Hypatia - The Sociology Society
2023-2024
Webinar on Tribal Empowerment
Hypatia, The Academic Society of the Department of Sociology organized a webinar on Tribal Empowerment on 14 August at 4:00 pm under Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav. The lecture was delivered by Dr Avitoli G Zhimo (Joint Director, Center for Tribal Studies & Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi).
2022-2023
Student Paper Presentations
The Department of Sociology, Indraprastha College for Women organized student paper presentations on 18th April 2023 in the Seminar Room. A total of 6 papers were presented.
Urban Seminar
The Department organized the 3rd Undergraduate Inter-University Urban Seminar on 2nd February 2023 in the college premises. The keynote address was delivered by Prof. Amita Baviskar at 10 am in the Conference Room. She is the Dean and a faculty of Environmental Studies, Sociology and Anthropology, Ashoka University and a renowned sociologist. It was followed by ten selected student paper presentations on the theme "The City and the Margins" in two sessions, which were chaired by Dr Suraj Beri (Assistant Professor, Central University of Nagaland) and Dr Ishita Dey (Assistant Professor, South Asian University) respectively. The presentations took place in the Seminar Room.
Orientation Lecture
The Department organized an orientation lecture titled 'The Joys of Doing Sociology' which was delivered by Janaki Abraham (Professor, Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics) on 17th January 2023 at 2 pm in the Conference Room.
2021-2022
Release of the Department Newsletter
The first edition of the Department Newsletter - The Hypatian Hues - was released by the students on 15th November 2022 in the Conference Room.
Lecture Series on Gender and Technology
The second part of the lecture of the series on Gender and Technology was delivered by Dr Pratichi Majumdar, Post Doctoral Research Associate, Gen V Project, University of Cambridge on Being a Researcher in the Digital Field: Reflexive Experiences of Cyber-Ethnography on 7th November at 1:30 pm in the Conference Room.
Student Paper Presentations
The Department of Sociology, Indraprastha College for Women organized student paper presentations on 17th October 2022 in the Seminar Room. A total of 6 papers were presented.
Talk on Harmandir Sahib and the Aesthetics of Dissent
The Department of Sociology, Indraprastha College for Women organized a talk on Harmandir Sahib and the Aesthetics of Dissent by Prof. Savyasaachi on 21st September 2022 at 1:30 pm in the conference room.
Lecture Series on Gender and Technology
Technology has become an inseparable entity in each of our lives, and it has also impacted processes previously thought to be the domain of biology alone. In this context, Hypatia: The Academic Society of the Department of Sociology, IPCW is organizing a lecture series on Gender and Technology.
The first part of the lecture was delivered by Dr. Paro Mishra, Assistant Professor, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi (IIITD) on 9th September 2022 at 11:30 am on Femtech and the Datafication of the Reproductive Body in India: Emerging Issues and Concerns in the Conference Room.
Career Talk
The Department of Sociology, Indraprastha College for Women in collaboration with the Career Guidance and Placement Cell organized a panel discussion on Careers in Social Impact Sector on 30th August 2022 at 1:30 pm in the Conference Room. The panel discussion was led by the staff and alumnae of Teach for India (TFI).
Farewell Lecture
The Department of Sociology, Indraprastha College for Women, under the aegis of IQAC organized a farewell lecture by Dr. Rashmi Pant, former OSD of the department on 18th April 2022 at 11:30 am in the A V Lecture Theatre. The title of the talk was 'Beyond Lineage and Law: The Rule of Reciprocity in Framing Kinship, Property and Labour Relations. Kumaon 1890s-1960' and it was chaired by Rajni Palriwala, Former Professor of Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, New Delhi.
Student Paper Presentations
The Department of Sociology, Indraprastha College for Women organized student paper presentations on 11th April 2022 in the Seminar Room. A total of 8 papers were presented.
Urban Seminar
The Department of Sociology, Indraprastha College for Women, organized the 2nd Inter-University Urban Seminar on 7th March 2022 at 10: 30 AM. The theme for the seminar was The City and The Pandemic. The event started with a Keynote Address from Dr. Gautam Bhan, Associate Dean, School of Human Development and Senior Lead of Academics and Research, Indian Institute of Human Settlements (IIHS), followed by paper presentations by students from various universities and colleges.
Release of the 3rd edition of the students' magazine Eidos
The 3rd edition of the students' magazine Eidos was released by our Principal Prof. Babli Moitra Saraf on 31st January 2022 via google meet.
2020-2021
The student paper presentations were held on 7th October 2020 and the list of presenters and papers can be found here.
‘In The Jungle of Neo Liberal Cities: Meanings of Freedom for Labour in India’ - A talk in Urban Studies Series (October 2020)
The Department organized a talk by Dr. Avinash Kumar, Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University on 27th October, 2020. This was the third talk in the Urban Studies Series organized by the department. Dr. Kumar discussed issues of labour, conditions of work, migration patterns and particularly addressed the challenges faced by the labourers during the lockdown in March 2020.
Two-day Academic Reading and Writing Workshop for BA (H) Sociology Semester I students, January 2021
The department organized a two-day academic reading and writing workshop for BA (H) 1st Semester students on the 23rd and 25th of January 2021. The workshop was conducted by Dr Dhivya Janarthanan, Department of Sociology, University of Delhi. The first session introduced students to the basics of reading academic texts while the second session focused on introducing the basics of academic writing. Texts used during the workshop were shared with students in advance, so as to facilitate demonstration and exercise-based sessions. Students' feedback pointed to the usefulness of this workshop.
Workshop on Student Paper Presentation for BA (H) Sociology students, January 2021
The department organized a workshop on 6th January 2021 to orient BA (H) students towards the upcoming student paper presentation. The workshop was conducted by Madhulika Sonkar, Meenakshi Gautam, Priya Ranjan, Rituparna Patgiri, and Suraj Beri (Faculty members, Department of Sociology, IP College for Women). The workshop focused on familiarizing students with different stages of sociological research and writing.
Talk on ‘Understanding Ecology, Landscape and People: Insights from India’ (March 2021)
The Department organised a talk by Prof Amites Mukhopadhyay, Department of Sociology, Jadavpur University on ‘Understanding Ecology, Landscape and People: Insights From India’ on 10th March, 2021. Prof. Mukhopadhyay talked about how colonialism has largely come to define the ecological realities of India and how we continue to function within that same colonial discourse, nomenclature.
Inter-University Undergraduate Seminar: ‘The Promise of the Urban?’ (April 2021)
The Department organized its first Inter University Undergraduate Seminar on the theme: ‘The Promise of the Urban?’ on 7th April, 2021. Department was honored to have Dr. Ghazala Jamil, Assistant Professor, Centre for Law and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University as its keynote speaker. Dr. Jamil's keynote address was based on the theme ‘Interrogating Urbanisation In India: Notes from the Margins’.
Student Paper Presentations for the Seminar were held in two different sessions:
(1) Constructing Urban Space: Culture and Identity and
(2) Experiencing the City: Anxieties, Strategies and Negotiations.
Dr. Anasua Chatterjee, Assistant Professor of Sociology, RKSMVV, West Bengal State University and Dr. Koyal Verma, Assistant Professor, School of Management and Liberal Arts, Bennett University were the Discussants for the two sessions respectively.
The detailed list of papers and presenters can be found here.
The student paper presentations were held on 18th February 2021 and the list of papers and presenters can be found here.
Launch of the second edition of the department magazine
The second edition of the department magazine Eidos was launched on 26th February 2021.
A Memorial lecture on Gail Omvedt by Wandana Sonalkar
The Department of Sociology, IPCW organized a talk by Prof. Wandana Sonalkar to commemorate the memory of Gail Omvedt. Sonalkar is a Retired Professor of the Department of Women's Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. The talk, titled Remembering Gail Omvedt: Lessons from a Life Well Lived, was held online on 9th September at 10:30 am.
The Department of Sociology, Indraprastha College for Women under the aegis of IQAC organized an Orientation Lecture titled 'The Sociological Perspective' by Prof Maitrayee Chaudhuri on 2nd December. She is a former Professor of Sociology at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.
Lecture Series under Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav: A Talk by Prof. Ujjwal Kumar
The Department of Sociology, Indraprastha College for Women organised an online lecture series under Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. The first lecture of the series was delivered by Prof. Ujjwal Kumar Singh, Department of Political Science, University of Delhi on 16th September, 2021.The title of his lecture was ‘Indian Constitution as a Code of Just Means’.
The student paper presentations were held on 22nd September 2021 and the list of presenters and papers can be found here.
Lecture Series under Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav: A Talk by Prof. Rajeev Bhargava
The Department of Sociology, Indraprastha College for Women organised an online lecture series under Azaadi ka Amrit Mohatsav. The second lecture in the series was delivered by Prof. Rajeev Bhargava, Director, Institute of Indian Thought, CSDS on 25th September 2021. The lecture is titled 'Constitutional Secularism as a People’s Project'.
Webinar on Research Methodology
The Department of Sociology, Indraprastha College for Women, had organized a webinar on research methodology titled Contemporary Concerns in Sociological Research: Philosophy and Practice from 20th-22nd October. The three day event covered the themes of textual analysis, visual analysis, fieldwork and writing in sociological research. The keynote address was delivered by Prof. Dhruv Raina from the Zakir Hussain Centre for Educational Studies (ZHCES), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
Concept Note can be found here.
2019-20
Launch of the First Edition of the Sociology Department Magazine 2018-19 - Eidos
The department also launched the first edition of its magazine Eidos on 17th September, 2019.
Academic Writing Workshop
An academic writing workshop was organized by the Department on 19th October 2019. Prof. Vinita Chandra, Associate Professor, Department of English, University of Delhi was invited as a resource person for the workshop.
“Exploring Urban Spaces”: An Urban Studies Seminar Series
The Department organized a special lecture on “Urban Studies” on 21st October 2019. Prof. Sanjay Srivastava (Institute of Economic Growth) delivered this lecture on ‘City Spaces and New Religiosities: The Akshardham Temple in Delhi’.
Webinar on 'The Segregated City'
The Department organized a webinar on 1st May 2020 in which Dr. Mohammad Sayeed of Jindal Global University, Sonepat, delivered a lecture on the theme ‘The Segregated City’. Dr. Sayeed questioned the academic and political understandings of the segregation process in urban spaces. He narrated the gradual socio-political process of marginalization that happens in different urban spaces, which has converted physical, administrative and spatial aspects of segregation into cultural and moral mechanisms of exclusions.
Field Trip
A two-day field trip to Amritsar was organized by the Department for fifth semester students. The trip was part of the course on Sociological Research Methods-II. Twenty-four students accompanied by four faculty members went to Amritsar on 23rd February 2020. The study tour mainly had two objectives: a) to understand the reconstruction of historical memory and identity; b) to study sacred spaces and sacred praxis specifically focusing on material practices that go into creating a transcendent space and the varieties of bodily praxis that render the profane body suitable to enter transcendent space and enact activities of worship.
Students in the premises of Amritsar Railway Station
Students inside the premises of the Golden Temple
A discussion on '#MeToo: Challenging Sexism at The Workplace’ was organized on 30th October 2018. The event featured the voices of Suparna Sharma, the Resident Editor of Asian Age, Lakshmi Sharma, A Senior Producer of Khabar Lahariya and Poornima Joshi, Political Editor of the Hindu Business Line. At a time when the #MeToo movement was in the limelight, this discussion helped bring out critical perspectives on the issue.
Building a Gender Collective
In the winter of 2018, a group of students in the department came together to initiate reading and engagement on gender and sexuality, following from the course sociology of gender. The group held weekly discussions as an attempt to promote a better understanding and acceptance of gender diversity, expression, and identity issues.
Two films ‘Masaan’ and ‘Sairat’ that focus on the atrocious practices of caste system were screened for the students of the department in January 2018.
Department Student Paper Presentation
The department student paper presentation was held on 9th October 2018. The full list of presenters can be found here.
Academic Writing Session
An academic writing session was conducted by the second year students for the benefit of the new batch of students on 6th February 2019.
Prism’19
The Sociology Department organised its first annual festival on the theme ‘Cringe Fest: The Politics of Taste’ on 3rd April 2019. The department was honoured to have Professor Udaya Kumar of the department of English, JNU as their keynote speaker and the Principal, Dr. Babli Moitra Saraf as the chief guest. The day-long event featured many events including inter-college short film competition, photography competition and poetry slam contest with university-wide participation.
Department Student Paper Presentation
The department student paper presentation was held on 3rd April 2019. The full list of presenters can be found here.
Community Outreach Programme with the Fab India School, Rajasthan
The First and Second year students of the Department had an interactive session with the grade 11 girl students of the Fab India School, Rajasthan and two of their teachers on 11th and 12th March 2019. As part of the department's community outreach activities, the students engaged in discussion on social issues, gender-specific concerns and environmental issues. The students of both the educational institutions also discussed innovative ways to make classroom learning, particularly teaching of the Social Sciences more interesting at the school level.
Students gather near the Tila in the college for a morning meeting of the Gender Collective
Department students in conversation with the students of Fab India School, March 2019.
2017-2018
Invited lecture on Triple Talaq: Sociology of a Judgement
Ms. Shahrukh Alam, Advocate, Supreme Court of India, delivered a lecture on “Triple Talaq: Sociology of a Judgement” on 25th September 2017. Ms Alam’s lecture analysed the timing of the recent judgement and contextualized it with respect to debates on triple talaq within the Muslim community. The lecture was chaired by the Principal of the college, Prof Babli Moitra Saraf.
Invited lecture on All Art is Garbage: Politics of Knowledge Creation
Ms. Shubigi Rao delivered a lecture on “All Art is Garbage: Politics of Knowledge Creation” on 14th October 2017. Ms. Rao narrated her experiences of performing the role of a fictional male persona in order to enter the world of science. The narrative explored the gendered character of knowledge production through her journey in the lanes and by-lanes of science, and her encounters with the strange and the absurd, and the logical and the rational, in this world.
Invited Lecture, March 2018: 'Methodological Persuasion: The Case for Social Science'
The Department was honoured to have a special lecture by Dr. Satish Deshpande, Professor, Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics (DSE) on 'Methodological Persuasion: The Case for Social Science on 20th March 2018. Taking up the importance of methodology in social sciences, Prof. Deshpande argued that a systematic and clear presentation of the methodological steps and tools used in social science inquiry generates arguments and insights that are more persuasive.
Annual Day Celebrations 2018: 'Break the Silence: Interrogating University Culture'
The department’s Annual Day was organised on 19th April 2018. The theme of the event was “Break the Silence: Interrogating University Culture”. The event’s highlights were the music and dance performances, poetry recitation, and open mic by students on this theme as well as the screening of the film The Accused (Dir. Jonathan Kaplan, 1988, Paramount Pictures).
Field Trip
The department organised a one-day field trip to the Tibetan refugee settlement in Majnu ka Tila (MKT), Delhi on 10th February 2018. The main objectives of this field trip were to familiarize students with Tibetan women’s roles in economic activities, and to understand the cultural norms that shape their participation in the economic sphere. The trip was organised during the Tibetan New Year Lhosar. The field trip also generated an interest among some students in understanding the importance of remembering and preserving "tradition" for a refugee community.
Department Student Paper Presentations
In the first student paper presentation on 11th November 2017, the following papers were presented:
“Portrayal of Mental Illness in Popular Cinema” by Vrinda Dabas.
“Delhi Metro as a Social System and its Seat-Giving Patterns” by Rhea Jain.
“Pinjra Tod: Movement or Collective?” by Devanshi Srivastava.
In the second student paper presentation on 14th March 2018, the following papers were presented:
“Thangka: Reconstructing Art in Exile” by Apoorva Srivastava, Harsha, and Shalini Bharti.
“Consequences of Hushing the Conservative” by Rhea Jain.
“Viramma: A Life of Contradictions” by Devanshi Srivastava.
“Social Construction of Gender” by Vrinda Dabas.
March-Past, February 2018
