The Department of Sociology, one of the oldest Post-Graduate Departments of Kumaun University, has been providing teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels since 1974 and research programmes since 1977. The Department of Sociology has been doing pioneering work in the field of teaching, research and extension activities meant for knowledge generation, knowledge sharing and knowledge dissemination. Major thrust areas of research are rural and urban sociology, gender studies, contemporary social problems, socio- economic and cultural changes among tribes and weaker sections of the society with special reference to Uttarakhand. Senior faculty members of the department are conducting major research projects on various contemporary issues, providing consultancy services to public and private sectors. The Department has been conducting seminars, workshops and refresher courses on contemporary issues. Special lectures by eminent scholars have also been organized from time to time. Few activities carried out during current session are as under:-

1. Refresher Course on Recent Trends of Globalization for Social Sciences from 27 August to 09 September 2019.
2. Special Lecture by Prof Aanand Kumar (Retd Professor of CSSS, JNU, New Delhi.)on 28 August, 2019.
3. Workshop on Research Methodology on 01 June, 2019. Theme Lectures were delivered by Prof Nilika Melhotra, CSSS, JNU, New Delhi and Prof Sukant Chowdhary, Deptt of Sociology, Lucknow University, Lucknow.
4. Special Lecture by Prof S.M. Patnayak, Honourable Vice-Chancellor, Utkal University, Bhubneshwar, Odisha on Recent Trends of Methodology in Social Sciences, on 01 June, 2019.
5. Workshop on Gender Responsive Budgeting sponsored by National Institute of Financial Management on 25/26 March, 2019.
6. Special Lecture by Prof Anand Kumar on 'Challenges of Nation Building' on 14 March, 2019.
7. National Webinar on Reverse Migration : Perspective Prospects and Challenges (With Special reference to Covid-19 on 19, June 2019)

The vision of the department is to impart students with the theoretical and substantive knowledge in order to make them grasp the nuances of social reality and participate as future academicians and sociologists.

The adopted tagline of the department is D³ : DEVELOPMENT with DIGNITY and DEDICATION.

Head of Department

Name : Dr. Jyoti Joshi

Phone : 9837465590

Email : dr.joshijyoti@gmail.com

Prof Jyoti Joshi has been serving as the Professor in the Department of Sociology, D S B Campus, Kumaun University, Nainital since July 1999. She did her Masters in Sociology from the Banasthali Vidyapith, Rajasthan securing the first position in the order of merit and receiving the University Gold Medal. In 1993, she was awarded the doctoral degree from Kumaun University for her work on the Status of Tribal Women in Kumaun. She has made valuable research publications in reputed National and International journals. Tribal and Folk studies have been her main area of research interest and writings. Over time, her research interest have expanded into the areas of Gender and Sexuality. Her teaching areas include Sociological Thought, Tribal Society in India, Research Methodology and Sociology of Gender. She has been supervising research for over a decade. Additionally, she has served on various Administrative Boards and Committees such as DSW Board, Proctorial Board and Admission and Examination Committees. Earlier also she held the position of department head from October 2018 to September 2020. Furthermore, she has been the Convener of Criminology since October 2020

Course Offered : BA and MA Courses in Semester Mode and Ph D Course.