DEMOKRACIA • Stav – Kontexty – Perspektívy

E-book

Pavol Kačmár

Overview of the Issue and Meta-Analysis of Conducted Research.

The publication focuses on two key constructs – time perspective and goal achievement. After describing both constructs, the authors focused on potential connections that can be found at multiple levels of analysis. For the purpose of empirical verification, they conducted a small-scale meta-analysis synthesizing results across eleven studies. The obtained results highlighted the role of time perspective in selected aspects of goal achievement. The publication is intended to serve as a catalyst for further consideration of the issue, thereby encouraging research aimed at verifying how the acquired knowledge can be expanded to improve the quality of our daily lives in the context of cultivating our approach to time.

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E-book

Drahoslav Magdoško (ed.)

Hlavný zámer zborníka, ktorý držíte v rukách, predstavuje práve vzdanie pocty historikovi, ktorý svojim úctyhodným vedeckým dielom výrazne prispel k utváraniu slovenskej historiografie, predovšetkým medievalistiky. Zároveň sa tu vyslovuje uznanie za rozsiahlu a v nemalej miere priekopnícku prácu archivára, ktorý pomáhal rozvíjať moderné archívnictvo na východe Slovenska. A v neposlednom rade ide o formu poďakovania za prácu vysokoškolského pedagóga, ktorého predmety absolvovali stovky študentov, a ktorý si svojim podnetným prístupom získal ich srdcia. Na všetkých týchto troch rovinách má cenné zásluhy prof. PhDr. Ferdinand Uličný, DrSc. (*18. 8. 1933, Ploštín), ktorý v lete roku 2023 oslávil životné jubileum 90. rokov.

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E-journal

Juraj Schenk a kol.

The scientific journal Sociálne a politické analýzy (Social and Political Analyses) serves as an interactive electronic platform for communication and the presentation (publication) of experts and their work in the fields of basic and applied research and analyses within sociological, psychological, political, and methodological contexts. It is a medium focused on intensively supporting research activities and analyses within an interdisciplinary framework, facilitating the exchange of experiences, fostering collaboration, and revitalizing the production of scientific work in this area.

The publication section of the journal offers space for works such as:

- Original sociological, psychological, and political studies and analyses in any areas of social life

- Methodological studies

- Research reports

- Studies from qualification theses Research and analysis projects

- Reviews

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E-book

Lucia Jasinská

The submitted monograph, "Colloquial Lexemes in Journalistic Texts," presents an original perspective on the analysis and description of lexical and grammatical expressive means in the examined communication field.

The main research problem is the colloquialization of expressive means as a marked feature in publicly published journalistic texts. The starting point of the research itself was the search for lexical units with the stylistic qualifier of colloquiality in the "Short Dictionary of the Slovak Language." Their presence and frequency, as well as any potential shifts in meaning, were verified in publicly accessible media communications.

Since this is research into "living language," the source material consists of journalistic texts in the Slovak National Corpus database.

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E-book

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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E-book

Ján Šimko - Dušan Šlosár

The monograph is dealing with the issue of homosexuality and homophobia in the context of social work and it is divided into five chapters, which are devoted to individual fields of the tackled issue. The first chapter is describing the phenomenon of homosexuality in the society; the focus is put on human sexuality and sexual orientation. The following chapter is clarifying the formation of homosexual identity in connection to coming out and it describes its frequently utilized models. The third chapter is devoted to the concepts of heteronormativity and heterosexism in the social context.

Furthermore, the chapter is dealing with the formation of attitudes towards this issue from the point of view of religion and masculinity. Another chapter is describing homophobia as the result of heteronormativity, stereotypes and prejudice.

In the last chapter, the authors are introducing selected social work theories dealing with the homosexual minority, the approaches to LGBT+ community and suggestions towards elimination of homophobia within the social work environment.

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E-book

Milan Olejník

The history of ancient Greece and Rome represents the culmination of achievements made by ancient civilizations in political, economic, and social spheres, as well as in understanding humanity and the world, and in art. The Greeks were the first in human history to establish a system where a certain part of society—full-fledged citizens—had the opportunity to freely participate in political decisions. They could vote, be elected to offices within the political system, and discuss issues affecting community life.

A high level of education and the pursuit of rational explanations for natural phenomena enabled the Greeks to reach a level of knowledge that European nations only achieved in the modern era. Greek accomplishments in sculpture, architecture, and literature remain an inspiration to this day.

Despite a gap of more than two millennia, their thinking and actions are relatable; their victories and defeats resonate with us, offering lessons even today.

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E-book

Július Rozenfeld - Slávka Tomaščíková

The academic textbook entitled “Developing Academic English in Speaking and Writing” responds to the need identified by the authors in their own teaching practice to integrate the enhancement of the academic skills of speaking and writing into a single coherent approach. Using complex methodologies of academic speaking and academic writing, the authors offer practical guidelines on how to broaden students’ knowledge of the discourse of Academic English and how to improve their academic competencies and productive language skills in speaking and writing in English.

The textbook is designed for university students of English philology, students of literary and cultural studies focusing on Anglophone areas, students of English translation and interpretation study programmes, but also for students who study in English and who are expected to engage in scientific inquiry, document their research in Bachelor and Master theses or in doctoral dissertations written in English, and to present their work to their academic community.

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Tatiana Žiaková - Dušan Šlosár

The last decade marks not only the average life expectancy increase in healthy population, but also life expectancy increase in group of people with intellectual disorders/disabilities. Due to their diagnosis that defines and classifies them into specific categories, people with intellectual disability are finding themselves in a constant confrontation with obstacles negatively affecting the saturation of their existential needs. It creates mostly educational, social, cultural, psycho-social and economical disadvantage in the context of their lives. Consequently, their active potential is weakened, making it unable for them to influence public affairs in society from a position of an adult or elderly citizen. Building up on this condition, the focus of this monograph is on understanding and explanation of prevailing concept of social inclusion and related concepts of social exclusion. These concepts influence the way we tend to define and think about the character of society, as such.

Simultaneously, we are examining that the quality of coexistence between dominant population and people with intellectual disabilities is dependent on the development of attitudes and opinions of major population towards this specific minority. These attitudes reflect the extent of social tolerance and at the same time serve as a quantification of moral values and equity in the society, whether it concerns any type of small everyday help or professional and institutionalised long-term support.

This monograph focuses on presenting professional care for people with mental disability in form of social services as a dominant type of support in our local environment. We show that the quality of social services inevitably depends on degree of professional competences social workers possess. The significance of professional competences social workers are capable of using is reflected in the degree of the competence and adequacy of their performance. The primary aim, in relation to which professional competences should be accustomed, is to enhance meaningfulness and dignity in life of mentally disabled receivers of the social services.

Competences of social workers are a dynamic phenomenon that modifies along the development of society and also with the frequently altering needs of people with intellectual disability as receivers of the social service. For this reason we designed the presented research to reflect our goal to reappraise the scope of professional competences and define the required professional functions of social workers working with people with intellectual disability.

This monograph is dedicated not only to professionals working with this group of people but also aims at answering basic questions to practical issues that families with a intellectualy disabled member are coming into contact with.

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E-book

Katarína Šiňanská

For a non-governmental organization to be successful, it must focus, among other things, on its main goal of spreading its vision and mission to another area. It can achieve success by increasing its visibility and raising awareness about its activities in society, sending a clear message, and maintaining transparency.

The monograph deals with specific areas in which non-profit NGOs are active, i.e. marketing and fundraising. Both these areas are of key importance for the NGO’s success, therefore they require particular attention. It is well known that NGOs lack proper support in Slovakia and their funding is insufficient given the demand for their services. NGOs therefore search for multiple sources of funding and use marketing as a tool.

The monograph explains the importance of NGOs in the non-profit sector and justifies the tools they employ when navigating the commercial space.

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Maroš Melichárek

Prvá kapitola monografie nesie názov Veľká východná kríza v rokoch 1875-1878 – súperenie veľmocí na Balkáne. Veľká východná kríza, ktorá vyvrcholia rusko-osmanským konfliktom a následným Berlínskym kongresom dala do pohybu mnoho procesov. Dôležitosť Berlínskeho kongresu a jeho fungovanie je v práci vykreslené z pohľadu jedného zúčastneného balkánskeho štátu a to Srbska. Kapitoly 2 až 5 zhŕňajú medzinárodný kontext a vnútorné predpoklady vytvorenia moderného bulharského a čiernohorského štátu, rovnako i detailný popis emancipácie Macedóncov a Albáncov (Albánske národné hnutie a vytvorenie nezávislého Albánska v roku 1912, Macedónska otázka na konci novoveku a možnosti jej riešenia zo strany veľmocí). Kapitola Konflikt Osmanskej ríše a Talianska o Lýbiu v rokoch  1911-1912 je popisuje vojenský stret medzi veľmocami s globálnymi následkami, ktoré de facto znamenali i pád Osmanskej ríše na európskom kontinente.Kapitola Definitívny pád Osmanskej ríše na európskom kontinente: prvá a druhá balkánska vojna predstavuje chronologický záver monografie a prináša pohľad na najdôležitejšie udalosti balkánskych vojen, armády i fenomény, ktoré doteraz boli v rámci tejto otázky vnímané iba okrajovo (etnické čistky, mobilizácia, propaganda a i.).  Záver práce a kapitola Zahraničná politika Srbska a problematika Bosny a Hercegoviny pred vypuknutím 1. svetovej vojny sa zameriava na hodnotenie srbských ašpirácií (či už ideologických alebo reálnych) smerom k priestoru Bosny a Hercegoviny.

E-book

Božena Velebná

The following material has been created during the two years of teaching English for Chemists at the Faculty of Science of the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University and is therefore designed to meet the needs of this course. The main motivation was the lack of appropriate materials, especially as the groups generally comprise students with a very diverse level of English. This diversity therefore became the main criterion determining both the form and the content of this text.

In the ten units that provide material for a one semester course, the emphasis is put on teaching the students vocabulary and terminology, which is introduced via authentic texts, depending on the topic of each unit. Students are encouraged to learn the meaning of new words in context. Grammar is included too, with the aim of demonstrating and explaining grammatical rules by means of examples taken directly from the texts. For the more advanced students, grammatical exercises in this material can serve for revision while the beginners might need more supplementary materials.

I hope that this material, the preparation of which has been a challenging as well as enjoyable experience will be useful for future teachers and the students of this course.

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E-book

Silvia Kontírová a kol.

Pedagogical practice is an organizational form of higher education training for prospective teachers, implemented through mandatory pedagogical practice subjects.

These subjects have an integrative and practical-training character, building upon the theoretical and practical instruction provided to students at the faculty. They are conducted within the scope defined by curricula in the conditions of specialized workplaces (training schools) and under the supervision of qualified professionals (training teachers). Unlike other higher education subjects, pedagogical practice primarily provides students with opportunities for independent creative teaching in real school environments.

The practical activities of students in training schools are characterized as supervised, monitored, and evaluated by designated entities.

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E-book

Štefan Jusko

Selected chapters from axiology are the result of the author's multi-year research work and also a certain fulfillment of the requirements from pedagogical practice in this subject. The chapters in this synthesizing form have not been published yet, and I am convinced that precisely in this form they can acquire higher value and greater real impact on our philosophy students.

Individual chapters focus on the problem of the collapse of traditional values, often leading to nihilism and loss of meaning in human existence. It is no coincidence that Friedrich Nietzsche, a philosopher who first called for a reevaluation of all values, is a common denominator among these texts. Another key figure is F. Dostojevskij, a Russian philosophising writer who views nihilism—the problem of value destruction—differently. The goal of these texts is literally to provoke our students so that they independently and creatively address questions related to the meaning of their own existence.

As I am convinced, our time presents a great challenge for new, original ideas and axiological judgments that have always preceded cognitive ones. To what extent my intentions and goals have been fulfilled remains up to the reader to decide.

Autor

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E-book

Štefan Jusko

The goal of the monograph is to highlight the significant problem of interpreting the Socratic question, as its approach represents a method of interpreting the history of philosophy, specifically in our case, the interpretation of Socrates and Plato. The Socratic question can be grasped in diametrically different ways, as shown by Patočka and Nietzsche, among others. The former aligns with Socrates and innovatively updates his question for the present. The latter is ambivalent towards Socrates but ultimately labels him a decadent.

In the first part of the monograph, Patočka's characterization of human existence is presented, which he formulates as unified and morally firm. Patočka interprets the Socratic question as care for the soul, for its well-being, without deriving the concept of good from something positively defined but from the whole world, which can only be defined negatively due to its constant openness. This sphere of negativity is for Patočka something immensely positive because transcendence lifts humans from relative goods to the overall meaning, making them morally capable in the true sense. The good, i.e., the requirement for a surge, for a turn of humans from the world of things to the whole world, is for him a program that Socrates first formulated through his knowing ignorance.

The second part of the work is dedicated to Nietzsche's concept based on the non-unified nature of human existence, which is not derived from the whole world or overall meaning but from situational meaning. Nietzsche strives to prove that in every situation, human existence is exposed to two opposing perspectives, between which it is impossible to decide which is correct. He concludes that both perspectives are equally valid and mutually conditioned, meaning that the opposite of good, what threatens meaning, is a beneficial condition for situational meaning. He labels this level as immoral, as a sphere where human existence creates meaning outside the thinking of good and evil in opposition.

The conclusion of the work is open because, as it turns out, we do not have a common denominator that could decide on the correctness of one or the other concept. Precisely in this lies the fact that the Socratic question remains a serious philosophical problem even today.

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E-bool

Peter Fedorčák

When studying the Renaissance, researchers utilize various critical and core terms and concepts which it is necessary to characterize.

However, many such points, notably the following, are problematic: The relationship between the Renaissance and the antiquity; The connection with the Middle Ages; The transformation to Mannerism and Baroque; Realism and Secularism in Renaissance art; The individualism of the Renaissance artist; The reasons for the creation of Renaissance art in Italy, its determinants and stimulators; Distinguishing between the analysis of the genesis of the Renaissance and the analysis of the creation of the period’s art generally; Regional differences in Italy and their impact on the art; Chronological limits of the Renaissance and its milestones; The terms “Medieval Ages” and “Early Modern Period”; The impact, and its extent, of the artistic influences of the Byzantine, Gothic and Romanesque arts on the Renaissance. The term “Renaissance” itself, its content and existence, are also the subject of the discussion with students, alongside learning how such terms and definitions came about and continue to evolve, how they attain their content, how this content morphs in the historical discourse, what academical pluralism and freedom of thinking look like in the discourse led by historians, what the differences are between scientists and schools of thought on the same subject and how it is possible that they are so numerous.

The students will come to recognize the leading scholars in the field, and follow their arguments and methodological approaches. They shall be invited to closely trace and scrutinize the logic which those historians use in building their argumentation. It shall be seen that the freedom to create terms, concepts and new definitions cannot stand on an ignorance of the (historical) facts, as becomes clear with expanding knowledge of those historical facts, the variability of their interpretation growing in tandem. This approach, actually used across the whole range of seminars and lectures, shall drive discussion on the topics covered, students being invited to formulate their own theses and antitheses.

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E-book

Pavol Kačmár

Overview of the Issue and Meta-Analysis of Conducted Research.

The publication focuses on two key constructs – time perspective and goal achievement. After describing both constructs, the authors focused on potential connections that can be found at multiple levels of analysis. For the purpose of empirical verification, they conducted a small-scale meta-analysis synthesizing results across eleven studies. The obtained results highlighted the role of time perspective in selected aspects of goal achievement. The publication is intended to serve as a catalyst for further consideration of the issue, thereby encouraging research aimed at verifying how the acquired knowledge can be expanded to improve the quality of our daily lives in the context of cultivating our approach to time.

Download e-book for free (pdf)

E-book

Drahoslav Magdoško (ed.)

Hlavný zámer zborníka, ktorý držíte v rukách, predstavuje práve vzdanie pocty historikovi, ktorý svojim úctyhodným vedeckým dielom výrazne prispel k utváraniu slovenskej historiografie, predovšetkým medievalistiky. Zároveň sa tu vyslovuje uznanie za rozsiahlu a v nemalej miere priekopnícku prácu archivára, ktorý pomáhal rozvíjať moderné archívnictvo na východe Slovenska. A v neposlednom rade ide o formu poďakovania za prácu vysokoškolského pedagóga, ktorého predmety absolvovali stovky študentov, a ktorý si svojim podnetným prístupom získal ich srdcia. Na všetkých týchto troch rovinách má cenné zásluhy prof. PhDr. Ferdinand Uličný, DrSc. (*18. 8. 1933, Ploštín), ktorý v lete roku 2023 oslávil životné jubileum 90. rokov.

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E-journal

Juraj Schenk a kol.

The scientific journal Sociálne a politické analýzy (Social and Political Analyses) serves as an interactive electronic platform for communication and the presentation (publication) of experts and their work in the fields of basic and applied research and analyses within sociological, psychological, political, and methodological contexts. It is a medium focused on intensively supporting research activities and analyses within an interdisciplinary framework, facilitating the exchange of experiences, fostering collaboration, and revitalizing the production of scientific work in this area.

The publication section of the journal offers space for works such as:

- Original sociological, psychological, and political studies and analyses in any areas of social life

- Methodological studies

- Research reports

- Studies from qualification theses Research and analysis projects

- Reviews

Download the e-journal for free (pdf)

E-book

Lucia Jasinská

The submitted monograph, "Colloquial Lexemes in Journalistic Texts," presents an original perspective on the analysis and description of lexical and grammatical expressive means in the examined communication field.

The main research problem is the colloquialization of expressive means as a marked feature in publicly published journalistic texts. The starting point of the research itself was the search for lexical units with the stylistic qualifier of colloquiality in the "Short Dictionary of the Slovak Language." Their presence and frequency, as well as any potential shifts in meaning, were verified in publicly accessible media communications.

Since this is research into "living language," the source material consists of journalistic texts in the Slovak National Corpus database.

Download the e-book for free (pdf)

E-book

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.

Download e-book for free (pdf)