ABOUT THE FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences is a constituent of the University of Mostar, the only university in Bosnia and Herzegovina where classes are held in the Croatian language. It is a science and higher education institution providing education in three cycles (undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate) through 17 study programmes from various fields of the social sciences and humanities. Classes are held in accordance with the principles of the Bologna Declaration.
HISTORY OF THE FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences emanated from The Teacher Training College in the 2005/06 academic year. The Croatian language and literature, English language and literature, German language and literature and History study programmes were introduced at the Teacher Training College in the 1994/95 academic year. The study of Philosophy, Journalism, Latin language and Roman literature, Art History and Archaeology were established in the period from the 1999/2001 to 2001/02. The 2005/06 academic year saw the introduction of new study programmes adapted according to the provisions of the Bologna Declaration. By the decision of the Administrative Council from March 2005, the former Teacher Training College was divided into the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Education. In accordance with the provisions of the Bologna Declaration, the third education cycle or the postgraduate study programme Languages and Cultures in Contact was launched at the Faculty of Humanities in the 2005/06 academic year. The Department of Psychology was established in the same academic year and the total number of study programmes offered at the Faculty of Humanities was ten. The Faculty of Humanities was renamed the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences on March 21, 2007. The same academic year saw the launch of two new study programmes: Political Science and Social Work. The study of Information Science was introduced in the 2011/2012 academic year and the study of Italian language and literature and the study of Russian language and literature started in the 2013/14 academic year. In 2014/15, the Faculty introduced the Study of Public Relations, and in 2015/16 the study of Logopedics.
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES TODAY
Education
The Faculty presently has 2,900 enrolled students, 111 permanent staff and more than 150 associates. The undergraduate and graduate cycles offer 47 study programmes conducted by the 17 departments. In total, 48,800 hours of instruction are carried out during one academic year.
The undergraduate teacher-training track offers 11 single-major and 12 double-major study programmes. All double-major study programmes can be combined. If all the double-major combinations and single-major study programmes are taken into account, we can say that at undergraduate level we have 77 different study groups. All undergraduate study programmes last for three years.
The graduate teacher-training track offers 9 single-major and 12 double-major study programmes, which can all be combined with each other. The Political Science study programme offers two tracks, and the Information Science study programme is available in four, two of which are single-major and two double-major study programmes, which can be combined with any other double-major study programme. At graduate level, 83 study programmes are offered in total when all the combinations of double-major study programmes and single-major study programmes are taken into consideration. All graduate programmes last for two years.
At postgraduate level, the Languages and Cultures in Contact study programme is offered. It incorporates the fields of humanities and social sciences. The study is offered in two modules: Language and Culture module. Each module is divided into courses. The Language Module includes the following courses: English Studies, German Studies, Croatian and Latin. The Culture Module includes the following directions: Philosophy, History, Information and Communication Sciences and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences.
The Faculty has dislocated branches in Orašje and Brčko. This academic year, the Orašje branch is carrying out the third-year undergraduate study programme for English Language and Literature and all five years of undergraduate and graduate Social Work. The dislocated branch in Brčko is offering the third year of the undergraduate Public Relations study programme. Besides the above mentioned studies, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences also offers the Program for the Acquisition of Teaching Competencies, in which participants acquire a total of 60 ECTS credits and a certificate of acquired competencies. The program lasts for one academic year or two semesters.
Mobility and International cooperation
The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences is involved in several programs of mobility for both students and teaching staff. Since the signing of the contract at national level in 2008, the Faculty has joined the CEEPUS III program, and as of 2009, it joined the Erasmus Mundus JoinEU-SEE project. For several years, there has been successful cooperation with the DAAD-TV (German Academic Exchange of Students), KAAD-TV (Catholic Academic Exchange Service Foreigners) and OeAD-TV (Austrian Academic Exchange Service), and as of 2016/17, mobility has been attained through the Erasmus + program.
The Faculty's International Cooperation and Projects Office was established in late November 2013. It was initially established to coordinate all activities and events related to international cooperation with the Faculty. These activities include the conclusion of bilateral agreements with universities and colleges in the world and the region, international academic and student exchange, providing information on the various projects of the EU, assisting supporting staff and student applications for participation in certain projects and organizations representing different scholarship programmes. The Office also provides assistance to all students and professors who go on exchange abroad and the ones who come to the Faculty on exchange. The International Cooperation and Projects Office is also responsible for the preparation and drafting of project applications and the application process at home and abroad. Projects within the framework of the Federal Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Agency for Gender Equality have been recently approved. Project proposals have been entered in the tenders of the Croatian Government, the Office for Croats outside Croatia, IPA Adriatic Interreg Adrion, etc.
Scientific activity
The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences also emphasises scientific activity and the organisation of numerous international scientific conferences and the publication of scientific publications. In the previous academic year, two conferences were organized: the Young Scientists conference "Science as a culture of dissent" was held on 15th April 2016 and the scientific Identities, Cultures and Languages conference, titled "Europe in a state of flux: persecution and exodus as a universal problem" was held on 3rd June 2016. A two-day international conference (20 and 21 May 2016) was held to commemorate the 550th anniversary of the death of Herzog Stjepan Vukčić Kosača. Its title was "Herzog Stjepan Vukčić Kosača's Historical Heritage - 550 years since the death (1466-2016)," and the scientific conference was organized by the Croatian Institute of History in Zagreb and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science, University of Mostar.
When it comes to scientific and research activities, it should be noted that the Faculty cooperates well with all members of the University of Mostar, and it is working on establishing and maintaining good cooperation with higher education institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and other European countries on a daily basis. Since 2010, the Faculty has signed 15 cooperation agreements with various institutions such as the Archive of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Institute of Education, the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton's Institute for Health Insurance, the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton's National Library, a variety of media, etc.
Besides the regular lectures, seminars, exercises, tests and research conducted at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at University of Mostar, from 2013 onwards, the Faculty has also organised forums on different topics from different fields titled "Thursday at 12". The forums are open to all who are interested, not only for students.
The Faculty of Humanities and Social Science publishes the journals Hum, Culture of Communication and Herzegovina and the conference proceedings Identities - Cultures - Languages.
The journal Hum is registered with the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, and received its international standard number which is assigned to serial publications from the Centre for ISSN Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is connected with the National Library in Sarajevo. It is published twice a year. Hum, like other similar journals, publishes peer-reviewed papers and papers not subject to review. The journal is abstracted and indexed in the following databases:
Erich Plus (https://dbh.nsd.uib.no/publiseringskanaler/erihplus/);
EBSCO - Full text online library (www.ebschohost.com),
Central and Eastern European Online Library (www.ceeol.com);
Slavus - Slavic Humanities Index (www.slavus.ca)
Kultura komuniciranja (The Culture of Communication) is a scientific publication of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Mostar. It is intended for the publication of papers from disciplines such as journalism, political sciences and public relations, but also from related social science and humanistic disciplines. The magazine has been published at least once a year since 2011. It publishes peer-reviewed, unpublished papers which have not been subject to review procedures by other journals. It also publishes papers that are not subject to the review procedure.
The journal Hercegovina was first published in 1981. Since 2015, The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Mostar has been its publisher. The co-publisher is the Croatian Institute for History from Zagreb. The journal Hercegovina is now published in a new edition once a year and it is a part of the reality of the cultural community. The old edition saw twenty-five issues, so this can be considered a sort of jubilee. During its thirty five years of existence, the journal has contributed to research on the cultural heritage and the history of Herzegovina.
The conference proceedings Identiteti – kulture – jezici (Identities – Cultures – Languages) publishes papers from the annual scientific conference of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of University of Mostar, in cooperation with other scientific and cultural institutions from the country and surrounding regions. Before publication, all submitted papers undergo double-blind peer-review by outstanding experts for the specific field of research, which guarantees the quality of the yearbook. Its basic task is to offer space and opportunity for open critical questioning of the very diverse cultural, identity and political reality of the society in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and of the recent social-political phenomena contemporary society is confronted with. Two issues have been published till now. The first issue deals with the diversity of culture and identity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and European perspectives of our society. The second issue focuses on the relationship of languages, ideology and memories and their perception in the contemporary context.
Quality Assurance System
As a constituent of the University of Mostar, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences is in the process of developing institutional mechanisms of internal quality assurance and improvement, guided by the standards and directives for quality assurance of the European section of Higher Education in order to ensure quality of content, of study programmes and overall quality. The Quality Assurance and Improvement Office and the Quality Assurance and Improvement Board were established on 17th July 2008. In order to harmonise quality at University level in accordance with the Regulations on the Organization and Practice of the Quality Assurance System at the University of Mostar and the Quality Assurance Handbook, the Quality Assurance and Improvement Board and the Quality Assurance Office were established on 12th May 2014, which includes the Student Administration Office and Office for Quality Monitoring and Improvement. The Board organises, coordinates and implements evaluation procedures and develops internal mechanisms for quality assurance and improvement at Faculty level, particularly with regard to self-evaluation, development of quality indicators, student participation in monitoring the quality of studying, research on studying efficiency and competence of teaching staff, training of university staff, as well as the administrative and technical staff, quality of general and specific competencies achieved in study programmes, and definition and introduction of standardization of the administrative services at the Faculty. The Faculty Board in cooperation with the University Board and the Quality Assurance Office and other bodies of the Faculty sets the strategy for quality improvement at the Faculty as a constituent unit of the University. The Board is obliged to submit a report on its activities to the Faculty Council and the Quality Assurance and Improvement Board at University level. The report is submitted annually, unless otherwise requested. Among other results of the Board’s activity, The Manual on the Acquisition of Teaching Competencies in Full-Time Study must be mentioned. The Quality Assurance Office compiles self-evaluation reports for each academic year, with the purpose of regularly monitoring data or the accreditation processes. In addition, the Office analyses and proposes amendments to various regulations, coordinates the processes and activities among administrative and support services internally, and between the departments and administrative services (e.g. compiling the annual lecture plans of all departments, information system management, addressing specific problem issues, organization of teaching, updating the Faculty regulations and documents, etc.). The bodies of the quality assurance system synchronise their activities with the organizational bodies of the Faculty, so that the conclusions of the Board or the Office are proposed to the Faculty Council for adoption, either directly or indirectly through the Council of Department Heads and Secretaries. Thus, the Faculty, both internally (the Faculty level) and externally (towards interested stakeholders), carries out all the activities to achieve its strategic goals and the basic settings of its own mission and vision in a transparent way.
Services
The Faculty provides ten services and offices: Legal, Personnel and General Affairs Office, Student Administration Office, Financial-Accounting Office, Technical Service, Faculty Archive, Technical Support Service, Economic and Organizational Affairs Office, Teaching Service, The Office for International Cooperation and Projects, and Public Relations Office.
Library
The Library of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences has more than 15 000 editions and about 7 000 periodic editions from different fields of the humanities and social sciences. The reading room is equipped with a computer network. The library is also equipped with teaching aids that the Goethe Institute installs in libraries and other public institutions for German teachers in many countries. The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences’ library is a member of COBISS (Cooperative Online Bibliographical System and Services). COBISS represents an organizational model of joining libraries into a national library–information system with shared cataloguing, the shared library–catalogue database COBIB and local databases of participating libraries, the library COLIB database, the normative CONOR database, and many other functions. The library, at the moment, has access to two electronic data bases: SCI Direct and SCOPUS.
Centres
Media Centre
The Media Centre of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of University of Mostar comprises radio Treći, student portal treci.ba, Student TV, and the Student list newspaper, which should, in time, develop into a contemporary press agency. The student portal was launched on 3rd March 2015. Running the portal enables the acquisition of necessary practical journalistic knowledge and skills for the students of journalism, so that they will be more competitive on the market and justify their calling as journalists. The portal is open for cooperation to students of other study groups and faculties, who wish access to the world from their own perspectives, covering current affairs and analyzing social practices that surprised them and being ready to offer solutions for everyday problems. “The third side should also be heard!” is the slogan of the portal which points to an independent and objective side that will show the world from the student’s perspective. The permanent editorial staff consists of twenty students, and the emphasis is on student topics and problems but also positive stories. The column students most frequently read is “Campus” which deals with student topics and in which most of the events at the University of Mostar are covered. This is what differentiates treci.ba from the rest of the portals in Mostar and in Herzegovina. Student radio Treći was launched on 3rd December 2015, and the program now broadcasts over the portal treci.ba. The goal of the student radio is to connect students from all faculties of the University of Mostar and to enable practical work for the journalism students in the field for which they are training, as well as to provide practical work for students from other departments who intend to do some type of radio journalism in the future. The space has been adapted for a contemporary, convergent radio redaction. After the audition for radio hosts and journalists is complete, production and technical support workshops are held. Every student from any department of the University of Mostar can propose his/her own show and process any topic related to his/her field of studies, as long as it is relevant for the public. Currently, the student radio broadcasts three hours of morning programme, but the plan is to create a twenty-four-hour broadcast scheme when the required conditions are met. The final goal is to gain a frequency for the Mostar urban region and its surroundings. Radio Treći is part of the network of student radio stations of Southeast Europe which hold Hear.me seminars two times a year. During these seminars the exchange of shows, ideas and experiences are discussed.
The Department of Journalism of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of University of Mostar started its own internet TV - Studentski TV. This occurred on the fifth anniversary of the founding the most popular Internet video service YouTube, on 27th April 2010. Today, Student TV of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences covers the general work of the Faculty and its students, whilst simultaneously developing the responsibility of spoken public statement and exchanging educational experiences with other faculties. In such a way, the students of journalism conduct their journalistic practice, which is the final goal of this project. The interest of journalism students for the practical work and involvement in this project is very high. Television reports and news are broadcast and twice a year the central news show Student objective is broadcast as well. The Internet TV of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences records thousands of views from around the region and the entire world.
Student journal is the name of a special newsletter which is published in the Večernji list edition for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and which was founded by the students of journalism at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Mostar. Students who are part of the editorial staff of Večernji list of Bosnia and Herzegovina suggest topics, gather information, converse with sources, write, proofread, edit, graphically design, create covers, all the way to the final product - the newspapers which appear on the newsstands, in the redaction of Večernji list in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is the first such project in this part of Europe in which students have the opportunity to create a special newsletter within mainstream media.
Within this project, students acquire competences, knowledge and skills from the field of public relations because they independently organise the launch at which the journal is presented by using media relations tools and techniques. The Department of Croatian Language and Literature of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences also takes part in the creation of the journal as language editors, which contributes to the overall professional level of the whole project. Studentski list is rightfully considered the highlight of the overall five-year study programme at the Department of Journalism. The newsletter is published once a year and it was first published in the 2013/2014 academic year.
Research Centre
The Research Centre of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences was established in the 2013/2014 academic year. It aims to achieve multiple long-term aims not only at the Faculty and University but in society as a whole in order to strengthen research on the cultural, national, social and political reality. The Centre is committed to strengthening the position of Croats in B&H. In addition, the Centre supports local and international projects and is willing to cooperate with the whole University and other institutions including, but not limited to, the scientific, political and religious ones. It can be useful to undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate students who are engaged in scientific research. In the initial stage, the Research Centre launched the Call Centre. Around thirty operators, the students of the Faculty, were trained to work in the Call Centre. The Research Centre has conducted several studies, the most important of which are the study on the political position of Croats in B&H and the study on protests in B&H which culminated in February 2014.
Centre for Political Science Research
The Centre for Political Science Research of the Faculty of the Humanities and Social Sciences was founded in the autumn of 2016. In addition to promoting Political Science, the Centre aims to gather not only political scientists but also experts in the fields of social and humanistic sciences; provide competent answers, analyses and solutions to social problems related to the field of Political Science; provide information from the related social sciences; cooperate with political scientists and other experts from B&H, Croatia and the rest of the world; support projects, different types of research and creative ideas; independently or in cooperation with other institutions in the country or abroad create the Political Science database for experts, academic staff, students, researchers, journalists, diplomats, state administration, members of political parties, representatives of the civic society and the general public; encourage the development of creativity in young researchers through different types of education; promote peace, political culture, democracy, civil society, tolerance, human rights, European values, the Croatian national and cultural identity in B&H, art, culture, tourism and other honourable and creative activities; publish books, brochures, magazines, web sites and other publications which will help achieve the above-mentioned aims.
Student Associations
In addition to the Student Union, the body representing students in the Faculty Council, which is elected by students each academic year for the purpose of protecting student rights and promoting their interests, several student associations are also active at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. These associations aim to protect student rights and freedom, improve the position of students, cooperate with other student associations and organizations, encourage and improve cultural, entertainment and research activities of students. The first student association founded at the Faculty in 2009 was The Croatian Student Political Science Forum (HSPF), which is the only Croatian student association in B&H. The Social Work Students’ Association ZAMFIS was established in 2010. Until now, this association has organized numerous humanitarian campaigns with the aim of helping citizens in need. One of the most important ZAMFIS projects was the organization of the 3rd Regional Congress of Social Work Students, which gathered students enrolled in nine different Social Work programmes in six countries from our region. The aim of this project is to activate students and raise the Social Work profession to a higher level by improving and promoting the profession. Other student associations were founded between 2014 and 2016, including: SOFOS, the Association of Philosophy Students; PRUMO, the Association of Public Relation Students; PRESS, the Association of Journalism Students; LUX, the Association of the Students of Latin; Mentalist, the Association of Psychology Students; “Filip Lastrić”; the Association of History Students; the Croatian Students’ Club; the Information Science Students’ Club and the English Students’ Club.
Student Counselling Centre
The Student Counselling Centre is a constituent of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. It was founded for the purpose of supporting and helping students studying at the University of Mostar. The Centre started operating in the 2014/2015 academic year. All the students studying at the University of Mostar can use its services. The counselling sessions are held on the Faculty premises. Online sessions are also possible, including individual and group counselling sessions, educational workshops and the distribution of self-help materials.
Alumni Club
The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences has its own Alumni Club which was founded in order to keep in touch with students after they have graduated. The aim of the club is to encourage cooperation, exchange ideas and information, plan projects and workshops, organize charity events and promote the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, thus laying the foundation for its recognition in society.
Resources
The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences has a new and modern building with an area of around 5000m², with three auditoriums and 10 classrooms. In addition, the premises of three other buildings on the campus are used. All the classrooms are equipped with a projector and a computer. One auditorium is equipped with a video-conferencing system. Three classrooms and the reading room contain computers for students. The building is completely disability friendly.
The Faculty also organizes voluntary blood donation twice a year.