The Department of Sociology at CNU has been recognized to be the best course in the nation. According to the recent department evaluation at the Jung Ang Daily, the course ranked first in 13 criteria under four fields of evaluation: Educational Environment, Faculty Competence, Financial Support, and Educational Effectiveness, based on the 2009 public announcement of university information. In detail, external research funding for full-time faculty ranked first with 130 million in average and the number of domestic papers ranked second. Above all, the Department has achieved steady outcomes through academic specialization in ‘local studies’. Also, it has taken initiatives in growing local specialists through BK 21, the Brain Korea project.