociology and Criminology)
Dr James Rosbrook-Thompson, Reader
Dr Michael Saker, Reader
Professor Simon Susen, Professor of Sociology
Professor Emmeline Taylor, Professor of Criminology
Dr Gerbrand Tholen, Reader in Sociology
Dr Hallam Tuck, Lecturer in Criminology
Sandra Vucevic, Visiting Lecturer

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

Graduate opportunities

Our courses equip graduates with a range of transferable skills that are highly prized in the workplace. They develop:

the methodological expertise to analyse social, criminal and psychological data
the analytical capability to identify and engage with social policy debates
critical thinking skills
professional research and writing skills.

Graduates with these skills can find work in diverse sectors, including:

national and local government
the NHS
education
market research
the not-for-profit sector
human resources
the financial sector
media and communications.

City St George's central London location offers excellent internship opportunities that help students stand out in a crowded job market.

Our students have secured placements with a diversity of organisations, large and small, international and local and often situated within minutes of City St George's.

They include organisations specialising in community work, welfare, crime and justice, human rights, mental health, international development and government.

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