Department of Sociology in China Agricultural University was established in 1995, in the College of Humanities and Development. It is the first discipline authorized with PhD accreditation and recruits students in research fields of sociology, anthropology and development studies. There are 19 staff members in the department, including 6 professors, 8 associate professors, 4 senior lecturers and 1 full-time administrative staff. Taking “exploring the countryside and constructing harmonious societies” as our responsibility, the department of sociology developed the rural-focused feature in teaching and research activities.
Since recent years, the colleagues in the department have undertaken 10 research projects sponsored by National Social Science Fund, tens of provincial and ministry research projects, and have published hundreds of academic papers and research reports, and more than 60 books. All the academic achievements have made great contribution to the governmental decision-making and social development. The department has made fruitful achievement in research fields including poverty reduction, rural left-behind population, construction of new countryside, rural culture, educational equity and rural education, agricultural sociology, and etc, which have received much emphasis from central government and positive evaluation in academia. Our judgments for social problems in rural area and agricultural characteristics from perspective of sociology have significantly contributed to the development interdisciplinary studies.
Teachers in this department keep innovating in pedagogy and have accumulated rich experiences. Many teachers have received honors of ‘famous teacher’ and ‘outstanding teacher’ from the university and the municipality. The department has established research bases for social practices and social surveys in several cities and provinces such as Beijing, Henan and Hebei, and maintained close relationship with domestic and international research organizations, which provides premium condition for students’ research and practice.
Till 2015, the department of sociology has trained 535 undergraduate students and 203 graduate students. Most of the alumni are working in administrative departments in enterprises, government agencies and social service organizations. Their employment areas range from social organizations for labour, youth and women, civil affairs, birth control, policy research, development planning to media and press and other institutions. The alumni from our department are generally popular and highly praised by their employers. Each year about 40% of alumni would pursue further studies in domestic or oversea universities.
Institute of Peasant Issues in China Agricultural University is a research institute that mainly comprises staff members from this department. Through the years, its researches in occupational education to new farmers, the construction of beautiful countryside, modern agriculture and many other fields have obtained extensive attention in the academia.
