Ph.D. Programme in Sociology and Anthropology

Graduate students will be required to complete 36 credits of coursework spread over four semesters/two years. Three semesters of rigorous coursework and one semester of preparation for the qualifying exams will allow students to explore a wide range of concepts, theories and ethnographies as they move towards formulating their dissertation topic. The core courses include 1. Concepts, Contemporaneity and the Social, which will introduce contemporary debates and ethnographies ranging from the ecological crisis to contemporary religiosity and the problems of the secular, from collective violence to public health, from gift economies to commodity cultures and the market, from states and borders to migration and mobilities 2. Research Methodology, where students will be trained in anthropological methods tailored to specific research projects as well as writing proposals for external funding. 3. Critical Writing, which will ensure that students receive dedicated instruction and mentorship in academic writing and narrative techniques. The department also offers several elective courses, such as Imagining South Asia; Kins and Neighbours; Power, Resistance and Legitimacy; Economy, Ecology and Infrastructure; Medicine, Technology and the Body; Language, Science and the Social; Gender and Sexuality; Gaze, Screen & Performativity; Law and Society; Constructing Disciplinary Pasts etc. The students can take a maximum of two electives from outside the department.

Students will acquire teaching experience as Graduate Assistants during the first four semesters of coursework. Assistance in teaching will include (among others) supervision of students’ work, grading assignments, quizzes, or reports, data collection and/or analysis. Graduate Assistants will also help in coordinating department events. 

Students will carry out a preliminary exploration/ pilot study of their field site in the summer after their first year. From the monsoon semester of the third year, students will carry out fieldwork until the summer of the fourth year. The fifth and sixth years will be spent in writing the thesis. Students are expected to deliver a dissertation defense no later than the end of the sixth year. 

There will be two components for evaluating PhD applicants:

Written and Oral

1. Written component will consist of Writing Sample & Research Proposal + Written Test
2. Oral interview

The result of the first screening of candidates on the basis of submissions (CV, Writing Sample and Research Proposal) will be declared by last week of March. The applicants are advised to keep checking this page for more information.

Final shortlisted candidates will be notified by email about take-home written exam and interview.

The email will mention the format of the written exam. The question paper will consist of 2 open-ended questions on two texts (extracts/selections from academic books). The written test will evaluate their critical engagement, sociological imagination, and original thinking. The duration of the exam will be 12 hours. The list of 2-3 readings will be provided at the time of email notification to shortlisted candidates.

The shortlisted candidates will sit for take-away exam (12 hours, 8 AM-8 PM). in the first week of April.

The shortlisted candidates from the written exam will be called for interviews online.

The final list of selected candidates will be announced here after complete evaluation.

https://www.ashoka.edu.in/roles/phd-candidates/?filterby=sociology-anthropology