Welcome Message from the Head – Department of Social Studies
Greetings to all our partners in learning!
The Department of Social Studies (SSD) of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) is unique in its ethos and character, offering multi-disciplinary academic programmes from Foundation Certificate to Postgraduate levels. The Department has evolved with a distinct character and profile over the years for our beneficiaries to excel ultimately in the broad field of Development Studies with a strong foundation inspired by the core disciplines of Economics, Sociology and Anthropology, Mass Communication, Political Science and International Relations, and Youth Studies. I am very proud to say that SSD is one of the pioneering departments in the history of the national university system promoting Social Studies. Established in 1990, we have evolved with a distinct culture with academics trained in globally competitive universities in Asia, Europe, Australia, and America.
The SSD believes that social science graduates should learn to respect democratic values and cultural diversity while demonstrating a strong sense of civic responsibility and social responsiveness. Furthermore, the programmes from Certificate to postgraduate level are recognized internationally with our students well equipped with soft skills, Information Technology skills, interdisciplinary courses, to make a real change to the quality of life of people everywhere.
More importantly, our programmes are structured in terms of multidisciplinary scholarship, a pre-requisite in doing research when we are influenced not only by social, economic, political, cultural and moral factors but also other global developments such as transnationalism and diaspora related developments in post war societies.
The Department of Social Studies has developed its own culture of teaching, facilitating and advising the students who are in the BA in Social Sciences through incorporating the teaching and learning pedagogies and taxonomies of global relevance. This friendly and sophisticated environment has created a space for the democratization of teaching and learning autonomy in the Department of Social Studies, making us a model for teaching that facilitated human dignity. In this context we of the SSD resolve to be in the frontline for developing and maximizing multidisciplinary Social Sciences in the highest public interest.
Dr. Pathmanesan Sanmugeswaran,
Head – Department of Social Studies
October 2022