Department of Cultural Studies
New social and artistic practices, meanings, and ideas that change our attitudes towards the world, values that define society and traditions that maintain our community are all components of culture. The importance and advantages of studying culture allow us to consider it as a significant force that shapes and transforms society, and the position of a cultural studies researcher and promoter who is capable of bringing people together around shared understanding and experience, encouraging qualitative changes in society.
The Department of Cultural Studies at Mariupol State University began its work in 2003. In 2015, we obtained a license to train students in the specialty of Cultural Studies (Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine No. 1683l dated July 3, 2015):
• In 2016, the first group of Bachelor’s degree students in Cultural Studies was admitted.
• In 2021, the first group of Master’s degree students in Cultural Studies was admitted.
• In 2022, the first group for the Doctor of Philosophy program was admitted.
- First (Bachelor’s) - "Cultural Studies, organization of cultural and leisure activities";
- Second (Master’s) - "Cultural Studies, cultural diversity and community development";
- Third (educational-scientific) - "Cultural Studies".
The content of educational programs is formed taking into account the wishes and recommendations of stakeholders who are actively involved in teaching disciplines. The educational activities of the department are based on the principles of a student-centered approach. Students of the department focuse on the comprehensive realization of their intellectual and creative abilities. In scientific and pedagogical activities, the staff of the department presents a modern view of cultural research, its history, national, global, regional and local features of cultural processes.
Leading experts in the field of culture, representatives of state and local self-government bodies are involved in teaching at the department. To encourage and support student activity, the skills in independent research work and skills in managing cultural projects, the department successfully operates the student scientific society "Cultural Studies" (Best Student Scientific Society of MSU in 2022) and the "Cultural Creative Performance Studio" - led by Associate Professor Olga Demidko, the best young scientist of MSU in 2021 and 2022. The practical training of students and the participation of faculty and students in various social and cultural projects contribute to improving their practical skills.
Graduates of the department demonstrate their ability to become leaders of change and fully demonstrate their acquired skills in critical thinking, creative self-improvement, understanding the specifics of working in cultural institutions and projects, showing confident mastery of the art of discussion and dialogue support.
The unique projects of the department include work on a three-volume illustrated reader on the History of Ukrainian Culture (2019-2023), Illustrated History of Mariupol’s Theater Culture (2017).
Rare publications include a lecture course on the History of Ukrainian Culture for foreign students (2019); a textbook "History of Italian Culture" (2021); a monographic and bibliographic study "The Creative Legacy of V.M. Perets in the Context of Cultural Processes at the End of the 19th and Early 20th Centuries" (2022).
The creative initiative of the department unites the efforts of Ukrainian scholars in a series of collective monographic studies: "The Risorgimento Era in the History and Culture of Italy" (2018); "Contemporary Cultural Studies: Actualization of Theoretical and Practical Dimensions" (2019); "Contemporary Cultural Studies: Postmodernism in the Logic of Development of Ukrainian Humanitarian Studies" (2021).
Since 2011, the department has been holding an International Scientific and Practical Conference "The Phenomenon of Culture in Post-Globalization". Leading Ukrainian and foreign experts in the field of culture, young scientists, and students traditionally participate in the forum.
The scientific periodical publication of the department is "Bulletin of MSU. Series: Philosophy, Cultural Studies, Sociology", which in 2021 was included in the list of professional publications of category "B" in Cultural Studies (Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine No. 735 dated June 29, 2021). The "Bulletin" has been indexed since 2011.