Societies tell stories about themselves. These stories take varied shapes in sustaining a range of social structures and institutions. Sociology and anthropology are disciplinary methods which offer ways with which to uncover these stories and their working in a society. These methods could be applied to ‘traditional’ topics such as family, kinship, religion to those of markets, political institutions, bureaucracies, military, corporations, NGOs and so on.  They are crucially geared towards difference in the making of the modern world – why do people from different societies have different reactions to the same things (e.g. McDonald’s burgers)?  

Concepts like time, space, structure, agency, representation are analyzed in these disciplines with a view to how different societies use these concepts differently. Anthropology and sociology are both theoretical as well as empirical disciplines, and they provide us with a knowledge of the many social patterns and alternatives that exist in the world, and a variety of theoretical lenses which can be used to study how people actually live in different social and cultural settings. They also help us develop an understanding of how societies have developed historically along with an awareness of contemporary social issues. They have an applied side to them too, where sociological and anthropological concepts can be used to address wider issues and problems in societies and to develop relevant responses and policies.  

As a student taking the Sociology and Anthropology Major, you will build on concepts and paradigms introduced in your foundation courses like Sociology and the Interdisciplinary Seminars to develop an in-depth understanding of society, its institutions, structures, and a range of current issues that arise from social life.