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Sociology

Sociology is one of the most popular subjects among the students. The faculty combines the advanced development in this discipline with the need of the students and the society. It has made several pioneering efforts in teaching sociology through distance education by way of developing and launching innovative programmes in multimedia mode. The Sociology Faculty in the School of Social Sciences specializes in the areas of development, religion, social movement, cultural studies, agrarian, tribal, and women’s studies, social stratification, folklore, arts and related areas.

Academic Programmes

In view of the growing professional and critical need of the students, the Faculty of Sociology has developed/launched several academic programmes that address and take cognizance of the multifaceted development in society. To respond to the emergent professional and social requirements, the faculty has launched Doctoral Programme in Sociology; Master’s Degree Programme in Sociology; Bachelor’s Degree Programme in Sociology; Certificate Programme in Women’s Empowerment and Development (CWED), Certificate Programme in Participatory Project Planning (SAVINI), Participatory Forest Management (CPFM).

A brief outline of these Programmes is provided here.

1.       Ph.D. (Sociology)

The Doctoral Programme in Sociology aims to encourage the students to investigate new themes, among others, in areas of social development, arts and aesthetics, cultural studies, education, social movements, religion, social stratification, diaspora, deviance, marginalized groups and such related issues.

2. M.A (Sociology)

The Master’s Programme in Sociology aims to impart in depth sociological knowledge  based on critical comprehension and analysis of social dynamics. In terms of content it focuses on the issues of  development of the largest section of the population. Specifically this Programme reflects on,

• The rapid processes of social transformation (caused by globalization penetration of ICTs, expansion of new frontiers of knowledge, paradigm shift in to development strategy, holocaust of global terrorism, resurgence of local resistance against domination, grass-roots assertion of the marginalized groups to get the share of power)

• Issues involved in the process of development

• Various theories, concepts and methods applied to comprehend these processes

• Empirical situations of emerging social processes and their inter-linkages with the global, regional local manifestations

Against this backdrop the Programme addresses the emerging concerns of the discipline taking cognizance of the need of the students.

The Programme is on offer in both Hindi and English.

This is a 64 credit Programme with compulsory and optional courses. The student will be required to take four compulsory courses worth of 32 credits in the first year and four optional courses worth 32 credits in the second year.

3.       Bachelor’s Degree Programme (BDP)

The Sociology faculty offers six courses in the BDP Programme. BDP students opting for all these six courses are awarded the degree of B.A. in Sociology (Major). These courses are formulated to acquaint the students with the basic sociological concepts and theories with a view to understand various social, cultural economic and political institutions and processes, dynamics of social change, conflict, development, social problems stratification and related issues. The details of these courses are as follows:

4.       Certificate Programme

(i)        Certificate in Participatory Forest Management (CPFM)

General objective of the Certificate Programme in Participatory Forest Management is to develop an approach for integration of forest dependent communities with forest management. It specifically aims to build the bridges of understanding between  foresters and forest communities, build the mechanisms of collective action by user groups, for protecting the already existing natural forests and regenerating degraded forests. The professional certificate programme is of interest to those learners who want to understand social and cultural issues in forestry. This understanding is necessary to develop sustainable systems of forest management. The interactive nature of this programme is to generate this sensitivity among all stakeholders in forest resources, and qualify the learners to improve services in the forestry sector.

This programme consists of a total of 16 credits with four courses of 4 credits each.

(ii)       Certificate in Women’s Empowerment and Development (CWED)

In the recent years there has been a growing concern both at the national and international levels on the  subjugated and the disadvantaged position of women in the society. In India the development functionaries of various government departments, numerous women’s groups, voluntary organizations and international agencies are endeavoring to espouse the cause of women as a part of their development initiatives. However, there exists a gap between the social realities pertaining to woman’s questions on the one hand and the popular perceptions on this issue on the other. As against this backdrop, this programme aims at:

(a)          sensitizing the students in general and the development workers in particulars on the gender related questions,
(b)         providing the necessary expertise to function as specialist on women’s issues,
(c)          helping to generate a social environment, through the intervention of Distance Education, free from inequalities disfavouring women.

This education package focuses on understanding on the issues pertaining to social development and empowerment of women in the context of historical and contemporary socio-economic and political realities of India. Within the given scenario of the society gender issues are examined to highlight the strategies for women’s empowerment and development.

A Diploma Programme in Women’s Empowerment & development will be available from January 2006.

(iii)       Certificate in Participatory Project Planning (SAVINI)

This programme is open to NGO functionaries, and aims at capacity building of development workers to effectively carry out their projects in rural areas. The programme comprises the following four courses of four credits each and is available in Hindi at selected Programme Centres in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Uttaranchal.

Eligibility, Age, Duration, Fee Structure, Medium of Instruction and Future Prospects of the Programmes offered by the Sociology Faculty

Faculty Members 

Prof. Debal K.SinghaRoy (Professor)
Dr. Tribhuwan Kapur (Reader)
Dr. Nita Mathur (Reader)
Dr. Archana Singh (Reader)
Ms. Kiranmayi Bhushi (Sr. Lecturer- on Study Leave)
Dr. R. Vashum (Lecturer)