Sociology and Social Anthropology as two distinct disciplines had their origin in Europe. Sociology emerged as the study of predominantly industrial society and Social Anthropology as the study of non-industrial societies. The distinction was implanted in India too. Today, there is a need to interrogate the separation of the two disciplines, especially in light of the self-reflective turn that both have taken over the past two decades, both in India and in other parts of the world.

In keeping with these realities, the programme is designed to integrate the discipline of Sociology and Social Anthropology to have a comparative and systematic understanding of society and its institutions. Such a programme is most suited considering the regional location of TISS, Guwahati Campus, where an entire region is on the cusp of a profound social, economic and cultural transformation.

Key Features of the Program

The program has three principal components spread over four semesters: - (a) coursework in the perspective building, theoretical groundings, social economic and political issues, (b) fieldwork, and (c) dissertation.  In the final year, students will write a supervised dissertation on a topic of their choice; this is a great opportunity to study an area of interest for the students, and also to exercise the skills they have developed for future employers, or to further academic endeavours. The program aims to provide students with employability skills including research methods and design, interviewing, statistical analysis, essay writing and ethnographic methods.