Department of Sociology

The Department of Sociology is committed to a productive and responsible understanding of contemporary society. Keeping abreast of global and local shifts in social life, in our economic, political, cultural, and everyday lives, we train our students to critically engage with their environment with a robust sociological grounding and interdisciplinary sensitivity. With a focus on emerging planetary concerns of health, security, poverty, sustainability, technology, law, and governance, our research and teaching programs are equally grounded in classical and contemporary approaches to themes like family and kinship, religion and ritual, difference and hierarchy, rural and urban, art and aesthetics,  and sound and sensorium. The pedagogic routine at the department adheres to benchmarks of social science excellence in rigorous methodology and theoretical debates.

As a department, we focus on a profile that can sustain and enable research within the Indian sub-continent and encourage connections and conversations -- analytical, ethnographic, and archival -- with locations around the region and globally. Our faculty are engaged in active research and writing on science and technology studies; sonic and visual cultures; religion and identity, mind and body; climate change and social ecologies; law and governance, and life and biophilosophies.

Our faculty's engagement in ongoing discussions and debates speaks of our emerging leadership in the discipline.

In addition to taught courses, the B.A Sociology (research) degree at SNU offers an opportunity for undergraduate students to write a research thesis under supervision. The entire program, including the final year thesis, prepares students for a career in sociology or social anthropology. It gives them insight and knowledge skills to tackle any future they choose. The SNU Sociology degree combines its theoretical curriculum and practical hands-on training with field visits, internship opportunities, teaching workshop style, and student-driven classroom discussions.

Our students can enter professional fields like development, media, journalism, bureaucracy, and writing, among many other emerging careers.

Our sought-after, fully funded Ph.D. program involves a specially designed year of disciplinary and multi-perspective training on theory and method. Our competitive students come from various social sciences and other disciplinary backgrounds, and have opportunities to participate in school-wide graduate classrooms and seminars, enabling a nuanced approach to any research endeavor.

Our newly launched MA programme is unique in that we offer a one year joint MA in Global Urban Sociology with SOAS University of London, UK. The Department of Sociology, Shiv Nadar University in collaboration with the Department of Anthropology, and Sociology, SOAS, University of London, offers a joint MA in Global Urban Sociology.