MIRANDA HOUSE HAS BEEN RANKED NO.1 AMONG COLLEGES BY NIRF RANKING 2023

The department each year organises several lectures, seminars, panel discussions, film screenings and workshops.

Lectures

In the academic year 2019-2020 we had several lectures. Professor Peter Doak, University of Leeds spoke on “Sociology In and Of the City: A Case Study of 21st Century Leeds”, Professor Katusho Bento, University of Leeds, spoke on the “Hashtags and Social Impact”. The department also organised a seminar cum interactive session on “Conversations on Sex and Power in Academia: Knitting Tales of Experiences”. The speakers at the event were Dr. Shifa Haq and Professor Rukmini Sen, Ambedkar University. A webinar on “Cultural Labour and Social Hierarchies” with Dr. Brahma Prakash, a Charles Wallace India Trust Fellow 2019-20 was also a part of the lectures organised., a PhD scholar at Syracuse University, New York spoke on “The Idea of Development from a Sociological Point of View”. Film screenings and discussions on the films form a part of the teaching learning process. In 2019-2020 some of the films we screened were “The History and Relevance of Third Cinema in our Time” “The Hour of the Furnaces (Part III)” and “La Haine” and “Many Months in Mirya”.

The department each year organises a series of lectures on a theme. For instance in 2016-17, the theme was "Beyond the Looking Glass-Self". The concept of beyond the looking glass brings to the fore the idea of not just looking at the obvious, but emphasizes the reality behind the scenes. Through this series of seminars we sought to understand the multi-faceted aspects of social reality and we sought to give a voice to the unheard. As a part of the lecture series we had lectures by Professor Roma Chatterji, Department of Sociology, Delhi School Of Economics, University of Delhi, on “Comic Gags and the Mahabharata War” ; Professor Abhijit Dasgupta, Department of Sociology, Delhi School Of Economics, University of Delhi, on “Sociology at the Delhi School of Economics: Then and Now” and by Professor Surinder Jodhka, The Centre for the Study of Social Systems (CSSS), Jawaharlal Nehru University, on “Inequality in Contemporary India”.

Annual Sociology Fest Utopia

In 2019-2020, given the pandemic situation in the world the theme was “Nation and its Making” A series of online events including a panel discussion by Dr. Ghazala Jamil, JNU; Kishalay Bhattacharjee, Avalok Langer, and Dr. Binu Sundas, Miranda House were organised. An interactive session with wildlife film maker Suyash Kesari was also a part of the events. Informal events like an ethnographic film making competition, quiz or a round table discussion are also a part of the annual festival.

The Annual Sociology Fest each year is based on a theme. The theme for 2016-17, was "Ehtejaj - Social Movements". As a part of the event a panel discussion was organised on the theme. The panellists included Mr. Madhuresh Kumar, National Convener of National Alliance of People’s Movement (NAPM), New Delhi, Professor Savyasaachi, Professor Sociology, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi and Professor Madhu Purnima Kishwar Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi, and the Director of the Indic Studies Project based at CSDS. In 2017-18, the theme was Influence of Media and Youth Leaders in the Digital Age.

Workshops

The department each year organises a 15-18 hour Ethnographic Film Making Workshop. The aim of the workshop is to teach students the art of using ethnographic films as a research tool. The students learn to make ethnographic films. They learn all aspects of film making like shooting, direction and editing. They learn to make films and use films as a research tool. Interactions with film makers, editors and other film making professionals are a part of the workshop. The films are available at Sociology Ethnographic Films.