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Politics is the science that deals with the ‘Polis’. In its widest sense it deals in rules and dynamics that our associated living, in communities that have variable dimensions, from the town to Europe, from micro-groups to the global village of the information network.
Historical, social, political, economic and judicial themes all play an important role. The Faculty aims to present each of these areas in its own specificity yet at the same time to present their mutual relationships.
The graduate in Political Sciences is aboveall a person who is able to think in complex terms. (S)he is able to apply different methods of analysis according to the problems and variables that may emerge.
Degree course 1st level, 3 years in:
a) Public Relations and Communications
b) Politics and International Relations
c) Administrative Science
d) Administrative Science and Public Security
e) Government and Administrative Science (seat in Modica – Ragusa)
f) Social Administration (restricted selection)
g) Sociology
h) History and Political Science

Degree course specialisation 2nd level, 2 years in:
a) Management and Programing in the Politics of Social Administration
Degree course of 3 years in:
Public Relations and Communiations Educational objectives and Professional development

The Degree course in Public Relations and Communications, in collaboration with the Faculty of the Science of Professional Training is based in Caltanisetta and has the duration of 3 years. It is directed towards the training of professional communicators.
Graduates will have basic competence and specific ability in the sectors of the means of communication, communicative activities and public relations in private companies and public administration, in the organisation of managerial and editorial activities inherant to the area of journalism, in the use of two foreign languages, in the understanding of social phenomenon and of the dynamics of the system of institutions and the judicial system.
The degree course is articulated into two curricula, the first in Public Relations and the second in
Journalism. The curriculum in Journalism is distinguished in the third year by a restricted number of 20 students, selected between those who have been assigned the credits in the first two years.
Attendence is obligatory for students on the curriculum in Journalism.
Among the planned educational activities are seminars, training in stuctures with conventions with the University, language and information technology laboratories. Stuctures that provide excellence in the complete training of students.
Graduates will be able to carry out professional activities in public and private, national and international organisations in the role of public communicators, press officers, experts in management of editorial, multimedia and advertising companies.

COURSE OF STUDIES
CREDITS

 

(3) Year Degree Course in Politics and International Relations Course Objectives and Professional Development The Degree course in Politics and International Relations was created to confront the necessity of giving students who decide to study political and social phenomena a balanced basic multidisciplinary preperation in the sectors designed at providing a complete understanding of the processes and problematics of the public and private areas in modern society at a national and international level whilst emphasising the growing interdependence between the two.
The objective of the course is to provide its graduates professional with competence to be able to operate in work environments in which an understanding of national, international and European decision making procedures and systems are imperative. The knowledge and understanding provided on the course will allow graduates to identify professional opportunities for work in varying public and private sectors in that the multidisciplinary approach of the course allows for an understading and management capacity in dealing with the growing complexities of contemporary society and tools of analisis which would be difficult to aquire in a more rigid monodisciplinary field of study
The professional areas most specifically aimed at are : local and national public administration in positions that require ever increasing knowledge of events at a regional, national and European level, organisation and management of human resources and marketing in private companies, international governmental and non-governmental organisations, cultural and research institutes and the Institutions of the European Union.
The course also provides a general interdisciplinary preperation which is particularly usefull in order to follow courses of study in numerous specialist degrees of a political and international character for those students who wish to continue their univesity studies at a second level.
 

COURSE OF STUDIES CREDITS
 

(3) year Degree Course in Administrative Science Course Objectives and Professional Development
The Degree course in Administative Science aims at the preperation of graduates posssessing a wide base of knowledge based on the teachings in statistics, sociology, history and psycology.
Such preperation is widened and completed by specific subjects neccessary for the professional
development of gradates in administrative roles in the areas of judicial competence.
By this is meant public administration (regional, provincial, town council, chamber of commerce, health authorities etc.) and private administration in the areas of the economic market and dealing with private law (banks, insurance, firms etc).
It must be underlined that the course of study is of importance for the collocation of graduates in the area of Public Safety which was popular with graduates from the previous Degree Course with specialisation in Politics and Administration.
Attention must be placed on the choice of subject areas, which aim at joining traditional themes with contemporary issues, for the training of professionals that are able to dialogue efectively in the modern world of work and in particular the structures that plan the management of personel.
It is in the judicial sector aboveall that the student wil aquire the ability to consult legal texts, sentences and decisions by national and supranational authorities and policy documents of a positive law nature and at a level of modifying existing legislation.


 

Three Year Degree in Science of Government and Administration (Seat in Modica, RG )
Objectives of formation and professional perspectives Science of Government and Administration is multifaceted in formation content, condensing the essential knowledge of Juridical Science and Social Economics. The methods and cultural content matter of the graduates is to geared to forming professionals who are well able to interpret changes and innovations in the organization of both private and public administrations. They are able to do so by starting from political profiles, from the study of central governing bodies and above all, by studying local and regional governing
bodies, to follow up with administration and management: correctness of action, cost and benefit evaluation, results etc.
Graduates will be able to assist public institutions, private firms and institutions of the third sector in planning and implementing initiatives, and promoting community economic, social and civil development.
This course of study is geared to young people who want to take part in public administration, agencies which manage public utility services or firms, corporations, or associations which offer public services or have to do with public administrations in some way.
Graduates will take on professional duties in public administrations(central and local), in firms, in private organizations and in the third sector. This involves all the job positions in state administration (central and suburban) , the region, the province and the comune , as well as the respective companies and organizations dealing with the public. In addition, graduates can also find positions at the University, Health Organizations, Chamber of Commerce, independent administrations, private enterprises, private social agencies, Voluntary Service Oganizations, and associations promoting social benefits with partnership activity.

 

2003/2004 Didactic Plan
 

3 year degree course in Science of the Social Services (planned number) Formative aims and professional prospects
Lasting three years and with compulsory attendance of 70% of the classes, the course is directed towards acquiring the theoretical and practical abilities necessary for the profession of Social Worker. This course is characterised by a constant correlation with the world of employment which is composed of intense training periods under professional supervision both in public and private organisations which have an agreement with the University and in which the professional social services have been working for years with stabilised, shared methods and procedures.
As well as the general education subjects (law, history, languages, sociology, psychology) the course offers the knowledge of technical, methodological subjects specifically directed at the formulation of the essential operational tools of the profession and at the knowledge of the different organisational and institutional social realities, where the social services are carried out.
This degree gives admission to the Professional Order of Social Workers, section B (social workers), access to the specialised degree Course in Programming and management of the Politics of the Social Services(which gives membership of section A of the Register, specialist social workers), and also entry to the Master’s degree in social Politics and Mediterranean culture.
The social worker is a professional figure who intervenes in contexts characterised by social relations subject to conditions of risk and uncertainty.
With well-established methods of intervention and specifically oriented theoretical knowledge, s/he identifies, supports and develops the possibilities for change that such contexts elaborate, supplying the individuals, families, and social groups involved with information, knowledge and instruments of guidance aimed at their autonomous growth.
S/he is a professional whose activity requires abilities directed towards reading and interpreting living conditions in which conditions of intolerable risk develop, and the demands for intervention that such conditions reveal. An ability to read and interpret aimed at taking responsibility for individuals or family groups, activating services and integrating them, together with other resources from that context, so as to construct and consolidate a support network to accompany and sustain the promotion process of these people and render them autonomous.
Thus the social worker is a professional figure specialised in planning, running, verifying and evaluating activities which consist in these support processes for individuals, both in the public and the private sectors.

Syllabus

3 year Degree Course in Sociological Science Formative aims and professional prospects
Many subjects, many points of view, many theories, many methods and many techniques enable one to describe and analyse a society, its functioning, its organisations, its institutions, its culture, its economy, its means of communication.
Catania University’s degree course in Sociological Science offers a wide range of prospects, which give the student the opportunity to form abilities and acquire analytical, interpretative and critical skills. In particular, the  course has the distinction of offering knowledge relevant to all the current trends of sociological analysis, including revisional sociology and non-linear sociology. The choice of a degree in Sociological Science means acquiring real instruments to carry out actions of social intervention and develop communicative and cultural processes.
Thanks to its interdisciplinary nature and to the flexibility of the basic preparation, the Degree Course in Sociological Science forms a graduate able to seize the opportunities in a fluid and innovative world of employment, especially in the high-tech service industry and in the welfare system, and to develop professional and managerial skills suited to the needs which constantly arise on the job market.
A degree in Sociological Science leads to work in private companies, in public authorities, in the Civil Service, in scientific institutions, in non-governmental organisations, in the service industry.
Graduates will be able to perform as experts in methods and techniques of social research, in processes of interpersonal and mass communication, in problems connected to the development of the territory and of tourism, in the problems of labour organisation and the management of human resources, as well as working in defined roles in public and private administration, with autonomy and responsibility.
Specific professional prospects-executive in management of public politics;
-executive in management services of human resources;
-executive in evaluation and monitoring of public politics;
-executive in management of community intervention projects-executive in industrial relations;
-executive in organisation of non-profit enterprises;
-expert in human relations;
-consultant for activities of cultural, tourist and spare-time promotion;
-executive in employment services.
Syllabus
 

Historical and Political Science
Formative aims and professional prospects The degree course in Historical and Political Science has the objective of forming graduates qualified with knowledge and skills particularly suited to interpreting the political reality of contemporary society, and to work, in its complex configurations, in different sectors of political and administrative management and of production.
The instruments that this degree course is able to provide are based on the premise that technical knowledge that is not supported and accompanied by an adequate knowledge of historical processes loses its effectiveness and validity in a short time.
Graduates have to:
-acquire a basic training aimed at investigation and historical interpretation of the political and social processes
of the contemporary world.
-learn the general ideas of the history of humanity, with particular reference to modern and contemporary history, the essential elements of the methodology of historical research, the analysis and use of documentary sources;
to be able to use efficiently, in both its written and oral forms, at least one modern language of the
European Union, apart from Italian.
Graduates from this degree course will be capable of carrying out professional work both in the public and the private sector, in cultural, political and social services, in the revival of local activities, traditions and identity, and in every kind of cultural institution. They will also be capable of using modern computer communication technology.
More specifically, graduates from this degree course will find job opportunities with editorial and
advertising companies, in the running of social and political activities, and in all those areas of work which require interpretative and critical abilities based specifically on historical knowledge.

Study Plan

Specialised two-year degree course in:
Planning and Management of Politics and Social Services Educational aims and job possibilities.
The course aims at the formation of graduates, specialised in the planning, programming and management of politics and social services, who are able to operate in institutions offering services to individuals, to families and to communities, with high levels of responsibility and autonomy, and allowing for eventual access to the highest level in the Register of social assistants.
The formation requires the acquisition of the following abilities:
a) Advanced knowledge of sociological disciplines, of the relative methods of application of the Social Service and the relative methods of application of social politics and the different systems of social politics, also from a comparative stance; of the organisation of services, and of the economic-statistical discipline; of the juridical and political science disciplines; of the anthropological, psychological, historical and philosophical disciplines;
b) high level capacity for the analysis and interpretation of social, cultural and philosophical phenomena, and command of the various methods of planning, setting up and carrying out social enquiries regarding individuals, organisations and territorial areas;
c) essential competence in the planning, the organisation and the management of intervention in services and in social politics in the areas of health, education, the family, immigration, social discrimination and exclusion, prevention of hardship and the support of equal opportunities and weaker subjects within the general area of welfare politics;
d) advanced knowledge of the methods and techniques regarding the monitoring and evaluation of the results and of the impact on society of single programmes of intervention;
e) the capacity to operate with a high level of autonomy and to carry out the functions of director of institutes, services, departments and highly complex areas of social politics, and to direct group work and co-ordinate;
f) advanced competence in the use of instruments of communication and the management of information;
g) competence and ability to interact with the cultures and the immigrant populations in the prospect of intercultural and multiethnic social relationships;
h) knowledge of a European language other than Italian.
 

Specialised degree course in:
Planning and Management of Politics and Social Services
 

First Year SUBJECT CREDITS General sociology (6) Organisation of social services (6) Sociology of law (5) Social statistics (6) Administrative law (5) History of political doctrines (3) European Community law (6) Cultural anthropology (3) Theoretical philosophy (6) Contemporary history (6) Apprenticeship seminar (2) Student's choice (6)

Second Year SUBJECT CREDITS Political economics (6) Public law institutions (6) Sociology of communication (3) Private law (5) Judicature (3) Social psychology (6) Clinical psychology (3) Political philosophy (6) African history and institutions (6) Political science (6) Apprenticeship seminar (3) Final exam (7)