At Hurtwood House, students of Sociology are taught to think and write like sociologists. This means learning the art of social investigation and how to interpret and present results from the information that is given. In a changing world increasingly characterised by globalisation, free market capitalism and the emergence of a risk society, important new choices have to be made. Power is diffused more and more into the hands of business entrepreneurs and media barons who have the ability to control our world and set the agendas from which we construct our identities. Sociology has the ability to help students understand how social systems work, to open their minds to all sections of society and to look compassionately at a diversity of interests and needs. An awareness of the construction of class, race, gender, age and religion, enables the student to appreciate just how cultures are reproduced. Sociology can be a liberating experience! To study Sociology is to find out who we really are. It also provides us with the knowledge to make informed decisions as to where we are going.