Sociology & Social Anthropology

Duration

BA - 3 Years

BA (Honours) - 4 Years

Programme overview

Sociology and Social Anthropology offers an interdisciplinary Major grounded in two core concerns of modern social thought: understanding how social worlds are made, and imagining how they might be transformed.

The programme examines society by deconstructing it through key concepts, questions, and frameworks, offering students multiple ways of seeing, interpreting, and engaging with the social. It brings together structural and systemic analysis with close attention to lived experience and everyday life. This approach enables students to examine theories, institutions, practices, and forms of agency as they intersect with political, economic, historical, technological, cultural, and environmental forces.

The curriculum draws on a wide range of interdisciplinary perspectives. Explorations of relationships between land, communities, political economy, and ecology engage with insights from Human Geography and Environmental Studies. Critical Race, Caste, and Gender Studies deepen understanding of how identities—ethnic, caste-based, gendered, national, and diasporic—are shaped and contested. Science and Technology Studies, with a focus on emerging technologies, digital labour, knowledge production, and new media and popular culture, examine how innovation reshapes social and political life. Engagements with capitalism, infrastructure, and development help map contemporary socio-economic and ecological transformations. Urban Studies, in turn, addresses the challenges and possibilities of rapid global urbanisation and its social and environmental impacts.

Together, these perspectives equip students to think critically, act ethically, and engage creatively in a rapidly changing world.

What makes

Sociology & Social Anthropology at Krea Unique

Sociology and Social Anthropology at Krea University stands out for the intellectual depth, diversity, and accessibility of its faculty. The department brings together scholars trained in India and abroad, working across Sociology, Anthropology, Economics, Gender Studies, Science and Technology Studies, Media Studies, Urban Studies, Political Studies, Migration Studies, Environmental Studies, and Agrarian Studies. Faculty are actively engaged in research addressing urgent social questions—inequality and justice, climate and ecology, urbanisation, technology and knowledge, identity and belonging, and governance and policy—grounded in strong traditions of fieldwork, comparative inquiry, and transnational engagement.

Curriculum and Learning Experience

The programme offers a combination of required and elective courses that reflect diverse perspectives and methodologies. Courses span social theory and empiricism, ethnography and big data analysis, science and technology, caste and gender relations, critiques of development, neoliberal urbanism, migration, agrarian change, political economy, poverty, violence, citizenship, nationalism, environment, and social justice.

Core courses such as Introduction to Sociological and Anthropological Thought and Research Methodology provide foundational epistemic grounding. Electives build on this foundation to offer more focused and advanced engagement with a wide range of social realities. This breadth ensures that students encounter the social world through intersecting perspectives that reflect its complexity.

Mentorship, Research, and Community

Small class sizes and an emphasis on dialogue enable close engagement between students and faculty, fostering critical inquiry into how knowledge is produced, challenged, and reimagined. The department welcomes students from diverse backgrounds as emerging scholars, encouraging rigorous writing, independent thinking, and the development of original research questions.

Students are encouraged to undertake a Capstone thesis in the final phase of the Major, providing an opportunity to demonstrate conceptual and research capabilities through fieldwork, data collection, and analysis. Faculty from across the three divisions of SIAS contribute to teaching and mentoring within the programme.

At Krea, the strength of Sociology and Social Anthropology lies not only in what is studied, but in how it is taught—through a combination of intellectual rigour, ethical engagement, and a deep commitment to nurturing thoughtful, curious, and socially engaged graduates.

Programme Structure

Learning Outcomes

  • Enhance your critical and synthetic thinking to analyse, evaluate, and interpret sociological and anthropological theories and practices;
  • Hone your writing skills, including learning how to weave together written and ethnographic material in well-crafted prose
  • Learn to integrate and utilise different ways of knowing and communicating.

Assessment Methods

The Sociology and Social Anthropology course evaluations at Krea University focus on rigorous, subfield-specific assessment methods that reinforce critical thinking, analytical skills, rigorous research, participatory learning, fact-based knowledge retention, and sharp writing. Key methods include intensive coursework; seminar-based assessment of classroom interactions; group and individual presentations; take-home research papers; sit-down examinations; and independent research projects approved by individual faculty members.

The programme places significant importance on attendance and participation, encouraging students to think critically, pose informed questions, and contribute meaningfully to collaborative work. This sustained interaction not only enriches the classroom environment but also nurtures habits of reflective and dialogic learning, as well as creative thinking, writing, and experimentation. As in other disciplines, the assessment practices are designed to cultivate a holistic learning ecosystem that blends knowledge production with creativity, collaboration, and critical inquiry, embodying Krea University’s interdisciplinary and participatory educational philosophy.

Graduation Requirements

Sociology and Social Anthropology graduation requirements for the three-year and four-year degree programmes:

Credits needed to earn a
Single Major in Sociology
and Social Anthropology
Credits needed to earn a
Double Major in Sociology
and Social Anthropology
Credits needed to earn a
Minor in Sociology and
Social Anthropology
Credits needed to earn a
Concentration in Sociology
and Social Anthropology
3-Year Programme 60 48 24 16
4-Year Programme 80 64 32 20

Sociology and Social Anthropology graduation requirements for the three-year and four-year degree programmes:

Single Major Double Major Minor Concentration
Required Elective Required Elective Required Elective Required Elective
3-Year Programme 40 20 32 16 16 8 16 0
4-Year Programme 40 40 32 32 16 16 16 4

 To earn a Sociology and  Social Anthropology Major, Minor, or Concentration, students must complete the required and elective credits in Sociology and Social Anthropology courses as indicated above.

 

Career and Study Opportunities

The Krea Social Sciences graduate, apart from imbibing the values of democratic citizenship, armed with a Major in social studies will be ready for many callings including higher studies in social sciences, government work, consulting, and careers in nonprofit institutions, journalism, teaching, and social work.

Partnerships

Krea University has partnerships with leading universities in India and abroad that offer students pathways for higher education and research. These collaborations create opportunities for postgraduate study, academic exchange, and continued learning across disciplines. Know more

Higher Education Pathways: MA/PhD in Sociology, Social Anthropology, Development Studies, Gender Studies, Social Work, Public Policy, Human Rights, Migration and Diaspora Studies, Cultural Studies and more.

Job roles: Funds Worker/ Manager, Community Development Officer, Human Resources Officer, Market Researcher and more.

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Faculty

Dr Annu Jalaias

Associate Professor, Anthropology

Dr Arani Basu

Assistant Professor, Sociology

Dr Gowhar Fazili

Assistant Professor, Sociology and Social Anthropology

Dr Karthik Rao Cavale

Assistant Professor, Political Economy

Dr Panchali Ray

Associate Professor, Anthropology & Gender Studies

Dr Preeti Sampat

Associate Professor, Sociology & Social Anthropology

Dr Shiv Issar 

Assistant Professor, Sociology and Social Anthropology

Dr Annu Jalaias

Associate Professor, Anthropology

Dr Arani Basu

Assistant Professor, Sociology

Dr Gowhar Fazili

Assistant Professor, Sociology and Social Anthropology

Dr Karthik Rao Cavale

Assistant Professor, Political Economy

Dr Panchali Ray

Associate Professor, Anthropology & Gender Studies

Dr Preeti Sampat

Associate Professor, Sociology & Social Anthropology

Dr Shiv Issar 

Assistant Professor, Sociology and Social Anthropology

“Social Studies at Krea University has a well rounded curriculum that allows students to delve into diverse subjects ranging from economics and history to politics, literature, and the arts. The faculty is accommodating and well versed in their respective fields, ensuring an environment where learning thrives, through lectures and discussions that are extremely insightful and engaging. Studying Social Studies at Krea has been a truly transformative experience that has broadened my perspectives.”

Nirva Shah

Cohort of 2021-24, SIAS