Výzva a riziká spoločnosti v 21. storočí

E-book

Martin Škára

The presented university textbook is a reaction to two fundamental shortcomings. The first one is the absence of a similar, if not equivalent, textbook in the Slovak university environment. The second shortcoming is the mistake that Leibniz's philosophy is a system called monadology.

The presented textbook corrects this mistake and at the same time fills the gap of the absence of this kind of textbook with a Leibniz subject. For the above reasons, the presented textbook brings a new perspective on the philosophy of G. W. Leibniz, especially in the period of early philosophical beginnings with an overlap into the so-called Paris period and the De summa rerum period up to the first philosophical doctrinal formulation expressed in the Discours de métaphysique (Winter 1685-1686). The textbook is conceived as a selection of sections of source texts translated by the author of the textbook from French and partly from Latin and equipped with comments accessible to the target audience.

It is therefore the author's wish that this textbook not only serve as a form of correction for the misinterpretation of Leibniz's philosophy, but as an inspiring text that will introduce the reader to the world of Leibniz's philosophy in its undistorted light.

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Renáta Orosová - Zuzana Boberová

The university textbook "Pregraduate Teacher Preparation – Organization of Pedagogical Practice at UPJŠ" reflects the changes that have occurred in the pregraduate preparation of students of academic subject teaching in connection with the comprehensive accreditation in 2015. It is intended for students of the second level of university studies in the study programs of Academic Subject Teaching at the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Science at UPJŠ in Košice. The aim of the university textbook is to provide theoretical foundations and methodological guidelines for the organization of all types of pedagogical practice carried out under the conditions of UPJŠ.

Preparation for the teaching profession has both theoretical and practical components. While theoretical academic preparation focuses on acquiring and developing knowledge, skills, and competencies in pedagogy, psychology, and the scientific disciplines of the teaching subjects, practical professional preparation is oriented towards preparing for the actual performance of the profession, i.e., the didactic aspect of the teaching process. A significant part of the practical preparation for the teaching profession is realized within the subject of pedagogical practice, which at UPJŠ takes four forms/levels – Observational pedagogical-psychological practice, Ongoing teaching practice, Continuous teaching practice I, and Continuous teaching practice II.

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Pavol Kačmár - Margita Mesárošová - Ladislav Lovaš (eds.)

This publication introduces a selected body of papers presented at scientific conference School psychology: History and perspectives that took place on October 17 and 18 in Košice.

The conference commemorated two important jubilees. The first was the birth anniversary of prof. Ján Hvozdík (100 years), the second jubilee was related to the opening of the study of psychology at the University of Pavol Jozef Šafárik (50 years).

The contributions have undergone peer review.

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Eva Žiaková - Lucia Tóthová et al.

The scientific monograph was developed within the framework of the grant project Vega 1/0230/15 entitled "Social and Personality Characteristics of Oncological Ill Men and Women as one of the most important factors of sociotherapy with this group of men and women clients", with the aim of finding some common personal characteristics oncological men and women patients, to focus on choosing their coping strategies that can be significant in terms of oncological disease as well as suggesting ways and means of using the basic methods of sociotherapy as one of the most important methods of social work in working with this group of men and women clients, from the knowledge of their personal and social characteristics.

It is also a starting point for other necessary steps, namely to link the results of research to prax the themselves oncologists to hospitals, their outpatient clinics and patients as well as to support the merit of developing the sociooncology, a specific science discipline.

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Soňa Lovašová - Katarína Šiňanská - Magdaléna Halachová  - Vladimír Lichner (eds.)

The central theme of the conference is violence in social work. Violence in social work appears in various forms, whether it involves working with clients who are victims of different types of violence or dealing with aggressive clients where the social worker themselves becomes the victim. Violence in society is rapidly increasing, and social work is a science that must necessarily adapt to society; this is its essence. Therefore, managing aggressive situations in any form is an important part of a social worker's personal skill set.

Unfortunately, protecting social workers from violence will gradually become a necessity, and in the future, we may not avoid training in self-defense and reducing aggression as part of professional preparation or lifelong education.

The aim of this collection is to present the issue of violence in social work from various perspectives to both the professional and lay public. We hope that this serious problem will receive increasing attention and that the individual contributions will help readers understand the extent of the problem of violence in social work.

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Alexander Onufrák - Ján Ruman - Jana Šutajová - Peter Getlík

The presented textbook aims to introduce students to the issue of political extremism from various perspectives—namely, normative, historical, and discursive-empirical.

It addresses the significance and role of active citizenship, which, as one of several potential solutions, has the capacity to a certain extent to eliminate the rise of manifestations of political extremism in society by deepening democratic principles in practice.

The presented textbook is a direct output of the KEGA grant project "Innovative Model of Education Leading to Active Citizenship as a Prevention of the Rise of Political Extremism among Students" (014UPJŠ-4/2020). The principal investigator of the project is Assoc. Prof. Mgr. Gabriel Eštok, PhD. The project was carried out in the years 2020–2022.

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Vladimír Leško - Pavol Tholt (eds.)

Proceedings of the Fourth International Philosophical Symposium History of Philosophy as a Philosophical Problem, held on 14-15 October 2010

The Philosophical Proceedings is the final presentation of the results of the work of the research teams of the research projects VEGA 1/0650/08 - Heidegger and the History of Philosophy and VEGA 1/4679/07 - Jan Patočka's Asubjective Phenomenology and the History of Philosophy solved at the Department of Philosophy and the History of Philosophy of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Applied Sciences in Košice.

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Eva Žiaková (ed.)

Proceedings of the Scientific Conference with International Participation within the VEGA Project No. 1/0282/12 Interdisciplinary Analysis of the Meaning of Life and Its Components in Socially Significant Groups of Adolescents in Terms of Its Formation and Possible Intervention.

The introductory word is a very good opportunity for us to jointly evaluate what we have managed to achieve in addressing our common scientific research task focused on the study of the meaning of life in socially at-risk groups of adolescents. First and foremost, we asked ourselves what we have discovered about the meaning of life so far, that is, what we know about it.

The second question we asked was: what surprised us about the results we have obtained so far. The third question was about what we want to do to resolve the discrepancy between what we have discovered and what we want to achieve.

The final question in evaluating the solution of the scientific research task was: what do we (not) know about the meaning of life of adolescents and want to know in the future, or what should we focus on to develop the most effective logotherapeutic and sociotherapeutic methods for social workers working with socially at-risk groups of adolescents.

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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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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 Panocová

The textbook Basic Concepts of Morphology is an introduction to morphology intended for undergraduate students of British and American Studies and students of English (and French/German) for European Institutions and Economy and other philology studies in Slovakia. The textbook gradually guides students from key terms to concepts and from there to theoretically more challenging phenomena. The textbook is primarily for Slovak students of English, which explains that the majority of the examples presented are English. As the textbook progresses, data from Slovak, German, French, Hungarian and sometimes from slightly more exotic languages are given. It is expected that such an approach will prepare students for carrying out morphological analysis independently.

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Soňa Gabzdilová

The educational system (schooling) is one of the most effective tools for shaping the young generation in any advanced society. Schools not only create the knowledge base necessary for fulfilling the demands of the economy and the social sphere, but they also shape the national and ideological identity of each member of society. The school plays a decisive role in forming positive values, but it can also become a breeding ground for xenophobia and racist attitudes. The school has an irreplaceable role in creating national consciousness, identification with one's own nation, its history, the heroic deeds of ancestors, and the meaning of its existence.

After the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, there were fundamental geopolitical changes in Central Europe. One of these was the creation of Czechoslovakia, a state founded on radically different principles than pre-war Hungary. The founders of the Czechoslovak Republic (CSR), the personalities who decisively determined the character of the political system in the newly established republic, did not belong to the privileged classes of the previous regime. Unlike Hungary, where political power was controlled almost without exception by the nobility, the elite in Czechoslovakia consisted of men who were radical critics of Austria-Hungary.

A fitting example was the most influential figure of interwar Czechoslovakia, President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. Despite his origins, Masaryk was perceived by both Czechs and Slovaks as the founder of the state, a legendary figure whose political and social influence far exceeded the powers of the presidential office.

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E-publication

Lucia Tóthová

The monograph offers a comprehensive perspective on the theoretical, methodological, and empirical dimensions of participatory visual research within the field of social work. It is grounded in the understanding that social work plays a crucial role in amplifying the voices of vulnerable groups and promoting social justice, with particular attention paid to persons with disabilities who frequently encounter limited opportunities for participation as well as persistent social, communicative, and environmental barriers. The author analyses the concept of participation in alignment with the principle of “Nothing about us without us” and presents the PhotoVoice method as an interdisciplinary tool that integrates participatory action research, critical pedagogy, feminist epistemologies, and documentary photography. The method is understood not only as a research technique but also as a form of visual advocacy, enabling participants to articulate their experiences, needs, and perspectives in ways accessible to both professional audiences and the wider public. The monograph reflects on the development of PhotoVoice in international scholarship and highlights its potential to transcend traditional academic boundaries toward participatory and transformative practice in social work. The empirical section comprises three projects conducted by the author in the Slovak context, focusing on diverse groups of persons with disabilities and their families, who face specific social needs and everyday barriers. The findings demonstrate the potential of PhotoVoice to strengthen participation through accessible and meaningful visual tools. The monograph also addresses methodological, ethical, and terminological considerations and adopts an inclusive understanding of disability consistent with contemporary approaches in social work.

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Marianna Sedláková a kol.

The textbook is intended for students of Slovak studies to study the subject of didactics of Slovak as a foreign language.

Its core consists of relevant knowledge gained from the didactics of Slovak as a foreign language, with references to other professional literature. The textbook also includes practical guides for teaching specific language phenomena in schools with Hungarian as the language of instruction or in schools where students predominantly have a mother tongue other than Slovak, such as Romani. Essentially, it involves transforming knowledge acquired and verified in teaching adult foreigners, mainly at universities, into a didactic context for the second level of elementary school and high school, with appropriate emphasis on teaching Slovak as a foreign language at the first level of elementary school as the starting point for the educational process.

The textbook builds on the findings of real research on the state of teaching Slovak as a foreign language in elementary and secondary schools in eastern Slovakia, conducted in projects (EXPERT and DiSaC) implemented at UPJŠ in Košice from 2012 to 2015.

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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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