Department of Social Sciences

About the Department

The Department of Social Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the Department) is a structural unit of the FEFU School of Arts and Humanities. Its work started in 2011 when several university subdivisions were merged. Four departments of sociology and social studies from the Far Eastern National University, Far Eastern State Technical University, and Pacific State Economic University combined into the Department which is now represented by 26 instructors.

The average age and work experience of the instructors is 50 and 20 years, respectively, which makes the Department one of the experienced and permanent academic personnel of the School of Arts and Humanities.

The Department is a home for two educative majors which are “Sociology” (bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs) and “Social work” (bachelor’s and master’s programs). 64 commencement ceremonies have been held and hundreds of bachelor’s and master’s degrees have been conferred since the departments of the above-mentioned universities were created. The alumni are now employed in the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation, the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, social protection institutions, social rehabilitation centers, health-care and educational institutions, charity organizations and so forth. 228 students are now attached to the Department of Social Studies. Moreover, the last years have witnessed a steady increase among Chinese, Colombian and Japanese citizens applying to our programs.

The Department is in charge of programs that are designed for applicants with the creative potential to adopt and modify innovative social practices.

Moscow State University (MSU) and the FEFU School of Arts and Humanities have concluded an agreement on mutual cooperation in science and education. Various scientific events take place under the terms of the signed document. The organization of All-Russian conferences entitled “Problems of Social Processes Modeling: Russia and Asia-Pacific Region” was made possible thanks to the research grants in 2015, 2016, and 2017. The webinar “Family-Children Lifestyle in the Sociological Dimension”, supervised by A. I. Antonov, was held in 2018 at the Faculty of Sociology, MSU.

The members of the academic personnel of the Department are constantly honing professional skills and mastering new ones. Over the past three years, every instructor has completed various training courses and internship programs in other universities. National Research University “Higher School of Economy”, Altai State University, Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow School of Conflict Management, Smolensk State University are on the list of educational institutions where the members of the Department were trained.

Also, the faculty of the Department take an active part in the public life of Primorsky Krai.

Scientific Research

The topic of the scientific project of the Department is “Problems of Transformation of Social Institutions, Structures and Processes in Contemporary World: Russia and Asia-Pacific Region”. To do further research in this field, the Department is striving to give serious consideration to major social issues. These are the social mobility; social adaptation of migrants and migration management in modern Russia; local peculiarities of social well-being in different regions of Russia and counties of Asia; socioeconomic status and quality of life of Russian citizens and citizens of Asian countries. The members of the academic personnel of the Department are appointed to supervise several research projects funded by both Russian and international organizations.

The Department received a grant from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) for organizing scientific events. From 2015 on, an annual All-Russian conference “Problems of Social Processes Modeling: Russia and Asia-Pacific Region” took place. Consequently, a partnership in science has been established with Buryat State University, Altai State University, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, National University of Mongolia, Kyrgyz Academy of Sciences and so forth. Key issues concerning sociological research have been revealed.

In 2017-2018 the RFBR awarded a research team led by Vinokurova A. V. with a grant for a project “Lifestyle of Families of Labor Migrants: Traditions and Innovations”. At present, the RFBR is funding a project “Frontier Life: Migration and Mobility”. To achieve the main goal of the project, several specific tasks have been set:

-       to define the main social practices and values typical for the residents of the Russian cross-border regions.

-       to characterize the main elements of the lifestyle of the population of the borderlands, their mutual dependence, revealing their potential migration-mobile strategies (based on the results of sociological research).

-       to identify the role of formal and informal institutions in the process of migration mobility in the borderlands.

-       to determine the role of factors of spontaneous and controlled communication (behavioral, informational, institutional, legal) in the process of migration and mobility in the border regions.

In 2019, the members of the research team were supported by the FEFU to implement a project that aimed at applying the Case Study strategy in the study of Internet practices of children from migrant families in the Asia-Pacific region countries.

In 2020, the Department, with financial support from the RFBR, is planning to carry out a research “Social activity vs. social inertia: the choice of modern youth”. The aim of the research is to create a conceptual model of the social activity of the youth. The model will serve as a basis for recommendations to authorities that are responsible for youth policy, educational institutions, and social organizations that work with youth. The youth is always at the forefront of changes in various social groups, this is why we need to know their attitude towards social interaction and the actual state of society. No doubt that there is a big difference in the worldview of past generations and present ones. Therefore we are faced with another major task. We need to find a reasonable explanation as to why the youth might agree or deny to carry out functions of the social activist. Here social activism should be interpreted in a general sense, with activities in the field of ecology, politics, and charity.

Besides, a project of detailed research “Russian and Mongolian Labor Migrants in the countries of Asia-Pacific Region” received a joint grant from the RFBR and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, and Sport of Mongolia. The planned duration of the research is three years, annual funding of 2.5 million rubles. The first step to be taken is to analyze the migration environment in the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Korea. These two countries have become popular destinations for Russian and Mongolian labor migrants. The next step is to assess social situation in the USA and Canada because these counties are known to have large Russian and Mongolian diasporas. The results of the study can be used by organizations that provide assistance to labor migrants and institutions that are in charge of migration policy. Besides, the results can serve as a basis for legislature changes in migration policy.

The Faculty

Every member of the academic personnel holds a degree of the Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology. Various workshops by top scientists are an essential part of the academic routine. The staff and the students of the Department of Social Sciences take an active participation in research projects that are supervised by the Russian Society of Sociologists, the Higher School of Economy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Primorsky Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology and so forth.

To fully master educational programs, the School of Arts and Humanities possesses a laboratory of social design and prediction. The resources of the laboratory give students an opportunity to hone practical skills in processing sociological information and to conduct scientific research.

Educational Program 39.03.01 "Social Science"

Bachelor’s degree educational program is designed to those who eager to improve their knowledge in social and human science. Duration of educational program – 4 years. Form of education – full-time. Extramural form of study is not available.

Social scientist is an expert of social science whose aim is to explore the society and relationships within it. He or she gets deeper insights in the social problems by using modern information and communication technologies. These findings help to assess situation in a society, to understand what requires amendments, to find ways to optimal amendments. That is why these findings are commercially valuable. If you want to gain deeper understanding of the way the world works, its tendency and special aspects, rules and possible ways of its development, and what is the most important, is you want to learn how to use that knowledge for earning, this educational program perfectly fits you.

Educational program "Social Science" is aimed to develop ability to professional study of the social problems that makes our alumni competitive in the modern labor market. Educational Program "Social Science" suitable for someone who appreciates sociological and humanistic disciplines. We are looking for students who made themselves known as active enthusiast of social science, participants and winners of academic competitions, non-specialist of sociological disciplines butt who are eager to take a deeper insight in it. Educational program is available for both Russian and foreigner students. All students have an opportunity to expand their educational opportunities constantly by participation in Winter and Summer schools, sociological and language internships. FEFU and School of Arts and Humanities propose ways for realization of creativity and athletic potential.

The curriculum for the EP "Sociology" forms the ability to assess social reality, social development, problematic and challenging social situations. Meanwhile, students look for possible solutions according to defined objectives and customers’ requests. The data obtained by a sociologist allows to obtain an accurate assessment of the situation under study, measure its parameters, and understand what needs to be corrected and in what way, which makes it commercially valuable. Social scientist work in the following areas:

- planning and conducting custom sociological research in various areas of society. For example, sociological measurement and assessment of the internal and external environment of the company.

- analytical and project activities, participation in the development and assessment of management decisions of state and local authorities, as well as administrative and management divisions in companies.

- education - in a higher-education system and secondary education system, secondary general education, of additional education system. Performed tasks are related to the social promotion and development of an educational institution in a socially competitive environment.

Our program has a certificate of International accreditation, which confirms the quality and level of education. Academic personnel conduct active research work, publish their scientific results in leading scientific journals, present their research in the form of reports at conferences of various levels as well as in the form of monographs, educational and teaching aids. One of the most important area of scientific activity of sociologists is a participation in grant and competitive sociological projects.

Sociological events (conferences, round tables, open discussions, scientific seminars) with the participation of scientists from various regions of Russia and abroad are regularly held with the support of the Department of Social Sciences and School of Arts and Humanities. The Department of Social Sciences staff carry out external expert and advisory activities.

FEFU constantly work collaboratively with HSE (Higher School of Economics) and RANEPA (The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration) during joint research projects.

Alumni who have mastered the bachelor's educational program 39.03.01 "Social Science" work in research departments and departments of commercial and non-profit companies; independent research organizations (Primorsky Research Center of Sociology); government bodies of various levels - regional (administration bodies of Vladivostok, Nakhodka, government office of the Tuva Republic); research and analytical departments of mass media and information; the commercial sphere, planning and implementing marketing sociological research.

Educational Program 39.04.01 "Social Science"

The master's degree educational program is focused on training highly qualified specialists in the field of sociology of management. The program combines theoretical training in the field of sociology of management and development of practical skills in diagnosing and solving management problems in organizations of various types. The management techniques presented in the program are aimed to improv the efficiency of human resource management, marketing, corporate governance, developing a strategy for resolving conflicts, and implementing internal and external communications. A distinctive feature of the educational process is the close linkage between learning and research, as well as the practical orientation of training since the necessity of modern theories and relevant research methods for the analytical support of activities in various fields. The program has a certificate of international professional and public accreditation.

This program has been built for someone who want to research constantly developing society and learn how to manage these developments. Analytical thinking and willingness to academic research work are required, the primary objective is to create achievement-oriented experts. We offer a deep theoretical knowledge base, a possibility to practice skills of a sociologist with the obligatory use of modern communication and information technologies, an ability for implementation of research projects.

The educational program "Social Science" is aimed to teach future experts how to:

- analyze social, demographic, economic and other information involving of a wide range of sources based on the usage of modern information technologies and computer equipment.

- make a critical assessment of research results.

- form and analyze information arrays that enables monitoring of the studied area, development of managerial influence on it, and assessment of the effect that managerial influence, including an audit of information sources in order to assess its necessity, sufficiency, and reliability.

- organize and maintain communications with research institutions, information, and analytical services on the exchange of information, scientific advice, and expertise.

Our students are regular participants of top academic competitions ("I am Professional", Federal Universities Olympiads), scientific research competitions held by leading research companies and organizations in the field of sociology (Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM), Fund "Public Opinion").

Future alumni can be employed in various institutions of theoretical and applied sociology, universities, research departments, sociological laboratories, public administration, PR-companies, touristic agencies, mass-media institutions, and so forth. Also, alumni can continue studies in related fields by choosing Ph.D. programs.

The laboratory of social design and prediction gives master’s degree students an opportunity to carry out their own scientific researches and participate in projects funded by third-party companies and organizations. The students are fully involved in the process of research project. Negotiations with clients and stakeholders, business correspondence with funding organizations, collaboration on the methodology for the research, analysis of the results are important events for every project, and the students should take part in them.

Further Vocational Education

The Department, together with the Department of Further Vocational Education of the School of Arts and Humanities, offers additional professional programs for advanced training in sociology and social work, transdisciplinary social problems.