Sociology was supposed to deal with the transformations of modern Western societies, induced by social and intellectual forces though later it has become one of the sciences with universal applications throughout the world. It enables understanding the structure and dynamics of society, and its intricate connections to patterns of human behavior and individual life changes. It studies the general social structure of society, and social arrangement of parts of society (groups, organizations, communities). The Department of Sociology was established at Woldia University in 2013 GC under the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities. For the last 8 years, the Department has produced professionals/experts/ working on various social, economic, political and cultural institutions at the national and international levels. Additionally, the Department of Sociology at Woldia University is composed of interdisciplinary professionals who studied Sociology, Social Work, and Social Anthropology. Currently, the Department of Sociology has one undergraduate program offered by senior lecturers.
In the context of the massive Socioeconomic development process, there is a need for trained manpower skilled with Sociological knowledge, approaches, and theories; those who can inform and usefully guide Societal development endeavors. The dynamics and complexity of human social behavior, group structure, social institutions and organizations, and patterns of intra- and inter-personal, group, and community relationships are crucial in human development processes. The Department of Sociology at Woldia University aimed to produce skilled manpower in sociology who can be actively involved in the socioeconomic development of the country.
Generally, the following are the major rationales of the Department of Sociology:
➢ Knowledge and skill of Sociology is tremendously important for a nation like Ethiopia, where there are numerous social problems and cultural diversity.
➢ Critical knowledge of sociological theories will enable the graduates to understand the pragmatic conditions of Ethiopia and the rest of the world.
➢ Sociology graduates will contribute their share in reducing the ever-growing social problems and this goes in line with current regional, national, continental, and global development priorities and policies.
➢ Sociology can enable the graduates to be critical thinkers and provides them an opportunity to apply sociological theories and methodologies in undertaking successful research on societal issues and to intervene in social problems.
