Compared to some other social sciences and humanities, Political Science is a science that is both theoretical and highly practical. In today's society, the need for human resources with formal training in Political Science is gradually becoming urgent for many research and teaching agencies in the system of political schools, universities and colleges, professional and vocational high schools, press and media agencies, organizations in the political system, administrative agencies and even for economic and social organizations. Grasping that need, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (VNU) has opened a new training major - Political Science, starting from the 2008 enrollment season.“
Our desire is to equip students with knowledge, thinking methods and basic skills to help young people in the future actively participate in management work, advisory work in policy-making agencies, socio-economic organizations or do research work in theoretical agencies, teach political science in the Party school system, universities, colleges, professional high schools and vocational schools; or become policy analysts, reporters, editors specializing in political analysis and commentary in press and media agencies... Political science training is to contribute to training high-quality human resources, serving the cause of industrialization and modernization of the country in the direction of socialism..." - that is the message shared with us by Dr. Luu Minh Van and Master Lai Quoc Khanh - Deputy Head of the Department of Political Science, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, and colleagues during the meeting before the 2008 university admission season...
- PV:
There will be 50 students in the first course selected to be trained in a new major code at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (VNU) in the next academic year. So can you tell us: What conditions has the Department of Political Science prepared to welcome them?
- Dr. Luu Minh Van: Political Science is a new field of study in Vietnam, while in many other countries in the world this field of study has existed for a long time and is developing more and more strongly. Pioneers in researching and teaching Political Science are developed countries in Europe and America such as England, France, Germany, America... In recent decades, in many major universities of some countries in the Asian region such as Japan, China, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia... the teaching and research of Political Science has gradually established an important position in the training structure. Currently, the Department of Political Science is chaired by Prof. Dr. Phung Huu Phu - Member of the Party Central Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department - with 12 permanent staff, 6 part-time professors and associate professors, and a large team of collaborators who are teachers, researchers and practical activists in VNU and in external agencies such as the Central Propaganda Department, the Central Theoretical Council, the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and Public Administration, the Academy of Journalism and Propaganda, the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, the Academy of International Relations... In addition, the Department also has extensive scientific relations with a number of foreign universities such as: Connecticut University, Oregon University, California University, New York University (USA), Toronto University (Canada), Paris Political Academy, Toulouse I University (France). The Department currently has a rich source of learning materials with more than 500 foreign language documents (English, French, Russian, Chinese) and more than 300 Vietnamese documents; regularly orders 5 specialized scientific journals and information every year... In short, the facilities and equipment serving training and scientific research of the Department have been fully equipped to welcome the first students of Political Science at VNU.
- PV:
Society's perception of Political Science is still quite abstract, so what specific direction will Political Science students be trained in?
- Dr. Luu Minh Van: There are two ways to solve this problem. The first is to train in-depth knowledge of political science according to the traditional model with the orientation of working in the political system, and the second is to equip students with a "background" of political science knowledge that is both basic and highly interdisciplinary so that they can participate in activities in many different areas of social life. Each direction has its strengths and limitations. Each country can have different choices that are suitable for its educational philosophy.
- MSc. Lai Quoc Khanh: The political science training program of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities is designed on the basis of both widely referring to the political science training programs of many prestigious universities in the world, and reflecting and orienting to solve the basic problems of Vietnam's political life. The knowledge system that students are equipped with includes 3 blocks: General knowledge block according to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training; Basic knowledge block of the industry with a "background" wide enough to be able to integrate knowledge of a number of social sciences and humanities, related to and serving the in-depth study of political science; Specialized knowledge block equips students with in-depth knowledge, methods and skills of political science.
- PV:
Is there anything different about the Political Science training program at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities compared to other training institutions?[img class="caption" src="images/stories/2008/6/16/ts.lmvan.jpg" border="0" alt="TS. Luu Minh Van" title="TS. Luu Minh Van" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="240" height="160" align="right" ]
- Dr. Luu Minh Van: The viewpoint of the Department of Political Science, University of Social Sciences and Humanities in political science undergraduate training is that the transfer of scientific knowledge about political science must go hand in hand with personality training, building the right political attitude and helping students to be able to adapt to the requirements of human resource development in Vietnam in the current conditions. When studying at the Department, in addition to general knowledge, knowledge of mathematics and natural sciences, knowledge of history, economics, sociology, ethics, psychology, management science... plays a fundamental role in entering the study of Political Science; Students will be equipped with a system of specialized knowledge of the industry through the subjects of International Political Relations, Comparative Politics, Development Politics, Political Approaches and Research... - traditional subjects, currently taught at many major universities in the world, which are necessary conditions not only for studying Political Science in the country but also for transferring or connecting training with foreign countries. Especially the specific and specialized knowledge, skills and methods of Political Science such as Vietnam's political system, Vietnam's political culture, Comparison of contemporary world political institutions, Theory of democracy and human rights, Information collection and processing techniques, Methods of writing essays and presentations on politics, Public relations... are important and useful tools for those who directly participate in political activities or work in fields related to politics.
- PV:
In the process of promoting the addition of a new training code, the Department must have encountered many difficulties in addition to advantages. So how does the Department evaluate those difficulties?
- MSc. Lai Quoc Khanh: To achieve the results as today, the time the Department spent on preparing the program and conditions for opening the training program lasted for more than ten years, in which the dedication and intelligence of the School's leaders through many periods, of scientists - teachers such as Prof. Dr. Phung Huu Phu, Assoc. Prof. Bui Thanh Quat, Assoc. Prof. Le Mau Han, Prof. Dang Xuan Ki... and also leaders of the Party and State such as former Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Khanh... The content of the training program has also undergone many revisions and information updates to continuously improve. During the preparation process, we encountered many difficulties. Political science is a science that people in the world have been training for a long time and have also achieved many scientific achievements, but in Vietnam, approaching it according to the political science industry is still quite a new issue. Entering such a difficult and new training field, the first challenge we have to face is to prepare a team of staff with solid expertise and enthusiasm for the work. Secondly, the training program must both integrate the traditional knowledge system of the political science industry and be suitable and serve our current political tasks. Besides, the fact that many people do not really see the fundamental difference between political education and political science training is also a challenge that we have to overcome. In addition, it is impossible not to mention the fact that the Department of Political Science, University of Social Sciences and Humanities is allowed to enroll students right at the transitional period between the two training methods based on the year system and the credit-based training method. Implementing a new major, according to a new training method, is indeed a big challenge. However, we have anticipated the above difficulties and challenges, and that is why we have been gradually and effectively solving them with many solutions. For example, although we do not have a large number of scientists trained in the field of Political Science, the team of scientists from many social sciences and humanities who have studied political issues in depth is very large, with great research achievements and rich training experience. That is a strong potential that we have been exploiting and promoting in the process of building and implementing the training program. Or, to form a correct perception of the field of Political Science, in the past time, the Department of Political Science has also paid great attention to propaganda and promotion work on many mass media... We believe that, for any new field of science, challenges and difficulties are inevitable, but if we are aware and focus our enthusiasm and intelligence to solve them, those challenges and difficulties can turn into favorable conditions and motivation for development...
- PV:
Thank you Dr. Luu Minh Van and MSc. Lai Quoc Khanh for the interview. We wish the first enrollment season of the Department of Political Science, University of Social Sciences and Humanities will achieve the desired success!
•Truong Minh (perform)
Source: VNU Newsletter
