The Magic of Sounds

E-book

Štefan Šutaj - Jana Šutajová

The population exchange between Czechoslovakia and Hungary was carried out on the basis of the Agreement on the Exchange of Populations between Czechoslovakia and Hungary, which was signed on February 27, 1946. Its adoption was not only part of Czechoslovak solutions to the status of national minorities, but also part of the strategic concept of building a state of Czechs and Slovaks without Germans and Hungarians.

The agreement was part of the postwar resolution of mutual disputes and misunderstandings and was intended to be one of the solutions that, in the postwar period, would eliminate a factor which, according to Czechoslovak political leaders, had caused the war conflict.

The population exchange between Czechoslovakia and Hungary was therefore not an isolated historical event, but part of migratory movements that had begun in Europe already after the First World War, and can be seen as a continuation of previous developments as part of migration patterns in Europe.

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Zuzana Buráková

The English language study materials are intended for students of geography and general ecology at the Faculty of Science of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University. Their aim is to broaden communicative language competencies at an intermediate level of English proficiency, with an emphasis on the students’ field of study.

The individual chapters are based on the need for specialization within the various natural science disciplines and on preparing students to present their academic results not only at home, but also abroad. The study material contains a variety of texts, quizzes, exercises, maps, etc., which further illustrate the issues relevant to the field.

This material is intended to serve as a foundation for the future creation of even more precise materials needed for teaching specialized foreign language courses.

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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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E-book

Peter Fedoročko (eds.)

From June 14 to June 17, 2022, the 8th annual Spring School for Doctoral Students at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice will take place in Liptovský Ján. The scientific program of the spring school will comprise 3 plenary lectures by leading scientific experts and 1 workshop. Doctoral students will present their research papers in two sections: 22 doctoral students of Faculty of Public Administration, Faculty of Law and Faculty of Arts, and 26 doctoral students of Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Science. The scientific programme of the spring school will also include a panel discussion with the management of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice.

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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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Renáta Orosová - Katarína Petríková - Lucia Diheneščíková

Based on the analysis of self-reflection competences in future teachers, opinions of the mentor teachers and their recommendations and the set of pupil-oriented and educational process-oriented competences, a protocol for using self-reflection methods has been created. More precisely, it is a self-reflection teaching diary. It is an innovative method of self-reflection competence development in teaching students in their practical specialized preparation, particularly the self-reflective observation practice and conversation.

The Self-Reflection Teaching Diary is the outcome of the VVGS “Innovation in self-reflection competence development teaching methods in the practical specialized training of future teachers” grant project solving. It is an innovative and creative text-based tool not only for teaching students but also for university teachers specializing in their practical preparation as well as mentor teachers in primary and secondary schools. Its English version can be used by teaching students on their study stays abroad. It is also a transparent and unified tool in the practical preparation of future teachers aiming at the development of their self-reflection competences.

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Róbert Stojka

The aim of the presented monograph is primarily to introduce Patočka's concept of the philosophy of history as comprehensively as possible, although I am aware that this is by no means an easy task. This difficulty arises not only because, as already mentioned, there is currently no extensive and exhaustive work on this topic.

While there is a relatively large number of studies devoted to Patočka's concept of the philosophy of history, none of them, however, examine this concept from a comprehensive perspective as a unified whole – most focus on specific partial issues (and there are many) stemming from this concept. This fact, incidentally, serves as clear evidence to me that this is undoubtedly a highly demanding topic.

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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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E-book

Myroslava Fabian

The academic textbook entitled “Stylistics: Theory and Practice, Part I” responds to the need identified by the author in her own teaching practice to supply the students with both theoretical and practical materials to the lecture and seminar course of contemporary English Stylistics.

Taking into account the richness and variety of English stylistic means of communication, the author dwells on basic notions of the academic course in question, describes stylistic semasiology as well as phonetic, syntactic expressive means and stylistic devices, offers practical help to stylistically identify, classify and describe the elements of language used in speech.

The textbook is designed for university students of English philology, students of English translation and interpretation study programmes, and also for students majoring in other disciplines combined with English language studies, as well as for those who study in English 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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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

Tomáš Dvorský

The attention devoted to the issue of Chinese activity is highly relevant. Creating a positive reputation abroad is a legitimate tool of every state in its effort to generate influence. The People's Republic of China has been very successful in this regard since the beginning of the millennium, which has allowed it to start occupying positions in the international system that it legitimately claims based on its own history, size, and potential.

Examples from abroad also highlight the fact that Chinese foreign policy should not be accepted uncritically and deserves a cautious approach and thoughtful discussion. All of this must be done while respecting not only China's particularity but also taking into account the realities of the great power rivalry visible at the beginning of the 21st century.

In this context, one cannot abstract from a detailed look at Chinese soft power as one of the key tools for generating influence in the world. Understanding it is an essential prerequisite for a relevant evaluation of the practices and motivations of China's foreign policy, while it can also serve as a guideline in the effort to create an adequate approach toward this resurgent global great power.

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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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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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Mikuláš Jančura

The presented annotated source edition represents the first systematic attempt to process selected documents related to the history of personal automobilism in Slovakia during the interwar period. It addresses a notable research and publication gap in Slovak historiography, where the topic of automobilism has long remained marginal. Although research in this field has progressed over the last two decades, Slovak scholarship still lags behind Czech historiography. The main ambition of the edition is to present a broad selection of sources to highlight key thematic lines in the development of personal automobilism. The sources are divided into two main thematic groups: economic-legislative issues and cultural-social dimensions. Special attention is given to car accessibility, infrastructure, legal frameworks, visual advertising, and the activities of motoring associations. The typologically diverse corpus includes archival records, printed materials, visual sources, and photographs. The edition builds on a 2017 authorial monograph, expanding it with new insights and sources. It draws from collections housed in the National Archives in Prague, the Slovak National Archive, and various regional archives. The work also benefits from the application of modern methodological approaches, such as Business History and cultural history. The project was carried out under the scientific grant VVGS-2022-2431 at the Faculty of Arts, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice. Its results are closely linked to the teaching activities of the research team. The edition is the result of several stages – from heuristics, selection, and processing to peer review and publication. The publication contributes to a vivid understanding of the historical aspects of automobilism and expands knowledge of modernization processes in Slovakia. It also offers potential for use in educational practice and further academic research.

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Lucia Tóthová - Katarína Šiňanská (eds.)

Proceedings of the scientific conference with international participation held on November 30, 2018, in Košice

Current social work addresses the serious development problems of society such as poverty, unemployment, chronic diseases, socially vulnerable groups and others. We must not forget that enough attention must be paid to the discovery of causes and a detailed analysis of these problems. The thing is that social problems have been around for a long time, they just changed their shape, old forms of social risks were replaced by the new ones that need to be explored and analyzed in order to be able to perform measures and remove the causes of social risks of the 21st century. Proceedings of the scientific conference with international participation entitled Social Risks in the Society of the XXI. Century is therefore devoted to various perspectives related to social risks of modern society in the variety of contributions, indicating the broad-spectrum not only of the proceedings, but also the social work itself.

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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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