Teaching Across Cultures: Building Intercultural Competence in University Classrooms

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Adriana Jesenková (ed.)

The topic of gender equality in the university and academic environment in Slovakia remains in a highly ambivalent position – often overlooked and marginalized, instrumentalized and perceived as an alien element or a formal necessity, but most frequently exposed to numerous misunderstandings and misinterpretations.

The intention of the presented publication and its authorial collective is to contribute to shaping and cultivating an environment where it is possible to discuss issues of gender relations in the academic environment objectively, develop research from a gender perspective, and primarily implement gender equality policy as one of the tools for democratizing the academic sphere and the university. The collection was created within the framework of the project VVGS-2018-749, "Creating a Gender Equality Plan at UPJŠ in Košice," and presents various contexts and perspectives from which to consider issues of gender equality at the university. Individual authors focus on the topic of gender equality from philosophical, philosophical-legal, and legal perspectives in their texts.

The final text presents the findings of qualitative research, which was part of the mentioned project, their interpretation, and conclusions from the perspective of further implementation of gender equality policy at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice. We understand the publication as an invitation to discussion, critical thinking, and research, and thus to creating a university as we can be.

Adriana Jesenková

The peer-reviewed collection of scientific works is distributed under the Creative Commons 4.0 – Attribution CC BY-NC license, which allows non-commercial use of the work provided that the names of the authors are mentioned.

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Lucia Tóthová - Katarína Šiňanská - Eva Žiaková

Here is the translation of the provided text into English: A guide to oncological treatment was created at a time when the importance of health became even more emphasized, becoming a kind of mega-value for the new modern "pandemic" human. The use of the term "pandemic" person arose, of course, in connection with the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic worldwide, but primarily because other dangerous long-term diseases that threaten contemporary humans are somehow being pushed into the background.

The severity of such diseases (including cancer) does not diminish just because attention has shifted to something more acute. It is very important to realize this and not fall under the illusion that if we overcome an acute danger, then automatically improve conditions for chronic diseases as well. We believe it's quite the opposite; prolonged stress and social negative factors constantly affecting us—among which undoubtedly includes pandemic situations—worsen not only psychological but also somatic states.

The guide to oncological treatment aims precisely at highlighting those psychological and social factors that negatively "support" cancer development in any form and can positively influence treatment and coping with illness. The guide offers opportunities for social engagement with groups of people undergoing similar oncological treatments, allowing them to share psychologically as well as professionally similar situations with those facing similar problems in treatment. The authors hope that this guidebook will reach those who will become more self-sufficient in overcoming such a formidable enemy as cancer.

Authors

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Alexander Onufrák, Peter Dubóczi, Lukáš Jakabovič

The submitted publication entitled Voľby 2023/2024: výsledky – hodnotenia – dôsledky reflects a wide range of topics related to the electoral processes that took place in 2023 and 2024 in Slovakia and abroad. The publication deals with both the evaluation of the currently valid electoral legislation, including proposals for its further improvement, and the broader socio-political consequences of the elections in connection with democratization and integration processes. The submitted publication is published as an output of the VEGA project No. 1/0474/24 Audit of Slovak electoral and referendum legislation, the project leader of which is prof. JUDr. Ladislav Orosz, CSc. from the Faculty of Law of the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice and in which the Department of Political Science of the Faculty of Arts of the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice also participates. The authors of the individual contributions analyze all types of elections, from municipal and regional, through parliamentary and presidential, to elections to the European Parliament. While some authors focused primarily on the local or regional level, others chose an approach focused on the national or supranational level, and the geographical scope of the cases examined was extremely diverse. 

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Vladimír Lichner - Tomáš Šeďo

Peer-Reviewed Collection of Contributions from a Scientific Conference with International Participation Held on November 25, 2022 in Košice

"The presented peer-reviewed collection of contributions titled "Present and Future of Social Work in the Reflection of Social Changes" is the output of a scientific conference with international participation, marking the 10th anniversary of the Košické dni sociálnej práce, held on November 25, 2022.

The conference was dedicated to the vision of social work, its methods, and techniques in the context of societal changes. With the changing times come new challenges to which social work must be prepared to respond. The central focus of the collection is the search for answers to pre-defined questions: "Is the current social work system adequately configured for current societal problems? Can social work promptly respond to new and unknown challenges? Are the known methods of social work effective in dealing with contemporary negative phenomena? Do we need additional methods?

If so, what are they?" Individual contributions touch on theoretical concepts in the search for answers, but they also include empirically based contributions that reflect research results from various areas of society and problematic situations, with a view to providing recommendations for both the theory and practice of social work.

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Magdaléna Hovanová (ed.)

The collection of works originated from the event of the eighteenth annual nationwide Student Scientific and Professional Activity (ŠVOČ) in the field of social work, which took place on May 12, 2022. It was organizationally overseen by the Department of Social Work of the Faculty of Arts at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice.

Every year, this event provides an opportunity for selected top students—future professionals in social work—to meet, as well as a chance to present the level of their knowledge and their ability to apply theoretical insights and acquired skills to future social work practice.

The contributions in this collection address topics such as the risks of modern technologies in the context of social work, social support and risk factors within families in the context of adolescent radicalization processes, the issue of cyberbullying in elementary schools, Ukrainian student migration in Slovakia, factors influencing job satisfaction among social workers, and the social support of families as clients of social work during the current pandemic situation.

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Vladimír Leško, Katarína Mayerová a kol.

Kolektívna monografia Heidegger a metafyzika v 20. storočí je zavŕšením bádateľského úsilia Katedry filozofie a dejín filozofie Filozofickej fakulty UPJŠ v Košiciach v riešení grantového projektu APVV-14-0706. Monografia predstavuje pokus o vyrovnanie sa s uchopením problému Heidegger a metafyzika v kritickej konfrontácii s jeho najvýznamnejšími filozofickými súčasníkmi v chápaní a riešení daného problému. V prvom rade ide o snahu vyrovnať sa s otázkou metafyziky ako filozofického problému vo vlastnej Heideggerovej tvorbe tak, aby čitateľ mal možnosť najprv sa zoznámiť s jeho vlastným riešením tejto otázky v priereze celej jeho tvorby. To skúmajú prvé tri kapitoly našej práce, ktorých autormi sú Vladimír Leško a Richard Capobianco.

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Adriana Jesenková

The ethics of care offers inspiring ways to think about the relationships and connections we are part of. It provides a new and unconventional reading and understanding of human relationships, thereby enabling us to respond in new and appropriate ways to certain empirical challenges (Pettersen 2011, p. 51).

Just twenty-five years ago, thinking about care was associated with women’s decisions in the private sphere concerning their personal dilemmas and problems. Over the last two decades, advocates of the ethics of care have demonstrated that the ideal of care has the potential to regulate not only private behavior but also human interactions in general.

Today, ideas about care have the power to change how we evaluate personal relationships, professional conduct, public policy, international relations, and global issues. The relevance of the ethics of care in such a wide range of areas of life, many of which are characterized by mutual incompatibilities and conflicting interests, is conditioned by several factors. However, one of the most significant is the creativity and fruitfulness of the thinking of the representatives of the ethics of care, who develop ethical concepts, models, and methods capable of grasping and analyzing human relationships in all their diversity (Pettersen 2011, p. 52).

Compared to traditional ethical concepts and theories in moral philosophy, the ethics of care introduces radically different sets of models and normative concepts. Today, it is precisely feminist ethics of care that offers a critical reflection on care within the realm of moral philosophy, ethics, and social philosophy. The aim of this publication is to identify the concept, subject, approach, philosophical foundations and starting points, as well as the possibilities for applying the ethics of care as a specific moral approach and, at the same time, as a specific moral theory in the field of social science and humanities research.

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Lukáš Šutor

Currently, the eighth issue of the Doctoral Miscellanea consists of thirteen contributions from four study programs. The publication of these contributions is traditionally associated with the Autumn School for Doctoral Students at the Faculty of Arts of UPJŠ in Košice, where third-cycle students have the opportunity to first try out the conference format of presenting their research results and subsequently expand them into full studies.

Unlike last year, when the proceedings were non-conference due to the pandemic situation, we consider the return to plenary dialogue beneficial. A distinctive feature of our proceedings is its multidisciplinary nature, encompassing humanities and social science fields. Despite this diversity, interesting connections often emerge among the topics, relating to generational reassessments of regularly recurring issues as well as research on highly current phenomena.

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Jana Nezkusilová - Margita Mesárošová (eds.)

Proceedings of Extended Abstracts from Interdisciplinary Scientific Conference

Conference proceedings comprise extended abstracts from contributions that were presented during the conference Negative consequences of performing helping professions II – Psychological, social and health aspects of performing helping professions, which was held on 12th of June 2019 in Košice.

The conference was organized as one of the outputs of the research project APVV 14-0921 Self-care as a factor of coping with the negative consequences of the practicizing the helping professions. Abstracts present either original research by the authors or summaries of the authors' findings in their long-term research activities focused on helping professions. One of the ambitions of the conference was to create a space for dialogue between academics and professionals working in helping professions. The interdisciplinary character of the conference has brought new ideas and perception of this issue, which has also been reflected in the rich response during the discussions. Professionals from field of psychology, social work, occupational medicine and behavioral medicine participated actively or passively in the conference.

Thus, the enriching aspect of the resulting proceedings is the interconnection of applied and theoretical studies related to wide range of helping professions.

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Mária Bačíková - Anna Janovská

The textbook "Foundations of Methodology in Pedagogical-Psychological Research" is primarily intended for students of teaching academic subjects, but it will enrich anyone who needs to familiarize themselves with research methodology focusing on psychological and pedagogical sciences. In the textbook, students become acquainted with the basic principles of conducting research, the process of research implementation, and the basic methods of quantitative or qualitative approaches. The examples used in the textbook are mostly focused on research conducted in a school environment.

By mastering the basic knowledge presented in the textbook, the reader will be able to conduct simple research in school conditions. At the same time, understanding the principles of research methodology helps with the critical evaluation of information from various sources. In preparing the textbook, we utilized our long-term experience with teaching the subject of research methodology, as well as with implementing many research projects. We believe that the simple language of the textbook and the abundance of practical examples will help students understand the basics of such complex issues as research methodology.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the students of the Faculty of Arts and Natural Sciences at P. J. Šafárik University in Košice who attended the course "Foundations of Methodology in Pedagogical-Psychological Research" in the previous academic year for their inspiration, constructive comments on previous versions of the text, and ideas (or mistakes) that we drew upon in the textbook. We also thank other students who allowed us to use examples from their final theses in the textbook. The conclusion of the work is open because, as it turns out, we do not have a common denominator for both concepts that could decide on the correctness of one or the other concept. It is precisely in this that the Socratic question remains a serious philosophical problem today.

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Gabriel Eštok

The university textbook Citizenship of the European Union is structured into four parts. The first chapter focuses on the characteristics of citizenship in a historical context (concepts of citizenship in the ancient, medieval and modern periods).

The second chapter deals with a theoretical introduction to citizenship. It comes up with the characteristics of citizenship, introduces the ways of acquiring and losing citizenship and the transformations of citizenship in the context of globalization and multiculturalism.

The third chapter focuses on European Union citizenship itself, its historical development and the process of introducing and strengthening citizenship in the European Union.

The fourth chapter presents the specific rights of citizens deriving from European Union citizenship - the right to free movement, the right to vote and stand as a candidate in municipal and European Parliament elections, the right to diplomatic and consular protection in the territory of a third country, the right to petition the institutions of the European Union, the right of access to documents of the institutions and bodies of the Union, and the right of initiative of the citizens of the European Union.

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Lukáš Katriňák (ed.)

Meeting of Young Historians VII.

Proceedings of contributions from the 7th scientific conference of young historians, organized by the Department of History at the Faculty of Arts of UPJŠ in Košice,

European Network Remembrance and Solidarity,

Centre of Social and Psychological Sciences SAS,

Historical Institute SAS,

and the Slovak Historical Society at SAS, held on October 25, 2017 in Košice.

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Renáta Orosová (výkonný redaktor)

Stránka časopisu >>>

Vedecký recenzovaný časopis Edukácia je zameraný na problematiku vzdelávania a výchovy v oblasti základného, stredného a vysokého školstva. Zreteľ kladie na súčasný stav a perspektívy edukačnej praxe, aktuálne aspekty pregraduálnej prípravy učiteľov, sociálnej pedagogiky, špeciálnej pedagogiky, ako aj pedagogické a psychologické aspekty výchovy v základných výchovných inštitúciách z pohľadu širokej pedagogickej verejnosti. Je určený vedeckým pracovníkom, mladým vysokoškolským učiteľom, doktorandom, ako aj odborným a pedagogickým pracovníkom s cieľom prezentovať trendy v edukácii a vyvolať diskusiu k aktuálnym otázkam prezentovaných oblastí výchovy a vzdelávania.

Ciele vedeckého časopisu Edukácia:

• prezentovať súčasné postavenie a funkciu pedagóga v edukačnej praxi a jeho perspektívy,

• prezentovať aktuálne otázky vzdelávania a výchovy z pohľadu učiteľov, sociálnych pedagógov, špeciálnych pedagógov a psychológov,

• prezentovať inovácie v edukačnej praxi; analyzovať stav a problémy prepájania teórie a praxe výchovy a vzdelávania vo vzťahu k moderným vyučovacím koncepciám,

• prezentovať aktuálne trendy v pregraduálnej príprave pedagógov,

• prezentovať výsledky empirických výskumov z oblasti pedagogiky, sociálnej pedagogiky, špeciálnej pedagogiky a psychológie v prostredí rodiny, školy a mimoškolských výchovných inštitúcií.

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Renáta Orosová - Lucia Diheneščíková - Katarína Petríková - Lívia Nemcová

Proceedings of Abstracts from the International Scientific Conference: Education and Training 2018: The 21st Century Educator and Their Perspectives in Educational Practice

The international scientific conference focuses on issues related to education and training in primary, secondary, and higher education institutions from the perspective of educators.

It emphasizes the current state and future perspectives of 21st-century educators in educational practice, addressing pedagogical and sociological aspects of education within foundational educational institutions. Additionally, it explores contemporary aspects of pre-service teacher preparation.

The conference is aimed at researchers, young university lecturers, doctoral students, as well as professional and educational practitioners. Its goal is to present the educator—whether a teacher, social pedagogue, or special educator—in a modern perspective, highlighting their essential collaboration in the context of education. Furthermore, it seeks to stimulate discussions on pressing issues within the fields of education and training in light of the current situation in the education sector.

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Ľubov Vladyková (ed.)

In the present text, opinions on environmental literacy are integrated. The most important discoveries of the 21th century exist not in the realm of science, medicine, or technology, but rather in the dawning awareness of the earth's limits and how those limits will affect human evolution. Humanity has reached a crossroad where various ecological catastrophes meet what some call sustainable development. While a great deal of attention has been given to what governments, corporations, utilities, international agencies, and private citizens can do to help in the transition to sustainability, little thought has been given to what schools, colleges, and universities can do. As the health of our planet continues to deteriorate, it is vital to educate and raise ecoliterate citizens.

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Ľubov Vladyková

The present monograph titled Evolutionary Ethics: Selected Issues and Challenges discusses a range of problems, theoretical concepts, and beliefs from the perspective of evolutionary ethics. The term evolution has become one of the central terms in contemporary science and philosophy.

In social sciences in general, and in socio-biology and evolutionary psychology in particular, evolution has had great impact on our understanding of the genesis of culture. Evolutionary theories play a similar role within the theory of consciousness and of the mind (evolutionary epistemology). The interrelation between our evolutionary past and our sense of good and evil is also a subject of heightened interest in ethics; it has in fact become one of its challenges. The concept of evolution challenges the way we create thought patterns through which we understand, or hope to understand, ourselves and the world around us.

This monograph represents a general summary of selected issues in evolutionary ethics, touching upon various aspects of current research into evolutionary ethics and the related domains of evolution, science, ethics, and morals. Evolutionary ethics has become a project which presupposes that in order to understand the essence and basis of morals one must turn to the process of evolution of thought, and to the theories put forth by evolutionists, specifically evolutionary biologists.

The structure of this monograph, as well as its potential usefulness for research and education clearly show that the analysis of the problems discussed here has significant implications for domains far removed from the purely theoretical parts of moral philosophy or biology. The advantage of such discourse is that it enables the implementation of evolutionary ethics in social and ethical issues of public interest (for example Sex Literacy, Sex Education), and this should be recognised and welcome.

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