Celebrating 10th Anniversary of the Faculty of Social Sciences

“It only took 5 steps for this Faculty to become what it is today,” deliberates Prof. Inta Brikše, the founder and first dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences (SZF), “first was the idea about the Faculty. Second - perseverance not to give up. Determination forced to start something else after every achievement. Corporate solidarity let us agree and make decisions. Fifth was competence in our respective fields.” Remembering the foundation of the Faculty, Prof. Tālis Tisenkopfs says: “There were two main reasons for establishing the Faculty. Most essential being the natural desire to diverge from the major field of science in the process of development (for sociology and political science it was philosophy, for communications science - philology). The Faculty foundation was a collective and informal process which transformed into a formal organization. It provides a valuable lesson for other innovations – it is best to develop them among people who share the same views, have a common goal and are willing to cooperate.” Prof. Andris Runcis, one of the founders of the Faculty, admits: “The prevailing idea for the creation of a new faculty was that “no one understands us” and we wanted to be in a friendly and mutually complimenting academic and research environment. It has successfully resulted in the SZF.” “The Faculty is a fortunate project,” underlines Prof. Aivars Tabuns, “the students have favourable conditions for learning (good library, access to data bases, computer rooms). In the past years study programmes have been greatly improved and the choice of courses increased. The decisions in the Faculty are made in a transparent and democratic process. New qualified teaching staff is prepared and it allows us to see the future of the Faculty in optimistic light.” The Faculty is composed of 3 departments that previously were at the Faculty of Philology and at the Faculty of History and Philosophy. In its first autumn the Faculty opened its doors to more than 1500 students who began their studies at:

• The Department of Communications Studies,

• The Department of Political Science,

• The Department of Sociology.

The Department of Library Science and Information was added to the Faculty in August, 2002, but its name was changed to The Department of Information and Library Studies in the spring of 2006. Since the foundation of the Faculty to July 30, 2009, the dean of the Faculty was Prof. Inta Brikše. Since 1^st of July, 2009, the dean of the UL SZF is Prof. Juris Rozenvalds.



Translated by students of the professional study programme Translator of the University of Latvia.