Bengaluru Sociology Student Seminar (BSSS) - 2020

CHRIST (Deemed to be University) was born out of the educational vision of St Kuriakose Elias Chavara, an educationalist and social reformer of the nineteenth century in South India. He founded the first Catholic indigenous congregation, Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI), in 1831 which administers CHRIST (Deemed to be University).

Established in 1969 as Christ College, it undertook path-breaking initiatives in Indian higher education with the introduction of innovative and modern curricula, insistence on academic discipline, imparting of holistic education and adoption of global higher education practices with the support of creative and dedicated staff.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) of India conferred Autonomy to Christ College in 2004 and identified it as an Institution with Potential for Excellence in 2006. In 2008, under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956, the Ministry of Human Resource Development of the Government of India declared the institution a Deemed to be University, in the name and style of Christ University. One of the first institutions in India to be accredited in 1998 by the NAAC, and subsequently in 2004 and 2016, CHRIST (Deemed to be University) has the top grade ‘A’ on the 4-point scale.

The multi-disciplinary University which focuses on teaching, research and service offer Bachelors to Doctoral programs in humanities, social sciences, science, commerce, management, engineering, education, and law to over 21000 students. The campus is a living example for the harmonious multiculturalism with students from all the states of India and around 60 different countries. CHRIST (Deemed to be University) publishes six peer-reviewed research journals and has published more than 300 books in Kannada and English. A promoter of sports, music and literary activities, it is a nurturing ground for creative excellence.

Societies in Transition: Modern and Post-Modern Conditions

The Bengaluru Sociology Students Seminar (BSSS) is an annual regional conference organized by the Sociology Students Association of CHRIST (Deemed to be University). They have identified Societies in Transition: Modern and Post-Modern Conditions as the topic for deliberations this year. This seminar is a platform for students pursuing sociology with any one educational institution within Bangalore to participate and present papers. This seminar is expected to initiate critical discussion, resulting in a dynamic exchange of ideas amongst the participants.

We invite papers attempting

1. to record fundamental processes involved in social transition;

2. to identify the root causes of social transition in the Indian context;

 3. to examine the past, present, and future (predictive) conditions of these societies in transition;

4. to understand the effects of social transition on social relationships;

5. to develop new methods to understand the social transition.

The following suggestive subthemes are identified. These are a few pointers which can be used as a foundation for formulating papers. We look forward to receiving novel works which are argumentative and debate provoking. Papers addressing issues and concerns outside the list below will also be considered if they fall within the broader theme of the seminar.

·         Indigenous Cultures and Modernity

·         Redefining Caste and Class Structures

·         Emerging New Political and Economic Structures

·         New Social Movements and Social Transitions

·         Role of Youth Today

·         Changes in Gender Roles

·         Changes in Social Institutions

·         Role of Technology, Media and Communication in Social Transitions

·         Role of Education in Social Transitions

Interested students are requested to send 150 words abstract to the below-given email address by November 30, 2019.

Important information:

·         Date of Seminar: February 12, 2020

·         Venue of Seminar: CHRIST Main Campus, Hosur Road, Bengaluru.

·         Date for receiving abstracts: November 30, 2019

·         Date for receiving the final paper: January 15, 2020

·         Abstracts and Final papers (APA style) should be sent to the given email ids.

Ø  Presentations can be made both in Kannada and English

Ø  Registration fee for participants is Rs.200 and for presenters Rs.250.

Ø  All the registered participants will be provided Tea, Lunch and Certificate of Participation (Presenters will also get a folder and a certificate of presentation)

Kindly make use of the online registration form in the invitation mail. Payment can be made on the seminar day at the venue. However, confirming your participation in advance is compulsory.

For more details, please contact:                                                          

Ruby Koshy

Secretary, Sociology Association

Email: ruby.koshy@arts.christuniversity.in

“The Revelations of Field Work”

Primary research or field experiments have always played a major role in the subject matter of sociology as
society undergoes constant changes. On 12th November 2019 a student from 4EPS, Rishvanth Reddy, shared
his work on the education system in a small village within the state of Andhra Pradesh with the first-year
batch of PSEco. Based on his observations he wrote a paper titled “The Revelations of Field Work” in which
he identified the workings of the education system in Andhra Pradesh especially considering the caste system.
He shared his analysis of the data collected regarding caste of the students, caste of the head-masters and the
ratio of students based on their caste. He collected data of 2 schools each from grades 1 to 5. He also
collected data about the percentage of attendance. Surprisingly, the overall attendance was at 99%. He later
mentioned that the school provided students with food which may act as an incentive for students to attend
school regularly. An interesting observation made was that the names of students were accompanied by their
respective castes in the attendance register and both would be called out while attendance was taken. 

Besides his findings, he also shared his experience of working in the field. He established the importance
of going into research without prejudice that may cause biases skewing the results. However, at the same
time, he spoke about how a sociologist’s results will be the outcome of their experience and so it would be
difficult to nullify bias entirely. He also mentioned the tedious process of getting permission from several
people in order to receive the opportunity of conducting research. He conducted this research over a span
of 2 days and expressed his interest to continue it.

The presentation ended with a question and answer session which also included a few suggestions given by
the class to better his research. 

Interactive Session on Vocational Experiences in the Social Sector with Navendu Rashmi

Experience is a great teacher and sharing experiences is like spreading education and skills in making things happen practically. The interactions between those who are about to foray into the open and those who work at the heart of it is indispensable for optimal performance and success later on.

On Monday, July 1, the students of the First Year and Second Year M.A. in Applied Sociology had an interactive session on vocational experiences in the social sector with Ms. Navendu Rashmi, an alumnus of CHRIST (Deemed to be University) from the M.A. in Sociology Batch of 2011-2013. She is now a Senior Executive of the Corporate Citizenship department of a major professional services firm, KPMG. 

During the hour-long session, facilitated by Dr. Sudhansubala Sahu, students had the opportunity to ask Ms. Navendu questions on career opportunities as well as professional requirements and attributes needed for development in the social sector. As such, varied aspects of employment for sociologists in NGOs and corporate firms were discussed by her with insights and suggestions from her own experiences.

The aspects primarily discussed were the nature of the recruitment processes of NGOs, internships, expectations of sociology students from corporate firms, the skill- based advantages and the means of improving communication as well as availing employment opportunities via networking and developing working experience with organizations.

In addition, Ms. Navendu encouraged students to ask any queries related to their post-graduate education, and experiences in the same; the need for maintaining openness to various forms of job opportunities based on evolving, and the need to develop interests and skills was emphasized.

'Indian 2023: A Vision for our Future'

On 24th September 2019, class 1PSEco conducted a student seminar ‘INDIA 2023: a vision for our future’. The event was held in the Seminar Hall at Block 2, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Hosur Road. This was the first student seminar organized and conducted for this academic year within the department of sociology and social work and more importantly first ever to be organized by the first year PSEco class. Dr. Victor Paul, HOD of Sociology and Social Work,  Dr. Suparna Majumdar and various other professors graced the occasion. The seminar was an outside-class learning experience where students actively participated and presented their research work in accordance to the theme.

The seminar was well-organized thanks to the efforts put in by Ms. Nikhita Jindal, Ph.D. Scholar at Christ University and the Core Team. Through the theme selected, the class tried to analyze how the current economic, political and social scenario will affect the future. Papers on various diverse sub-themes were presented, topics like “water crisis”, “ World Cup 2023”, “counter-terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir” and many more. This gave students the opportunity to venture beyond academic knowledge and a chance to explore recurring issues. The seminar was planned and executed in two weeks by the Core team. Various cultural performances were presented by the students as part of creating an impact.

Ms Yaschica and Master Sandeep won the award for the ‘best presenter’, Ms. Annet, Ms. Upasana and Master Divyajyoti won the award for ‘best topic’ and Ms. Salma won the award for ‘ the most visionary paper. At the end of the event, Dr Suparna appreciated the class for taking out time and conducting this seminar. This event also taught students skills like punctuality, time and stress management, teamwork, cooperation, coordination and event management. “ India 2023”  was quite a success and we hope to see more student seminars in the near future

Understanding Issues on Sexuality with Hidden Pockets and Cheshire Disability Trust

An interactive session along the theme of Gender and Sexuality Issues was held on 2nd July from 10am till 12:30pm. The audience comprised of MA Applied Sociology students. 

The forum was conducted by two speakers – a member of Cheshire Disability Trust and Jasmine George,
an alumnus of CHRIST (Deemed to be University). The former shared her experiences about imparting
self-defense training to the differently-abled, as the statistics imply a higher vulnerability of the cohort
to abuse and assault.  The later is currently a lawyer and the founder of Hidden Pockets. She provides
counsel for safe abortion and aims at spreading awareness about social issues and the inclusivity of
various genders and minorities. She initiated the session by asking general questions so as to
understand the different backgrounds the students came from and then continued on topics around
reproductive health, feelings of safety around the campus, different types of contraceptives, etc.

She spoke about how Hidden Pockets deals with many cases about abortion, a taboo, and the
involvement of the partners. She took up the recent Tinder case which happened in HSR, Bangalore
and focused on it. Thought-provoking questions were raised for the students to answer and analyze.
She went on to highlight the importance of law and legislation. The last part of the session was
focussed on her work with the Tinder case and the confusion of the elder generation unable to grasp
modern trends such as dating on a digital phone application. 

Overall, interactions with both the speakers centered on how Gender sensitization is a necessity in
educational institutions. The session was enlightening, captivating and informative.  

Alumni Report 1- MSOC, 2019

The Department of Sociology and Social work organized an interactive session with two alumnae from the Christ family. The esteemed speakers of the day Induja Aravind and Medha Roy successfully oriented the students to the various fields to be explored upon completing the Applied Sociology course. Induja currently works at Brandcom while Medha has been employed at Edelman, both of which are well established public relations agencies in Bangalore.

Alumane addressing students 

Contrary to popular belief that a discipline like Sociology has a limited scope, the speakers shared their experiential learning outcomes and were able to plant a broader range of career aspirations among us. While a layperson may think of the most generic professions for a Sociology graduate, it was through this lecture that much of these doubts were cleared. As the speakers shared snippets of their journey from student to an employee, several unthought-of avenues such as media planning, public relations, the development/social sector, market research, policy analysts, artificial intelligence, human resource among many others were brought to light.  

The one-hour session was quite fruitful, as experienced peers were able to consider the standpoint of students and accordingly guide or address the naive concerns. 

Students attend alumane session 

Moreover, through such sharing the general anxiousness that persists among most students (with regard to employment options), is taken care of; listening to a peer open up about their journey from a confused worried student, to working with start-ups and eventually to an independent successful employee is inspiring and reassuring. Such departmental initiatives are beneficial in nurturing and broadening the career scape of young sociologists.