SCHOOL

OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES

ACADEMIC UNIT

AGRICULTURE

LEVEL OF STUDIES

UNDERGRADUATE

COURSE CODE

GEB0308-2

SEMESTER

3

COURSE TITLE

 Rural Sociology
INDEPENDENT TEACHING ACTIVITIES WEEKLY TEACHING
HOURS 		CREDITS
Lectures 2
Lab / Op. Exercises 0
Exercises 0

TOTAL HOURS

 2 5
COURSE TYPE Specialised general knowledge
PREREQUISITE COURSES
LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION and EXAMINATIONS Greek
IS THE COURSE OFFERED TO ERASMUS STUDENTS YES (in English)

COURSE WEBSITE (URL)

https:// eclass.uowm.gr/courses/AGRO148/

2. LEARNING OUTCOMES

Learning Outcomes
The purpose and the aim of the course is to teach the student:
• the basic concepts of this science,
• the way in which social areas and rural communities are socially organized,
• the nature and dimensions of the socio-economic changes that have taken place in rural areas in Greece over the last century,
• the contribution of technology to the countrys rural economy,
• modern methods of sociological research.

Upon successful completion of the course the student will be able to:
1. Knows the evolution of rural society over time.
2. Knows the basic characteristics of the rural society in important historical periods for the country.
3. Understands and analyzes with modern sociological approaches the problems of agricultural holdings as well as the problems that arise from the economic and social development of the countryside.
4. Understands and applies modern methods of sociological research.

General Competences

3. SYLLABUS

• Introduction to Agricultural Sociology. Definition of science. The concept of rural society and its importance. The evolution of rural societies: the main systems of their social organization.
• The society of the villagers. The concept of a villager. The types of villagers. The transition from traditional agriculture to agribusiness. The main features. The causes of change.
• The rural society in Greece at the beginning of the 20th century. Social change. Political decisions. The promotion of the rural economy. The importance of the Agricultural Bank. The importance of cooperatives.
• The agricultural holding in Greece. The traditional type of agricultural holding. The type of agribusiness. The cooperative organization of agricultural holdings.
• The rural community. Definition and meaning. Employment. Homogeneity / heterogeneity: historical circumstances. Social mobility.
• Social groups and leadership. Definition. The characteristics and division of social groups. The concept of leadership. Agricultural leadership and its importance.
• Technology and agriculture. Technological changes. Intensive agriculture. Alternative forms of agriculture.
• The Social Impact Assessment. The definition of the concept. The variables of the Social Impact Assessment. Methodology.
• Needs assessment. Definition and meaning. The stages of the process. The methodology.
• Rural society at the end of the 20th century. Socio-political issues. The characteristics of agriculture. Women farmers. The young farmers.
• Agrotourism. Tourism and its importance. The concept of agritourism. the forms of agritourism. The value of agritourism.
• Important concepts. The gross agricultural product. Land ownership. The Common Agricultural Policy.
• Sustainable development.

4. TEACHING and LEARNING METHODS - EVALUATION

DELIVERY
 		In the classroom (face to face)
USE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
 		- Support of the learning process through the electronic platform e-class.
- Use of ICT technologies in teaching.
- Communication with students electronically via eclass and email.
TEACHING METHODS
Activity Semester Workload
Lectures 60
Autonomous study 65
Course total (25 hours of workload per credit uni 125
STUDENT PERFORMANCE EVALUATION The evaluation procedure includes written examination, oral presentation of works, written works.

The final written exam is estimated at 70% of the total final grade.
The elaboration and presentation of work before the end of the semester is estimated at 30% of the total final grade.
I. The final written examination (70%) includes:
• Multiple Choice Test.
• Formative and Concluding Test.
• Comparative evaluation of theory data.
• Short Answer Questions.

II. The elaboration of a work (30%) concerns the design of a socio-economic research with the creation of a questionnaire, the analysis of the data and the presentation of the report.

5. SUGGESTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

-Suggested bibliography :
Δαουτόπουλος, Γ., Καζακόπουλος, Λ., Κούση Μ. (2005). Αγροτική Κοινωνιολογία, εκδ. Ζυγός. [ISBN: 9608065321]
Δαουτόπουλος, Γ. (2005). Μεθοδολογία Κοινωνικών Ερευνών. Έκδοση του ιδίου. [ISBN 960- 8065-29-1]
Δαουτόπουλος, Γ. (2004). Κοινωνιολογία της ανάπτυξης. Έκδοση του ιδίου.
Κασίμης, Χ και Λουλούδης, Λ. (1999). Ύπαιθρος χώρα: η Ελληνική αγροτική κοινωνία στο τέλος του του εικοστού αιώνα, Πλέθρον, Αθήνα. [ISBN : 9603480851]
Σιάρδος, Γ. και Κουτσούρης, Α. (2004). Αειφορική γεωργία και ανάπτυξη, Ζυγός, Θεσσαλονίκη. [ISBN: 960-8065-34-8]
Lundquist G. A.(2008), Principles of Rural Sociology, Morse Press. [ISBN-10: 1443727040]
Moseley M. (2003). Rural Development: Principles and Practice, Sage Publications Ltd [ISBN-10: 0761947671]
Butler, F.C. and Flora, J. 2008. Rural Communities: Legacy and Change, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, , [ISBN-10: 0813343771]
-Related academic journals: