Sociálne a politické analýzy 2-2010

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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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Martin Škára

Philosophy is interwoven throughout its history with several principles that bring light and order to this kind of thinking, whether it is a systematic or a non-systematic form of philosophizing.

Each of the principles represents in its own way the origin (ἀρχή) of all deductive reasoning, but not all philosophical statements and conceptions are obliged to proceed in the same way, for not all philosophical statements and conceptions are calculus. Actually, such a form of rationalist philosophizing is really a minority in the history of philosophy. But in spite of its minority presence, it will always attract attention to some extent, whether by becoming a pillar of thought itself and finding a permanent place in its foundations, or by becoming an indispensable mainstay of philosophical reasoning. In fact, there are not many principles in the history of philosophical thought.

The state of affairs is primarily due to the heterogeneous and in many cases irrationalist nature of philosophical thinking.

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Soňa Lovašová

In front of you is a textbook whose main aim is to introduce readers to the issues of methods, methodology, techniques, and research methodology in social work. The book is divided into four main sections, each arranged with a specific purpose. This arrangement is primarily based on the logical progression of the textbook’s content. The first part consists of chapters dealing with professional terminology, the development of social work methodology, and the classification of methods.

The second part focuses on research methods in social work, where the author devotes space to the methodology of social work research. The goal of these chapters is not to provide the reader with a comprehensive methodological minimum, but rather to orient them in the basic types of research and to demonstrate, step by step, how to create a research project. The third part presents an overview of the various forms of social work: social work with individuals, families, groups, communities, and society. Each of these chapters begins with a brief historical introduction to the topic. The final section of the textbook consists of chapters on working with aggression in social work practice and its various forms.

We believe that this textbook will be helpful to students in their studies and that its structure will appeal to readers.

Soňa Lovašová

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Lukáš Šutor

Vedecká monografia Kozmológia čarodejných príbehov (ľudová rozprávka medzi kultúrou a umením) je pôvodnou prácou syntetizujúcou výskum o kozmologických štruktúrach archaických epických žánrov v interdisciplinárnom dialógu medzi literárnou vedou a kultúrnou antropológiou. Výskumne sa sústredíme najmä na ľudovú čarodejnú rozprávku, ktorá sa vždy dotýka základnej ontologickej problematiky, vytvára modelový a poetizovaný obraz sveta; predstavuje neteistickú formu hrdinskej kozmológie, ukotvenú v gnómickom časopriestorovom rámci. Pri jej výskume kombinujeme synchrónnu systémovú interpretáciu semiotických rovín s diachrónnou analýzou vývoja kultúr. Z nášho výskumu vyplýva, že základné konflikty medzi symbolickými formami čarodejných príbehov, tak ako ich poznáme z folklórneho prostredia, vykryštalizovali v epoche šírenia sa prvých historických národov ako dôsledok konfrontácie odlišných kultúrnych komplexov.

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Miroslava Köverová - Margita Mesárošová (eds.)

The publication „Helping professions and self-care from the perspective of psychology and social work“ includes research studies focused on self-care, and the positive and negative effects of helping among specific groups of helping professionals – psychologists and social workers.

A number of Slovak as well as foreign authors contributed to the book of proceedings. The contributions are theoretical studies, research studies and case studies. The theoretical and research studies are focused on important issues of professional helping: self-care, compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, burnout, perceived stress, secondary traumatic stress, mindfulness, empathy, job satisfaction and turnover among psychologists and social workers.

Research interest in the phenomena is especially important in the context of the mental health of helping professionals and in reducing the negative consequences of helping. 

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Beata Gajdošová

It is impossible to be in contact with a person-centered approach and not be influenced by it. Carl Random Rogers was and is still perceived as one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century (Cook, et al., 2009).

He was the first psychologist to be awarded twice by the American Psychological Association during his lifetime; in 1957 for his contributions to psychotherapy research and in 1973 for distinguished professional contributions. He developed his own psychotherapeutic approach, client-centered therapy, where unlike existing psychotherapeutic approaches, the healing power lies in the relationship between the client and the therapist, not in the applied method.

Rogers and his colleagues were the first to record, transcribe, and publish complete cases of therapeutic conversations and initiated systematic research in the field of psychotherapy. By using the term client instead of patient and seeking sources of change within the person, he created a non-medical model of help as part of the helping professions (Capuzzi, Gross, 2001). The self-theory created by Rogers is a theory that is included in many contemporary psychology texts (Cloninger, 2003; Feist, Feist, 2001; Ryckman, 2004).

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Lucia Tóthová

Počet ľudí so zdravotným znevýhodnením neustále rastie, čo predstavuje výzvu aj pre oblasť sociálnej práce. Tá zohráva kľúčovú úlohu v podpore týchto osôb a hľadaní efektívnych spôsobov napĺňania ich potrieb.

Vysokoškolská učebnica vznikla v rámci riešenia projektu KEGA č. 018UPJŠ-4/2024 s názvom „PhotoVoice ako inovatívna metóda advokácie sociálnych potrieb ľudí so sluchovým postihnutím“. Je prvou časťou viacdielneho cyklu, ktorý sa venuje rôznym aspektom tejto problematiky. Učebnica analyzuje historické a teoretické východiská, terminológiu a modely zdravotného znevýhodnenia. Venuje sa špecifikám vybraných druhov zmyslového znevýhodnenia. Osobitná pozornosť sa upriamuje na sociálne potreby týchto osôb a advokácii v sociálnej práci, pričom zdôraznený je význam aktívneho zapojenia ľudí so zdravotným znevýhodnením do riešenia vlastných životných situácií.

Okrem poskytovania odborných poznatkov môže učebnica slúžiť aj ako podnet na hlbšiu reflexiu vlastného prístupu k ľuďom so zdravotným znevýhodnením a na rozvoj citlivého prístupu k ľuďom so zdravotným znevýhodnením. Navyše, učebnica obsahuje vybrané prvky tzv. jasnej tlače, čím podporuje jej prístupnosť.

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Daniel Dobiaš

The work deals with the evolution in theory and practice of democracy, open society and humanism which is marked by dichotomy of its own progressive and regressive features. Civilization trajectory of human reality, the implementation strategy thought overlaps through a reality in the form of freedom, solidarity and human rights, formulation of normative ideas of man and his/her nature, rationalistic universalism and voluntaristic individualism created preconditions for the political background of modern societies which established democratic order with rules allowing to dispose with freedom to which the individual, as a rational being, is authorized. Moreover, the perspective of awareness of ambiguity and paradoxical content of individual parameters of democracy, open society and humanism, ideologically shaped and fixed by worldviews of economic and political elites, from our point of view, is a mirror image of how those conditions differ from the standard assumptions formulated in theory. 

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Ján Juščák - Milan Darák

 The aim of the monograph was to analyze and address the issue of educational systems within children's and youth organizations, with an emphasis on those focused on the age category of children up to 15 years.

The starting point was an analysis of the current state of the educational environment in terms of the systemic nature of education and the basic categories of the educational system. The collected available materials on the educational systems of selected (most representative) children's and youth organizations in the Slovak Republic were subsequently processed according to a unified methodology and using generally accepted pedagogical terminology.

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Štefan Jusko

This monograph aims at following the study of P. S. Loeb in which he presented a significant turning point in the issue of the interpretation of Nietzsche's idea of the eternal return of the same. What was that reversal? Despite prominent scholars of Nietzsche's philosophy of the 20th century who rejected the idea of eternal return because of its logical incoherence, Loeb eruditely proved the temporal identity of eternal return of the same, thus verifying the logical connection of the idea concerned.

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Eva Žiaková

Proceedings from the Scientific Conference with International Participation held on November 27, 2015 in Košice

Stress is becoming a part of everyday life in developed societies, which negatively affects both the physical and mental state of individuals. The proceedings from the scientific conference with international participation, titled "Forms of Internal and External Factors in Coping with Stress from the Perspective of Theory and Practice in Social Work," are therefore dedicated to the issue of coping with stress from an interdisciplinary perspective.

It addresses the full spectrum of coping issues, ranging from the most internal, specifically defined factors of the C-system of coping in oncology patients, coping with burnout in helping professions, sociological contexts of oncological diseases, through the level of social support that provides individuals with space for managing stress, to the possibilities of coping with stressful situations in various areas of life.

Stanislav Hvozdík 

Obdobie staršej dospelosti predstavuje dôležitú ľudskú skúsenosť. Poradenstvo môže prispieť k tomu, aby to bola formatívna a osobnosť rozvíjajúca skúsenosť. Poradenstvo chápeme ako takú aplikáciu osobnosti do oblasti jej konania, ktorá rozvíja jej bytie. Vychádzame z aplikácie vývinu do poradenstva a naväzujeme na prácu Úvod do poradenskej psychológie, ktorá bola publikovaná skôr. V týchto učebných textoch sme rozpracovali podrobnejšie kapitolu, poradenstvo starším dospelým. Publikovaná práca môže prispieť k porozumeniu a podpore tohto dôležitého obdobia v živote človeka.

Autor

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Gabriel Eštok- Mária Hrehová- Jakub Bardovič (eds.)

Proceedings of the 3rd Annual Scientific Conference of Students and Young Researchers held on May 23, 2014, by the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice

On May 23, 2014, the Department of Political Science at the Faculty of Arts, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice hosted a conference entitled “Challenges and Perspectives of Domestic and Foreign Policy.” This was the third conference for students and young researchers organized by the Department of Political Science in cooperation with the civic association Res Publica. The event featured numerous young people interested in contemporary political issues, each presenting on a topic related to domestic or foreign policy. It can be stated that these presentations were of a high professional standard and stimulated discussion on the topics and problems raised.

The publication you are holding is a collection of scholarly works by students and young experts who focused on a variety of subjects. Some authors addressed issues of foreign policy, particularly the analysis of selected countries’ policies (Slovak Republic, USA), examined the Iranian nuclear program, or explored the possibilities of federalizing Ukraine as a solution to the emerging situation. Another contribution offered a perspective on foreign policy from the viewpoint of Slovak emigrants in Australia. Despite the wide range of topics addressed in the individual contributions, a common denominator can be found: the effort to highlight a particular problem or propose its solution, thereby contributing to the fulfillment of the ideal of democracy, the improvement of policy-making and functioning, and, above all, making the world a better place for all of us.

Editors

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Renáta Orosová, Michal Novocký, Beáta Sakalová, Zuzana Vagaská (eds.)

Zborník príspevkov z medzinárodnej vedeckej konferencie, 11. september 2025

Medzinárodná vedecká konferencia je zameraná na problematiku vzdelávania a výchovy v oblasti základného, stredného a vysokého školstva a školských zariadení z pohľadu pedagóga. Zreteľ kladie na perspektívy pedagóga 21. storočia v edukačnej praxi a inovatívne aspekty pregraduálnej prípravy pedagógov. Je určená vedeckým pracovníkom, mladým vysokoškolským učiteľom, doktorandom s cieľom prezentovať učiteľa v súčasnej perspektíve a vyvolať diskusiu k aktuálnym otázkam prezentovaných oblastí výchovy a vzdelávania v kontexte súčasnej situácie v školstve.

Ciele konferencie:

• prezentovať a analyzovať možnosti rozvoja budúcich učiteľov a učiteľov v praxi s ohľadom na zdroje a nástroje podpory ich sebavzdelávania,
• prezentovať a analyzovať možnosti rozvoja budúcich učiteľov a učiteľov v praxi cez kultúru školy reagujúcu na potreby všetkých aktérov vzdelávania,
• prezentovať a analyzovať formovanie digitálnych zručností učiteľov a modifikovania výučby smerom k špecifikám žiakov,
• prezentovať a analyzovať využívanie umelej inteligencie v edukácii z didaktického a etického aspektu,
• prezentovať a analyzovať najnovšie edukačné trendy vo výučbe vychádzajúce z paradigmy didaktického konštruktivizmu,
• prezentovať a analyzovať možnosti aktualizácie profesijných kompetencií učiteľov cez učenie sa skúsenosťou a riešenie komplexných edukačných problémov.

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Magdaléna Hovanová - Dušan Šlosár

The monograph addresses the issues surrounding functional families, dysfunctional families, and those affected by crises. It analyzes various determinants that lead to family dysfunction and identifies factors contributing to family crises and the destabilization of family relationships. Special attention is given to working with dysfunctional families, particularly through family rehabilitation, methods, forms, and procedures employed mainly by helping professionals.

Additionally, the monograph explores contemporary forms of couple cohabitation and the factors that have caused changes in this area. Families are examined from the perspective of helping professions, including psychology, sociology, adult education, health care, law, and economics. These various perspectives create a comprehensive view of the examined issues and establish a multidisciplinary space for addressing problems within the family system. A functional family is seen as the foundation of society; therefore, society must create tools to assist families that are unable to resolve issues affecting their functionality.

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Renáta Orosová - Michal Novocký - Katarína Petríková

An integral part of the process of becoming a teacher is the mentoring of student teachers by mentor teachers, serving as guidance and support for future teachers. Developing mentoring skills and fostering reflective mentoring practices are means of enhancing the practical training of student teachers, their professional development, and improving the quality of their future educational practice.

The foundation of the mentoring relationship between the mentor teacher as a mentor and the student teacher as a mentee is not to evaluate the student, but to analyse their learning and teaching and contemplate ways to enhance these processes. The university textbook represents a creative textual tool focused on innovations in strategies for supporting the development of mentoring abilities in mentors and mentees during professional practical training. This university textbook, intended for student teachers in the role of mentees and mentor teachers in the role of mentors, systematizes the theoretical foundations of mentoring, provides guidance and directives for mentoring in professional practical training. Furthermore, it offers the university teacher, in the role of supervising the student's teaching practice, an overview of techniques and methods pertaining to the mentoring relationship between mentor and mentee. It is applicable as a university textbook for student teachers, students pursuing supplementary pedagogical studies or advanced studies, as well as for mentor teachers in primary and secondary schools, and university educators involved in professional practical training.

Its English version provides opportunities for utilization during study stays of student teachers abroad and for foreign students in Slovakia.

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