The Department of Sociology at Zhejiang University has a history dating back to 1927. In the past five years, with Zhao Dingxin, Max Palevsky Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago, acting as its external advisor, the department has been establishing itself as a top institution for social science research and teaching in China and beyond. The department excels in many fields of research, including historical sociology, political sociology, economic sociology, organizational sociology, social demography, community studies, sociology of knowledge, and sociological methods. The Department hosts the Sociological Center, the Anthropological Center, the Center for Social Science Experiment, the Institute of Society Building, and the Institute of Demography and Development.

The Department of Sociology is home to faculty with a diverse and international background, consisting of nine full professors, eleven associate professors, nineteen young scholars who were recruited worldwide through the university’s “Hundred Talents Program.” The faculty’s research covers a wide range of topics, including state formation in China and Europe, professionalization in post-Mao China, the Bolshevik and Chinese revolutions, nationalism, ethnicity in China, religious and social movements, public health and disaster studies, labor movement and labor process in China and the US, property rights in China’s new industrial sectors, East Asian development, social stratification and migration in China and Europe, historical memories and heritage politics in China, financial markets in Asia and beyond, sustainable development in agriculture, sociological theory, rock-paper-scissors game, and more. The Department of Sociology is committed to cultivating young scholars equipped to contribute to the global scholarly community. 

The Department regards undergraduate and graduate teaching as its highest priority. It offers a wide variety of courses ranging from humanistic social sciences to quantitative analyses. The Department further encourages students to reach out internationally through student exchange programs with leading international institutions, such as the UC Berkeley and UCLA. We stress the importance of well-rounded knowledge, critical thinking, and social responsibility in education; we aim to prepare students for the pursuit of excellence on whatever road they take.