Theories of Intercultural Communication

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.

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Mikuláš Jančura - Alžbeta Śnieżko   

In connection with the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, which was commemorated in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 2019, an interactive exhibition titled "First Touch of Freedom" was organized under the auspices of Košice Self-Governing Region in collaboration with Ján Bocatius Public Library in Košice, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Nation's Memory Institute, and Slovak Radio and Television. The exhibition took place at Ján Bocatius Public Library and aimed to recall November's events from 1989 while emphasizing its cultural-social dimension and impact.

Conceptually, it focused on developing five dimensions of historical consciousness—a concept mainly developed in contemporary subject-specific didactics for history—namely identity, historicity, memory, spatial awareness, and temporal awareness.

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Mária Bačíková - Anna Janovská - Oľga Orosová

The textbook 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 educational 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 acquiring 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.

The second, expanded edition has been extended by three chapters, focusing on conducting research directly during the teaching process in the form of teacher action research, on the possibilities of evaluating preventive programs, and the final chapter deals with the possibilities of publishing research.

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Beáta Jurečková 

Slovak for Dentists is a textbook intended for international dental students preparing to communicate professionally in Slovak in a real dental environment. The second, expanded and revised edition is the result of several years of practical use and feedback from students. In terms of content and structure, the textbook focuses on developing all language skills, with particular emphasis on understanding spoken language and oral communication in dentist–patient interactions. The textbook contains 14 lessons, including two review test lessons, as well as a Slovak–English dictionary, an answer key, and six appendices. Compared to the first edition, this version includes updated dialogues in audio format, new texts, revised exercises, and a redesigned layout. The vocabulary is specifically focused on the field of dentistry and the most frequent communication situations in a dental office. The textbook reflects different levels of students’ Slovak language proficiency and also offers additional texts for more advanced learners. The lessons include grammar boxes with practical explanations for learners of Slovak as a foreign language. The publication is primarily intended for classroom use but also allows for effective self-study. The aim of the textbook is to support students in mastering practical communication in a dental clinic

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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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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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Juraj Schenk et al.

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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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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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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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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René Šebeňa

The main goal of this textbook is to introduce selected experimental methods that have been developed to study various psychological processes.

Traditional textbooks on cognitive psychology usually offer a comprehensive system of theoretical knowledge and descriptions of experiments. However, we believe that for a deeper understanding, students need to have their own experience.

This textbook provides instructions on how to demonstrate, visually verify, and thereby better understand selected theories and phenomena through practical exercises. Such direct experience can help in the realization of their own projects.

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Vladimír Leško, Milan Sobotka a kol.

Filozofické dielo Martina Heideggera, ktorého hlavnou otázkou je otázka bytia, je v rozhodujúcej miere zviazané s pochopením filozo-fického reflektovania tejto otázky v gréckej a novovekej filozofii. Filozofický vývoj nemeckého mysliteľa túto dejinno-filozofickú sku-točnosť prezentuje v jedinečnej podobe od dvadsiatych rokov 20. storočia až do konca svojej tvorby. Problém Heideggerovej recepcie gréckej filozofie s jej chápaním metafyziky bol predmetom nášho skúmania v práci Heidegger, metafyzika a Gréci (Košice: UPJŠ 2016, 693 s.).

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Róbert Stojka

Cieľom predkladanej monografie je predovšetkým čo najkomplexnejšie predstaviť Patočkov koncept filozofie dejín, aj keď si uvedomujem, že to vôbec nie je ľahká úlo-ha, nielen preto, ako už bolo spomenuté, že v súčasnosti neexistuje rozsiahlejšia a vyčerpávajúca práca k tejto téme. Existuje síce pomerne veľké množstvo štúdií , venovaných Patočkovmu konceptu filozofie dejín, žiadna z nich však neskúma tento koncept komplexným pohľadom, ako určitý celok – zväčša sú zamerané na niektoré parciálne problémy (a nie je ich málo), vyplývajúce z tohto konceptu. Aj tento fakt, mimochodom, je pre mňa samého dôkazom toho, že ide jednoznačne o veľmi náročnú tému.

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Juraj Schenk et al.

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)

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Iveta Bónová - Ivica Hajdučeková - Lucia Jasinská (eds.)

The proceedings maps three significant events organised in 2018 – 2019 within the project KEGA No. 008UPJŠ-4/2017 Science without barriers (Interdisciplinary inspirations of contemporary literary scholarship and linguistics in university educational practice; principal investigator prof. PhDr. J. Gbúr, CSc.) at the Department of Slovak Studies, Slavonic Philologies and Communication, Faculty of Arts, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice.

The first activity was a scholarly and artistic symposium Science without barriers held in March 6 – 8, 2019 on the occassion of the 80^th birthday of Dr. h. c. prof. PhDr. Ján Sabol, DrSc. It brought extended abstracts of participants in two sections (Slovak studies and literary scholarship in interdisciplinary contexts) as its outcome. The next two parts describe artistically oriented events: Interpretational afternoon (a competition for the best interpretation of Ján Sabol´s book of verse Love in Blue) with the winning works added, and the vernissage Literature through an objective lens with the share of students of the School of Industrial Visual Arts in Košice.

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Lívia Körtvélyessy

This university textbook explains to students enrolled in the course Linguistic Typology and Universals the basic terminology, theoretical approaches, and research methods. The textbook is divided into eleven chapters. Each chapter presents theoretical knowledge in an accessible manner, along with practical exercises aimed at developing students’ skills in the respective area.

The textbook covers the following topics: the subject and nature of linguistic typology, a brief history of this linguistic discipline, genealogical classification of languages, various approaches and main objectives of typology across different linguistic levels (phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon), as well as areal typology, complex issues of language universals, and the nature and essence of typologists’ work. Given the extensive research activities of linguists from the Department of British and American Studies at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, the textbook also introduces students to the results achieved by these scholars in this rapidly developing field of linguistics.

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