Department of Sociology

ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT

The discipline of Sociology started as a systematic, scientific study of the society and the factors that influence and brought about change at the individual and the societal level. The scientific, objective attempt at studying the correlation between various social, political, economic and religious developments in the human society resulted in the discipline of Sociology. In each century, since it was recognized as a social sciences discipline, Sociology has developed through various broad theoretical frameworks which have been mostly dominated by Western academicians.

In Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Chandigarh, the Department of Sociology was established in 1966. The number of admissions in the subject was considerably low as it was not very popular among the students at the time. The numbers were low and the overall strength was limited to 20-25 students in one class. The low level of interest among the students regarding the subject of Sociology could be attributed to the fact that as a new and upcoming field, it had yet to gain serious traction in the academic world at the international as well as the domestic level. This in turn affected the movement of subject specific material to India where Sociology was taught as a discipline in only the major educational centers of the country.

Through consistent efforts on the part of the department members, by 2004 the number of students enrolled in Sociology as well as the number of teaching staff grew steadily. The enrollment has seen an even bigger increase since 2009 as the popularity of the subject has grown along with other disciplines in Humanities. The numbers have grown from a humble 600 students to a healthy 2300 student s each year. The multi-disciplinary approach to higher education as well as the relevance of Sociology in competition exams and in arriving at a more well-rounded understanding of the society has contributed greatly to the popularity of the subject and consequently the number of enrollments in the department as well. Although there was initial apprehension regarding the appeal of the subject being favored by one gender over the other, the admissions numbers show a favorable selection by both boys and girls.

Attributable constant support and encouragement from the SES, the department is currently planning to expand to include Post-Graduate classes in the courses being offered to students. This ambitious endeavor is fully supported by the hard work and dedication of the contractual staff of the department, all of whom are pursuing their doctorate degree from Panjab University, Chandigarh.

COURSES OFFERED

FACULTY

Teaching Staff

INFRASTRUCTURE