Department of Sociology

Vision, mission, goals

Vision The vision for the Department of Sociology is to be recognised in the Croatian sociological community as scientifically prolific and in the European sociological area as a reliable and quality partner whose work affirms the potential of sociology to resolve social problems and contribute to community development through its activities.

Mission The mission of the Department of Sociology is to enable students and the wider community to develop the knowledge and skills required for active citizenship and for a more successful adaption to social changes. This mission can be realised only through high quality, socially relevant research and a continuous upgrading of the teaching, scientific and mentorship competences of academic staff. In other words, the mission of the Department rests on the integration of teaching and social responsibility with the latest scientific insights. A further assumption for the realisation of the Department's mission is the development of sociology as an interpretative, critical and empirical science and academic discipline which is present in public discourse and is useful to its community.

Goals The goals of the Department of Sociology are to:

-  encourage quality teaching and research

-  encourage students' critical thinking skills and their independence in research

-  encourage academic staff and students to use relevant professional knowledge

-  encourage the transfer of knowledge gained through the teaching process to the community and society

-  develop and maintain a culture of discussing and democratic behaviour

-  encourage interdisciplinarity, particularly in those areas which integrate the knowledge and methods of the social sciences and humanities

-  encourage international mobility and cooperation between teachers, students, researchers and administrative staff

-  encourage the professional development of teaching staff

-  improve the quality of the teaching process through workshops aimed at advancing Bologna process implementation, as well as teaching skills

- advance the attractiveness of study programmes and competitiveness within the European higher education area by developing joint degree study programmes at graduate and postgraduate levels