Sociology is the most contemporary and versatile of the Social Sciences. It trains students to grasp social structures, understand social processes, map the dynamics of social change, decipher social interactions and make sense of individual and collective experiences in their social, historical and cultural contexts. Sociology is at once critical and constructive; conceptual and applied; theoretical and empirical. It is a science that cohabits comfortably with literary flair, speculative sensibility, historical imagination and statistical rigor. It is incessantly reflexive about its methods, exacting about its research techniques and standards of evidence. Sociology is ever so subtle about the conceptual distinctions it draws and ardent about its disciplinary boundaries and identity. At the same time, Sociology is the most open and interdisciplinary of social sciences. The pursuit of Sociology is a systematic effort at recovering, mapping and making sense of our kaleidoscopic collective self under the sign of modernity. It is both historical and comparative. Sociology as an academic discipline is committed to the ideal of generating public knowledge and fostering public reason. It embodies the best of enlightenment virtues: scientific reason, tolerance of diversity, humanistic empathy and celebration of democratic ideals. It is the science of our times.
The Department of Sociology at LSR is three decades old. From its inception in 1993 it carved a niche for itself among the undergraduate Sociology departments in the university. It is known for its rigorous teaching and learning process; unflinching fidelity to disciplinary ethos, careful mentoring, extensive use of multimedia resources in the pedagogic process. It has a vibrant student body that is interactive, creative and engaged. The department is committed to learning through doing and learning as an act of dialogue. The academic calendar is dotted with a range of formal and informal activities that will keep up the excitement of learning. Students are encouraged to participate in the academic and cultural life of the university and the city. A key component of the department’s pedagogic practice is its emphasis on fieldwork. The department has the singular distinction of the entire third year class going for a two-week annual field trip accompanied by faculty. For students, this fieldwork provides an opportunity to connect and test the concepts, theories and methods acquired in the classroom in an empirical context. The department is at the top of the university results consistently on multiple parameters. The department believes in the holistic development of student’s competencies and critical faculties. It endeavors to equip them to take on wide-ranging career paths upon graduating, it supports them through the process.
Programmes and Courses
BA (Hons.) Sociology and BA (Prog.) Sociology is the flagship program that the department offers. The curriculum followed is the Delhi University’s Undergraduate Curriculum Framework (UGCF 2022) in accordance with the new National Education Policy. This framework offers flexibility for students to tailor the program of study to fit their specific needs. ( https://www.dr.du.ac.in/files/UGCF-2022.pdf ) Under this framework a student enrolled for BA (Hons.) has to do twenty Discipline Specific Core Courses (DSC) of four credits each over 8 semesters.
These courses are distributed at three courses each over the first six semesters and one course each during seventh and eighth semesters. Students can choose from a wide range of Discipline Specific Electives from third semester onwards. The DCC course line up for the first two semesters is: DSC 01: Introduction to Sociology; DSC 02: Sociology of India I; DSC 03: Introduction to Sociological Research DSC 04: Sociological Perspectives; DSC 05: Social Stratification; DSC 06: Families and Intimacies.
Students enrolled in BA (Prog.) Sociology may pursue it with sociology as a Major or a Non-Major. Those who opted for a sociology major had to do fourteen Discipline Specific Core Courses (DSC) of four credits each over eight semesters. Two per semester over the first six semesters and one each in seventh and eighth semesters. If a student enrolled in BA (Prog.) Sociology wants to pursue it as a non-major; they have to do one specified DSC per semester. The DSC course line up for the first two semesters of BA (Prog.) is: DSC 01: An invitation to Sociology (For Major & Non-Major); DSC 02: Family and Marriage (For Major only); DSC: 03 Sociology of India (For Major & Non-Major); DSC 04: Religion and Society (For Major only).
The detailed syllabus for the first two semesters may be checked at:
https://sociology.du.ac.in/ugcf-sociology-semester-i-approved-by-the-academic-council/
https://sociology.du.ac.in/b-a-sociology-ugcf-approved-syllabus-sem-ii/
The department also offers a range of Generic Elective Courses (GEs) every semester to students who have taken admission in the other departments of the college (i.e., non-sociology students). Interested students planning to take admission in other disciplines may check the syllabus of the Generic Electives offered by the department in the above documents.
The Department of Sociology’s annual calendar features a range of events: lectures by eminent speakers, research papers and poster presentations, exhibition, quiz and policy drafting competitions, film screening and discussions.
Lectures and Events
25 September 2025: In the academic year’s inaugural lecture Visualizing Valour: Battle Paintings and their Viewers, Prof. Radhika Chopra, former Professor in the Department of Sociology, DSE, spoke about battle paintings in the Golden Temple that transform private mourning into collective memory through visual martyrdom. 111 students participated in this event.
16-17 March 2026: A two-day International Academic Conference KULA 26, on the theme New Horizons in Sociology commenced with The Genre of the Journey? Kula in the Kaliyuga, the keynote address focused on the rich tradition of fieldwork in Sociology by Prof.Amrit Srinivasan formerly Professor of Social Anthropology, IIT Delhi. 21 high quality selected research papers and 25 poster presentations by students from colleges across India, on day 1, spanned a wide range of themes: gender, visual culture, state, power, social policy and digitality. The day’s events closed with an online lecture on photography and visuality in rural India in 21st century, The Photo State: Popular Photography and Visuality in India, by Prof. Christopher Pinney, Professor of Anthropology and Visual Culture (UCL). Day 2 commenced with New Directions in Sociology of Scientific Knowledge, a lecture on the social character and social foundations of modern science by Prof. Dhruv Raina, formerly Professor in JNU. Prof. Roma Chatterji, formerly in the Dept of Sociology, DSE, spoke about retellings of Indian epics in A Ramayana for The Kali Age: Superheroes, Science Fiction and Myth.
An exhibition and photography competition on Leisure, quiz on Satire, case study analysis of Influencer Economy and screening and discussion of Bulbul Can Sing by Dastak, the Department Magazine, featured on day 2. The two-day conference was attended by more than 200 Students from LSR and other 20 institutions of India who joined as participants.
Other Highlights
In the Orientation Programme held on 2 August 2025, the new batch of students were introduced to the department faculty and peers, were apprised of the departmental ethos, academic matters, association activities and career prospects. The Socio Adda, a student initiative that provides a platform for informal interaction between students across all the four years in the department was held on 18 September 2025. A selection round was held to choose two students who would represent the department at the M.N. Srinivas Declamation, an annual inter college event hosted by IP College, DU on 7 November 2025. Under the supervision of Dr. Thuanbina Gangmei and Dr. Dhiren Kumar Sahoo the third-year students undertook an 18-day field trip, unbroken flagship programme for 29 years running, to Bhubaneswar, Odisha from 16 January to 2 February 2026. On 19February, 2026, Dastak organized the screening of the film Persepolis followed by discussion.
| Dr. Gopa Sabharwal Associate Professor gopasabharwal@lsr.edu.in gopasabharwal@gmail.com | History of Society, Contemporary India, Ethnic Identities, Research Methods, Sociology of Religion, Media. Publications and other works click here |
| Dr. Anjali Bhatia Associate Professor anjalibhatia@lsr.edu.in anjalibhatia6@gmail.com | Sociology of Food, Family and Kinship, Middle Class, Everyday Life Publications and other works click here |
| Ms. Bhawana Sharma Jha Assistant Professor (Teacher-in-charge) bhavnasharmajha@lsr.du.ac.in bhawana.s.jha@gmail.com | Economic Sociology, Sociological Theories Publications and other works click here |
| Dr. Saswati Bhattacharya Assistant Professor saswatibhattacharya@lsr.edu.in saswati.bhattacharya@gmail.com | Social Stratification, Sociology of Religion, Sociology of Gender, Sociology of Health and Medicine, Urban Sociology, Ethnographic Filmmaking Publications and other works click here |
| Mr. Ravindra Karnena Assistant Professor rkarnena@gmail.com ravindra.k@lsr.du.ac.in | Political Sociology, Urban Sociology, Agrarian Sociology, Curriculum Design and Pedagogy Publications and other works click here |
| Dr. Dhiren K. Sahoo Assistant Professor dhirenkumar.sahoo@lsr.du.ac.in d.kumarjnu@gmail.com | Sociology of India, Sociology of Education, Sociology of Knowledge, Environmental Sociology, Political Sociology, Economy and Society, Market and Society Dynamics, Critical Social Science, Critical study of Science , Technology and digital life Publications and other works click here |
| Dr. Thuanbina Gangmei Assistant Professor thuanbina.gangmei@lsr.du.ac.in thuangangmei@gmail.com | Sociology of Work, Research Methods, Religion and Society, Sociology of India, Gender and Society, Social Stratification. Publications and other works click here |
| Dr Twinkle Siwach Assistant Professor twinkle.siwach@lsr.du.ac.in drtwinklesiwach@gmail.com | Sociology of India, Sociology of Health and Medicine, Religion and Society, Gender and Society, Media Sociology, Crime and Violence, Policing in India Publications and other works click here |
| Dr. Anuradha Jaidka Assistant Professor anuradha.jaidka@lsr.du.ac.in anuradha.22feb@gmail.com | Gender and Society, Religion and Society, Gender and Violence, Marriage, Family and Kinship, Research Methodology Publications and other works click here |
President : Eana Sharma
General Secretary : Deborpita Das
Treasurer : Devanshi