My journey of Mastersin Sociology

The university is research oriented. There are two minor research projects which are sponsored by UGC and is currently under process. The department has recently completed one state government project related to sociology of development. All these projects are placing the department at the top in the university.

The curriculum was designed keeping in mind the vision of achieving excellence in learning and research by exploring new avenues of research with social sensitivity. The course comprised core courses and open elective papers. The core courses such as sociology of gender, sociology of environment, political sociology, sociology of tribe, sociology of migration, industrial sociology, sociology of development, urban sociology, sociology of environment, sociology of religion, sociology of media, sociology=y of health, sociology of family and kinship and sociology of education were taught to us during the course. The research methodology was also taught that enabled us to open our horizons in research. The open electives gave us an outline of other disciplines us many us opted for open electives in economics, history and political since. All these courses empowered us to reduce inequality in the society. The choice Based Credit System (CBCS) was followed. There were internal examination of 30 marks and external examination of 70 marks. The internal examination comprised of 2 internal tests (5 marks each), field work (10 mark), one seminar by each of us (5 marks) and assignment (5 marks) thus making total of 30 marks. The main focus was on the field work which opened the opportunities for the students apart from lecturing.

The university focusing on the holistic development of an individual in the open academic environment set up the placement cell in the campus. Many of my batch mates were engaged in research with the thrust area being applied research. The placement cell and the department undertook two UGC major projects in collaboration of women?s study department focusing on sociology of department. I was the part of the project in my second semester which provided me the hand on experience on research and working closely with the research heads of the country. The social organizations and think tanks recruited the students from our department. Many of them even worked with UGC under their guidance on research project.

The annual course fee was INR 15,565. I found this fee to be very nominal because the university was run and funded by the state government. There were two options available to pay the fees online-either through demand draft issued in the name of the university or through online debit/credit card and net banking. All the fees was included in the annual fee like tuition fee, examination fee, miscellaneous fee. I always preferred to pay the fees online.

There are various cells established in the campus like IT Cell, SC/ST Cell, Anti Ragging Cell, Placement Cell, Equal opportunity Cell, IQAC cell and NSS. The students joined them which gave them the exposure to real world. The library has more than 10,000 books and 500 international and national research journals. It is well equipped with book browsing facility, reading room facility, OPAC facility, smart card service, INTRNET, IUC facility, Anti-Plagiarism facility. There were LCD projectors, smart classes, computers and smart board enabled classrooms.

After completing my graduation in Sociology, I was in dilemma whether to enter the job market or pursue higher education (post-graduation) in sociology. I checked various universities online and their course structure of Masters. After a lot of discussion with my family and friends, I decided to take admission in Karnataka state women?s university. I filled the online application form. The eligibility criteria is that the candidate should have passes BA degree in Sociology with as one of the optional subjects with 50% marks in aggregate from a recognized university. I qualified the criteria as I had scored 70% marks in my BA. The list of selected students was uploaded online on the website. I saw my name in the list and got my documents verifies from the university. Thus my seat was reserved and admission was confirmed.

All the faculty members were qualified in diverse backgrounds. All of them were assistant professors except the dean who was the professor. She taught us sociology of health, gender and globalization. She guided us in all our field works. All the faculty members integrated teaching and social commitment along with a cutting-edge research.