IMA

The Department participates in the Five Year Integrated Master’s (IMA) Program in the Social Sciences by offering a variety of courses at the Centre for Integrated Studies (CIS), University of Hyderabad. At the end of three years, students in the Integrated Master’s Programme have the option to exit with Bachelors degree or continue with the regular M.A. students, subject to the fulfilment of required grades.

IMA COURSES

The courses offered by the Department under the auspices of the Integrated Master’s program include:

Introduction to Study of Society: This course is meant as a broad critical introduction to the discipline of sociology. It is also concerned to show how the study of sociology is relevant to the society in which we live. Indeed, to the extent that there is no agreed viewpoint among social scientists at large about the subject matter of their discipline, the course will seek to provide a clear discussion of some of the major differences and introduce the student to the central issues of sociological analysis.
Changing Indian Family: This course will explore the nature of the Indian family in the contemporary context. The sociology of the family has been an important area of study in social anthropology and has been traditionally linked with the studies of marriage and kinship. The historical context of the Indian family will be examined along with changes that have come about in the family as a social institution. Gender relations within the family will be examined especially in the relationship between work and family. The different needs and relations of generations within families will be discussed.
Equality and Inequality: This course attempts to introduce the student to the ubiquitous fact of social inequality and its understanding by sociology. The need and the demand for equality, and the various ideas spawned in its wake, will be examined. The course also has as its focus the changing patterns of inequality in contemporary societies.
Caste in Modern India: This course seeks to introduce the student both to the reality of caste and to the social science understanding of the same. The effort will be to arrive at a processual understanding of the phenomenon of caste in modern India. Such an understanding is indeed necessary if we are to comprehend the ways in which social inequality and cultural difference are organized in contemporary society.
Rural and Urban Societies: This course will provide a sociological perspective on the origin, development and characteristics of rural and urban societies. The course will deal with both the structural and processual aspects of change in the urban and agrarian societies. The lectures will be delivered in such a way that students would be adequately exposed to certain conceptual and empirical issues pertaining to Rural as well as urban India.
Roots of Social Protest: Protest is an inherent feature of human society. The progress of any society to a large extent tends to be determined by the degree of social protest. India is not an exception to this process. Indian society witnessed a wide range of protest movements differentiated by ideologies, methods and objectives in different historical conjunctures. This course proposes to introduce the concepts, theories, and case studies that seek to clarify protest as a social, cultural, political, economic and historical phenomenon that has the potential to unleash larger implications for policy changes, social reforms, and even economic and political revolutions.
Contemporary Development Issues: The objective of this course is to familiarize the students with the current issues and debates concerning development. The concept of development has had several connotations, starting from incessant pre-occupation with economic growth during the years following independence to the current engagement with the human and social development with active inclusion of local communities in the process. The course attempts to understand the current practices of development by an analysis of the approaches, agencies and issues involved in it.
Religion and Society: Religion is significant in every society and religious beliefs are present in an endless variety of ways. Religion has been playing a crucial role not only in our everyday lives but in shaping the national and global political scenario. It brings about solidarity among the people but at the same time disunites the community. Therefore, this course will make an attempt to understand the mechanism of religion and how it influences various aspects in general and in the particular context of Indian society.
Introduction to Social Research: Broadly, methodology is the study of how claims to specialized knowledge of societies are validated. Methodological issues are thus fundamental to all the areas of social science research. The aim of this course is to examine and illustrate some of the major technical and theoretical issues involved in gathering and interpreting data.
Work and Organizations: This is an introductory course on the sociology of work and organizations. The modern period has witnessed radical changes in the work and organization of people. The course focuses on the organization of work and labor in India, and deals with issues related to dynamics of work, control and coordination in organizational settings.