About Faculty of Philosophy

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The Faculty of Philosophy was founded in the distant 1920, after WWI, in difficult times and a period of economic crisis brought about by war and pandemic. Classes in the 1920 commenced with only 35 students in History, Philosophy, Pedagogy, Linguistics and Literature, with a teaching staff made up of the then academic and cultural elite. According to the Faculty archive data, in the period from 1920 to 1941, there were 1,800 students at the Faculty of Philosophy, from 1946 to 1974 that number was 4,000. From 1974 to 1991, the Faculty of Philosophy had seen 14,523 students, and from 1991 to 2020 – 21,209 students.

Today, the Faculty of Philosophy is a modern, interdisciplinary faculty consisting of 12 institutes of humanities and social sciences, with 105 teachers and about 3,000 students enrolled on undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate – PhD studies. As of the academic year 2019/20, there are of 19 accredited study programs of first cycle studies with 240 ECTS credits, 34 accredited study programs of second cycle studies with 60 or 120 ECTS credits and 6 accredited study programs of third cycle studies with 180 ECTS credits. These study programs offer BA, MA and PhD degrees in the following disciplines: philosophy, history, pedagogy, sociology, classical studies, history of art and archeology, psychology, social work and social policy, special education and rehabilitation, security defence and peace, gender studies, and family studies.

In addition to teaching, the Faculty of Philosophy has a developed scientific research and international activity. To facilitate the teaching and learning process, as well as the research activity carried out, the Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje has at its disposal numerous laboratories, departments, collections, and centers, such as: an aesthetic laboratory, an IT laboratory, a didactics and methodics laboratory, a multimedia laboratory, a museum collection, a psychological laboratory, a socio-demographic and statistical laboratory, a genetics and physiology laboratory, as well as: the Balkan Center for the Study of Peace, Center for Education and Research, Survey Research Center; National Center for Social Development Education; Test Creation and Application Center – Psychometrics; National IT Center for Defectology Research; Center for Education of the Roma Community; History Course book Center; HR Management Center; Center for Intercultural Studies and Research; Center for Integrative Bioethics; Lifelong Learning Center.

The global influences in society, as well as the advances in IT, resulted in the Faculty being firmly set in various international research databases, research consortiums, as well as in international University exchange programs. As a unit within the “Ss Cyril and Methodius” University of Skopje, the Faculty of Philosophy is a member of the academic networks UNICA, ERA, CEEPUS, EUA, IAU, UNI-ADRION, and has also participated in Erasmus Mundus: Basileus, JoinEUSEE, Eraweb and Euroweb. Up to the end of the academic year 2019/20, the Faculty of Philosophy had a total of 101 active Erasmus agreements with various Universities in Europe. The mobility of the teaching staff and the students through the international mobility programs is of exceptional significance for the internationalization of the educational and academic activity of the Faculty.

One of the verses of the students’ anthem “De Brevitate Vitae” contains the very mission of the Faculty of Philosophy:

The Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje, nostra societas, is one large family of more than 20,000 graduates, MAs and PhDs, 3,000 current students, and many former and current academic and administrative personnel. Our characteristic trait is our tradition of being open toward the community, and society. Our duty, in the past, and now, in the present, is Patriae prosperitas, prosperity of our country. 

Our eternal quest for truth, veritas, and meaning, is what sets us apart in the academic context and in modern times of living. As long as society exists, and man in it, there will always be the need of social studies and humanities.  

Gaudeamus igitur… Let us rejoice on the occasion of this significant anniversary, of this lasting tradition, of the generations of students and professors, then and now, of the achievements and principles, and let us proudly set off into a new century of activity at the Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje.