Faculty of Social Sciences

History of the Faculty of Social Sciences

The Faculty of Social Sciences was created after the Faculty of Law was separated from the Faculty of Humanities and Law in August 2016. Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, associate professor Hajvoronska Taisiia Oleksiivna, who was the dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Law before its division, was elected dean of the faculty.

There are 3 graduate departments in the structure of the Faculty of Social Sciences:

Department of Psychology (acting head – Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor Koval Vladyslav Oleksandrovych);

Department of Social Work (acting head – Candidate of Sociological Sciences, Associate Professor Sherbyna Serhij Stepanovych);

Department of Journalism (head – doctor of philological sciences, professor Pohrebna Viktoriia Leonidivna).

Highly qualified specialists with many years of scientific and pedagogical experience work at the faculty, including 4 doctors of science, professor, 20 candidates of science, associate professors. Faculty teachers constantly improve their professional level and skill through internships in higher educational institutions of Ukraine and abroad, as evidenced by the relevant diplomas and certificates. Scientific and research work is conducted at the departments of the faculty, the results of which are the publication of monographs, scientific articles in domestic specialized and foreign publications, scientific and methodological literature, and the defense of dissertations. During the 10 years of existence of the departments of the faculty within the Institute of Management and Law of ZNTU, teachers defended 4 doctoral theses and 8 candidate theses.

The main goal of the faculty is the combination of humanitarian education with high-quality professional training, the implementation of a dual system of training specialists, which combines theoretical training with practical training. The staff of the faculty directs its activities to the search and development of new forms, methods and means of education to ensure the conditions for the training of highly professional, competitive specialists who are able to act actively in the conditions of the market economy and social partnership.

The Department of Psychology prepares psychologists at the bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The psychologist diploma enables graduates of the faculty to work as psychologists in the social sphere, social-psychological rehabilitation centers, private centers, provide psychological support in educational institutions, children’s centers, medium and large business, state and political structures. Graduates also have the opportunity to hold prestigious positions in personnel departments, marketing departments at enterprises, in personnel and advertising agencies, and consulting companies.

The Department of Social Work prepares Bachelors and Masters in Social Work, as well as Masters in Social Welfare. From 2017, the department will train bachelors and masters in the specialty «Sociology». Faculty graduates with these specialties will be able to work in state administration and local self-government bodies, analytical and consulting centers, sociological services, marketing departments of enterprises of various forms of ownership, private firms, advertising agencies, mass media, employment centers, higher and secondary special educational institutions. In 2016, the department of social work opened a post-graduate course in the specialty «Social work».

The Department of Journalism prepares bachelors and masters in the relevant specialty. The diploma received by the graduates provides the opportunity for employment in mass media, press services, public relations departments, publishing houses, and advertising agencies. Graduates with a master’s degree have the opportunity to work as a journalism teacher at universities and other higher educational institutions. Lecturers of the Department of Journalism actively cooperate with the mass media, in particular with the television channels «ALEKS», «TV-5», «Zaporizhia», as well as with the editorial offices of Zaporizhzhia newspapers. Practical disciplines related to journalistic skills are taught by practicing journalists of regional mass media, members of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine. Students and teachers of the Department of Journalism publish the educational student newspaper «StudPol». From August 2007 to May 2009, three students and an associate professor of the Department of Journalism (O.V. Pashnyk) underwent an internship at the Technical University (Department of Music and Media) in Luleå (Sweden).

Teachers of departments, together with students of their specialties, every year hold events dedicated to professional holidays: Psychologist’s Day, Journalist’s Day, Social Worker’s Day. On the basis of the departments of the faculty, scientific and practical conferences are held, in which experts from Zaporizhzhia and other cities of Ukraine and abroad participate. In May 2013, the Department of Social Work together with the ZNTU rectorate held the International Scientific and Practical Conference «Problems of Aging: European Approaches». Starting from 2009, the Department of Psychology annually holds the student scientific and practical conference «Modern directions of practical psychology» together with the departments of psychology of NUZP and KPU and the Center of Practical Psychology and Social Work of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

Students of the Faculty of Social Sciences participate every year in the All-Ukrainian competition of student scientific works, Olympiads, and Science Weeks. Among the students of the faculty there are winners of competitions of various levels. Students of the faculty take an active part in the student life of the university and various cultural and intellectual events of the city, are actively engaged in volunteer work, and participate in work with socially vulnerable sections of the population.

All specialties of the Faculty of Social Sciences are relevant in today’s world, and the knowledge obtained by its graduates will become the basis of professional growth of a specialist and self-realization of an individual.