The Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy consists of  Philosophy, Political Science, Social Policy, Social Work and Sociology. It also offers Master's Degree Programmes in Cultural Policy, Social Gerontology and Women's Studies. In addition, a Master's Degree Programme in Development and International Co-operation (D&IC) was  launched in the autumn of 2004.

There are over 1500 degree students at the Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy, the aim of which is to integrate teaching with high-quality research. The fields of expertise at the Department include  policy research (such as labour policies, environmental, social and cultural policies), modern political theory and conceptual history, political rhetoric, civil society and the Third sector, feminist theory and issues of gender and ageing.

The staff of the Department actively networks in Finland and abroad. The Department is involved in the research network The Politics and History of European Democratisation of the European Science Foundation. It has Socrates/Erasmus student and staff exchange agreements with some 30 universities throughout Europe and in particular the Erasmus exchange with EU, EEA and the associated countries in Central and Eastern Europe has become lively in recent years.

Contact Details 

Address:          

University of Jyväskylä,

Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy

Seminaarinkatu 15, 

 FI-40014 Jyväskylä,

FINLAND

Tel.:  

+ 358 14 260 3699

Fax.:   

+ 358 14 260 3101
E-mail:         

markera@yfi.jyu.fi

Web-page:       

www.uta.fi

 

About Marja Keränen 

from University of Jyväskylä,

Marja Keränen, Ph.D is acting Professor in political science at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland. After her Ph.D thesis on feminist political research, she has addressed rhetorical studies, focusing on the distinction between the public and the private, the changing meanings of citizenship, the nation-state and its boundaries, and changing identities in the context of European integration. She has a special interest in methodological problems in cross-cultural settings. In recent years, Marja Keränen has written and published about citizenship, nationalism and culture in a changing Europe.  

 

About Martti Siisiäinen

from University of Jyväskylä,

Martti Siisiäinen, Dr., has been Professor of Sociology at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland since 1998, prior to that he was Professor of Sociology at the University of Lapland (1993-1998). The main research interest of Martti Siisiäinen lies in the fields of: social movements, voluntary associations, third sector/civil society, organizations and systems theory.  He has contributed to publications and written about approaches to the concept of social capital, the third sector and voluntary organizations, as well as animal rights movements in Finland.