About Us

The Institute of Social Studies was established on January 1^st 2021 when two departments of the Faculty of Education of the University of Hradec Králové, namely the Department of Social Pathology and Sociology and the Department of Social Pedagogy, merged.

The profile of the Institute of Social Studies has been built by all previously existing departments guaranteeing their study fields, carrying out their research activities and bringing out publications focused on the social sphere and the social pedagogical sphere and on the prevention and solution of risky behaviour and social pathological phenomena of children, youth and adults.

The Institute guarantees the following study programmes / study fields (in the alphabetical order): Social Communication in the Non-Profit Sector, a Bachelor´s study programme accredited for the combined form of studies, Social Pathology and Prevention, a Bachelor´s study programme accredited for the full-time form and the combined form of studies, Social Pedagogy Focusing on Educational Work in Ethopedic Facilities, a Bachelor´s study programme accredited for the full-time form and the combined form of studies, and Social Pedagogy, a follow-up Master´s study programme accredited for the full-time form and the combined form of studies.

Two of these study fields are also accredited for being taught in English, namely Social Pathology and Prevention (a Bachelor´s study program) and Social Pedagogy (a Master´s study program).

The educational offer of the Institute of Social Studies also includes fields, resp. courses accredited in the Lifelong Learning Programme.

The aim of the Institute is to properly educate experts whose professional career will be in a wide range of pedagogical and supporting professions. Detailed specifications of the employment of graduates from the Institute result from their study profiles. The study fields are designed in ways targeting at training the students for becoming employed in educationally, preventively or repressively oriented supporting professions of a broader focus.

The academic employees of the Institute have become members of a number of professional societies and associations, such as the Association of Educators in Social Pedagogy, the Czech Pedagogical Society, the Czech Association of Pedagogical Research, and the Czech Sociological Society. The academic staff of the Institute traditionally participate in research and educational projects both in the Czech Republic and abroad

Keeping the long-term tradition established by the original departments, the Institute cooperates not only with Czech university institutions but also with institutions from the field of professional practice, especially with experts in the field of social spheres - with state administration institutions, civic associations and other non-profit organizations, as well as with other entities that most frequently recruit our graduates. Cooperation has also been established with educational and re-education facilities, with facilities offering leisure time activities to children and youth and with organizations that focus on primary and secondary prevention.

The predecessors of the current Institute of Social Studies significantly participated in the organization of the international scientific conference called Socialia. This conference is currently organized in cooperation with Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica and the WSB Academy in Dabrowa Górnicza. The conference was held for the first time in 1998 at our Faculty of Education. The latest (XXIV) conference in October 2020 was also held at the Faculty of Education of the UHK.

The sphere of international cooperation is considered as very important. The Institute of Social Studies has established international contacts within the framework of its study programmes and study fields, within the framework of student and academic mobilities, as well as in the sphere of research activities. The Institute develops intensive activities initiated by both the original departments. The long-term cooperation exists with Slovak universities  (University of Matej Bel in v Banská Bystrica, Konstantin the Philosopher University in Nitra, University of Prešov, University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava) and Polish universities (Uniwersytet Opolski in Opole, Akademia WSB in Dabrowa Górnicza).

The Academic staff have also participated in international university projects, such as two of the Visegrad Fund projects called "Tradition and Modernity in the Lifestyle of Families in the Visegrad Countries" and "The Risks of the Virtual Environment in the V4", in which our academic professionals cooperated with experts from Slovak, Polish and Hungarian institutions.  

Our successful and fruitful student and academic exchange stays and mobilities (for example within the Erasmus+ program and other programs) are worth mentioning. We can present a list of the most recent stays at institutions of the tertiary level in the Netherlands (Saxion University of Applied Sciences, School of Social Work in Enschede), in Belgium (Thomas More University Mechelen); in Lithuania (Mykolas Romeris University Vilnius); in Latvia (Riga Stradins University), in Denmark (VIA University College Viborg), in Norway (Volda University College), in Portugal (ESEC Coimbra) and other countries.