Young Sociologist 2016

“Each new generation is reared by its predecessor; the later must therefore improve in order to improve its successor. The movement is circular.”                                        

                                                                                            - Emile Durkheim

                                                                    

Young sociologist competition is a platform for students from all over the nation to participate and present their respective research papers. We received more than 100 abstracts out of which 40 full papers were called for and later 10 finalists from across the country were shortlisted by blind checkers.

The event began with the Head of the Department of Sociology, Dr. Victor Paul addressing the audience and motivating the participants followed by an inaugural session where Prof N Jayaram one of the most eminent Sociologists of our time addressed the students. He, in his inaugural speech primarily talked about identity and its construction. According to him, identity is not a psychological phenomena but, it is constructed by interacting with others.

There were 10 participants and all had diverse themes to talk about. One of the topics was Quest to uphold Tamil identity and the focus of the study was migrant behavior and how migration affects individual identity. Other participants talked about patriarchy and religion; the exploitation of women, importance of government in cultural representation, stigmatization of eunuchs, effects of sanskratization and acculturation on Santhal tribe, cow protection and intolerance among people, and gender biases in work place. 

There was a question-answer round after every paper presentation. Each participant was given time to speak extensively about their topics and then answer the asked questions. The audience was kept engaged during the competition through the quizzes that were conducted in between speakers.

Sweetlin Brahmachary won the first prize and emerged as the Young Sociologist 2016. Srabanti Kayal was the first runner uup and Arundhati Sural won the third prize. The Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, Christ University, Prof John Joseph Kennedy gave the winning prize and offered the  concluding remarks for the event.