Department of Sociology

About Us:

The department of Sociology was established in 1963. The number of students enrolled in this subject are 210 at the F Y and S Y B A level and about 50 students opt to major in the subject at the final year.

Faculty Profile:

Dr Shashi Mishra (HOD), Lecturer Selection grade, M.A, M Phil, Ph.D.  She has been involved in curriculum design and implementation as a part of the syllabus committee.  She has been recognized as P.G. Teacher for University of Mumbai and S.N.D.T. University.  She has participated in numerous workshops and seminar and has several paper presentations to her credit.  She has been recipient of two minor-research project sponsored by UGC and Mumbai University.  Dr. Mishra has sucessfully guided  P.G. Students and M.Phil students of University of Mumbai, SNDT University and Madurai Kamaraj University. She has recently received recognition as a ‘Teacher of the University for the Ph.D. Degree in Sociology”.  At the College level she was associated with Womens Development Cell as its chairperson.  She has been successfully guiding UG students in their project work.

Prof. Arundhati Chitre M.A. SET. Besides teaching she is actively involved in the College NSS activities and the Women Development Cell.  She has participated in workshops and seminars.  She guides UG students in their project work.  She has recently completed a training program in Palliative Care.

The Department of Sociology along with their student representatives manages the activities of the Sociology Association.

Students Profile:

The students are of an average intelligence. Majority of the students are from vernacular schools.  They usually are from lower income group families and many of them are working. The students have average competencies however the success rate of the students  at the qualifying exams have been 95%.

Teaching learning methods:

Teaching and learning to the category of students we cater to makes it interesting as well as challenging. Sociology as a subject is taught with the help of real life examples which helps them to understand and correlate the subject in our social context. Detailed explanations are given as well as an outline is provided for the students to prepare notes. Emphasis is also placed on presentation of certain topics by students through self-study. Topics are also explained by asking the students to prepare posters on curriculum related topics, e.g. environmental issues, gender issues, effects of globalization etc. Students are encouraged and guided to take up field studies related to diverse social issues.  This gives them experience of real life situations instead of theoretical information imparted through books. These field trips have helped the student to develop life skills like communication, leadership qualities, organization, and analysis of data, time management and above all independent thinking.

Apart from this, students are regular visitors to different libraries and organizations such as SNDT – Juhu, TISS, IIPS, Akshara, Centre for Education and Documentation.  They collect information pertaining to the  projects assigned to them.

Over the past 5 years the department has encouraged the students of SY and TY levels to undertake  projects which will facilitate diverse interests and findings.

Following are some of the significant field studies and projects taken up by our students.

• Visit to Mani Bhavan to understand Gandhiji’s role as a trade unionist.

• Participation in Waldorf Education Seminar for artistic and creative activities.

• Visit to Tata Memorial Centre to interact with cancer patients and help them to strengthen their will power.

• Visit to FCCO (Federation of Centre for Community organization) to understand the concept of social welfare.

• Participated in programmes organized by Women Networking a NGO for women welfare.

• Attended a 2-days workshop on pre-marital teaching learning counselling in association with WDC.

• Participation in Inter Collegiate Elocution competition organized by Anti-Dowry Movement, Bombay.

• Participation in The Total Protect Programme organized by Procter & Gamble

• Visit to Bhimashankar ( a sacred groove about 70 Km from Mumbai city) to understand the impact of environmental pollution.

• Visit to Maharashtra Nature Park, Dharavi which is a nature education society.

• Visit to Nerul organized by Shriting Gyan Centre pertaining to environment and the role of youth in environment protection.

• Participation in a 2-day workshop on problems of slum-dwellers organized by Yuvak Pratistithan.

• Visit to Vatsalaya orphanage, Kanjurmarg and Premdan, Airoli to understand the needs and problems of under priviledged children and learn procedure for adoption.

• Visit to Asian Paints, Bhandup to understand the functioning of industrial bureaucracy as well as the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

• Participation in meetings and awards ceremony of Laadli Abhiyaan a project initiated by the NGO population First working on women related issues.

Learning Resources:

In an attempt to consolidate the learning resources, the department relies heavily on the college library.  We have created a departmental library for the benefit of our students which comprises of text-books, reference-books, journals, magazines of Indian & Foreign authors. The data collected through field trips and projects has to be supplemented with literary reviews to make it more comprehensive.  Hence library reference work plays a very important role.  We also encourage the students to use the internet to get the most recent updates on various social issues.

Participation of teachers in academic and personal counselling of students:

Academic counselling of students takes place frequently pertaining to subject related topics as well as co-curricular activities.  The department has formed the sociology association which provides a platform to the students to voice their opinions and viewpoints through a variety of competitions such as Elocution competition, on the spot talk, poster competition etc.  Eminent speakers on varied topics like law, social welfare, women’s issues, and industry have interacted with our students under the banner of Sociology Association.

           Apart from this we believe in giving personal counseling to students in need and the slow learners.  If need arises, they are also encouraged to meet the counselor of the college.