Sociology is the study of social life and interaction. It advances such a study in two ways. First, as a way of seeing, Sociology aims to go beyond commonsensical beliefs about how human beings as a group live and think. Sociology asks you to take a fresh look at a wide range of your social experience: the way you are brought up in family, how you are educated, how and why you work, what politics means to you, what love means to you, why people form groups, why traditions survive, how nations disintegrate and so on.

Second, as a set of intellectual tools, Sociology encourages you to study social life in a rigorous and systematic way. Through this, you learn more about yourself and your place in society than the untrained observer. Sociology as a discipline has a long history. It has constantly updated itself to meet new challenges. As we move into the 21st century, we face a world increasingly connected by new technologies of communication, joint by the pursuit of economic well being, excited by new modes of entertainment, divided by the utilization of power and shadowed by global environmental hazards. Sociology provides a unique gateway to these public as well as personal issues. You will find yourself enjoying the many fascinating insights of this critical and humane discipline called Sociology.

Sociology as a discipline first emerged in local universities in the 1970s. From the beginning, it took on the mission of understanding the processes and repercussions of modernization among a predominantly Chinese community. Since then, Hong Kong's unique patterns of development continue to pose special challenges to it. Unprecedented urban economic growth has been achieved in a context of colonial rule and prolonged complicated relations with Mainland China. A modern population, imbued with a burgeoning local culture then face a succession of economic and governance crises in a runaway globalized world after 1997. Doing sociology in Hong Kong has a special attraction. Researchers and students are continually fascinated by the unique opportunities to explore a range of important social, political and economic issues peculiar to this place and region.

Hong Kong society has undergone major changes in the past decade. Political transition, economic restructuring, the globalization of culture, the coming of a new knowledge society have produced major upheavals in our lives. The aims and content of higher education also experience fundamental changes. Our courses are structured to enable students to meet the challenges of this new environment.

Our programme helps students to develop a broad social vision and the ability to critically reflect on their personal lives and their relations with the developments of society at large. The acquisition of such a quality is an indispensable part of a complete university education today.

This all-round quality is highly valued in different fields of career development. Our programme also equips students with professional knowledge in specific fields, especially those dealing with people.

Students majoring in Sociology are competitive in the job market. Many graduates are now active in business, government departments, welfare agencies, educational institutions, the creative industries and so on.

Many Sociology students continue their studies either in our Department or in overseas universities. Over the years, a substantial number of our students have been awarded scholarships to study in prestigious universities in Britian, Australia, the United States and Canada.

Our Department has offered full-time and part-time M.Phil and Ph.D programmes since the 1970s. The research areas have included cultural and media studies, anthropology, criminology, education, gender studies, economic sociology, Hong Kong society, Chinese society, Southeast Asian societies, and so forth. From 1986 to 2002, our Department has awarded over 100 M.Soc.Sc. in Criminology. Many of these students came from the Police Force, ICAC, and other related agencies.