Dr. Nandita Saldanha

Designation : Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Sociology.

Dr. Nandita Saldanha has had an excellent academic career with a First class at the Bachelors and Masters degree from the Mumbai University. She completed her M.Phil. in the subject “Effect of Female Education and work Status on Fertility in Developing Countries, with special reference to India”.  She has done her doctoral thesis on the “Cultural Identity of Female Domestic Workers in Mumbai”.
Dr. Saldanha has 23 years of teaching experience.  Women’s empowerment and Women’s studies are of special interest to her. She has convened and also been the resource person for several seminars and forums on Social issues. She has been actively involved in the framing of the revised syllabus for the F.Y.BA, S.Y.BA, and T.Y.BA courses in Sociology for the Mumbai University.

Mrs. Samya Shinde

MA (Sociology)
Assistant Professor,

MA (First Class) in Sociology from Department of Sociology, University of Mumbai, 2000.

Currently pursuing PhD in Sociology under the guidance of Professor Bhowmik from Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Contemporary Studies, University of Mumbai, on the topic ‘Work and labour relations: An Anthropological study of the leather industry in Dharavi, Mumbai’

Qualified National Eligibility Test (NET) for Lectureship in Sociology in June 2004.

Qualified State Eligibility Test (SET) for Lectureship in Sociology in February 2003

Areas of interest include Sociology of Work and Sociology of Education.


Departmental Activities

As part of the classroom activities and to motivate the students, there were many presentations put up by students in the classroom on topics related to current affairs as well as those in the syllabus. A field trip was organized for the students of the sociology department to ‘ASHRAY’, a home for children infected and affected by A.I.D.S. on the 17th of February, 2010. The students learnt a lot as they interacted, danced and sang with the children. It was truly a learning experience for them as it served to sensitize them. A poster competition was organized on ‘Human Rights’. Here the creativity of the students came to the fore, as well as it managed to throw light on the basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled and how some are denied of these basic rights. In order to keep the students up to date with the sociological issues and happenings in today’s world, talks and lectures were organized for the students during the year.

Documentary films were shown throughout the year, after which analysis and discussions were held, which brought out their sociological significance. The faculty, Dr. Mrs. Saldanha and Mrs. Shinde participated in many faculty improvement programs. Among these were an International Seminar on “Human Rights in a globalized world”, hosted by St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, attended by Mrs. Saldanha. Mrs. Saldanha also attended a workshop on “Sociological Theorizing on Caste: Update, Review and Future directions”, organized by the department of Sociology, Mumbai University, Kalina Campus. Mrs. Saldanha also presented a paper entitled “Cultural Adjustment of Migrant Tribal Domestic Workers in Bandra” at the Symposium held at St. Andrew’s College in January 2010. Mrs. Samya Shinde attended and participated in an online course on “Sexual Harassment and Women Development Cell” organized by “Akshara Resource Centre” in October 2009. Mrs. Shinde also attended “The International Research Education Seminar” held at the University of Hertfordshire, U.K. in October 2009.

The Report for the Department of Sociology (2010-2011)

 The year 2010-2011 was a very fulfilling and fruitful year for the Department of Sociology. A lot of effort was put in by the faculty members of the department to make this year a success as there was a revision of syllabus for the F.Y.B.A. students.
 As part of the classroom activities and to motivate the students there were many presentations put up by students in the classroom on topics related to current affairs as well as those in the syllabus.
  A field trip was organized for the students of the sociology department to ‘ASHRAY’, a home for children infected and affected by A.I.D.S. The students learnt a lot as they interacted, danced and sang with the children. It was truly a learning experience for them as it served to sensitize them.
  A poster competition was organized on ‘Environmental Issues’. Here the creativity of the students came to the fore, as well as it managed to throw light on the more recent types of environmental threats to the planet.
 Documentary films were shown throughout the year, after which analysis and discussions were held which brought out their sociological significance.
  A street play on A.I.D.S., which is held annually to mark ‘World A.I.D.S. Day’ was held in the college garden, which served to sensitize the college on different aspects of the disease
The year ended on a good note with faculty member Samiya Shinde having been invited as a visiting scholar at the Kassel University, Germany to present a paper.