Research

INSTITUTE OF CULTURAL STUDIES

• Historical and methodological approach to culture studies. Analysis of various   theoretical proposals in culture oriented disciplines like anthropology, philosophy, and sociology. Implementing particular methods to reveal the cognitive and normative assumptions of such proposals.
• Culture as an object of research. Reflection on a distinction between constructivism and essentialism. Discussion of possible threats to the very possibility of distinguishing this object of research.
• Cross-cultural communication and contact. Taking human interaction as a culturally defined process taking place in various domains, e.g. education. Pragmatic perspective of one’s dealing with a stranger in a multicultural/global environment.
• Heritage of Jerzy Kmita’s socio-regulative conception of culture. Analysis of various notions and or/relations involved in this project. Searching the possible implementations in theory and practice.

INSTITUTE OF PHILOSOPHY

• Philosophy and methodology of natural sciences
• Idealisation in science
• Rationality
• Theory of communication
• Procedures of interpretation and modelling in science and philosophy
• Mathematical logic
• Realism – antirealism controversy
• Non-casual (functional, genetic, subjective-rational) determination in scientific advances
• Theory – experiment relations
• Postmodern concept of knowledge
• History of philosophy
• Functions of culture in various societies
• Modern German philosophy

INSTITUTE OF PSYCHOLOGY

• Psychology research methods: methodological, social and ethical context of scientific research.
• Regulating functions of personality categories; personality development and diagnosis.

We have carried research on personality factors as predictors of conduct disorder and relational/emotional mechanisms of personality development, especially the bodily self. At present our research focuses on such crucial and topical issues in psychological studies as adaptation functions of formal characteristics of self and identity structure. Two instruments of personality diagnosis are being devised and Tomkins' shame concept is examined to determine its role in personality development.

• Developmental psychology, psychology of lifelong education, health psychology, developmental neuropsychology and clinical psychology of children and youth.

Theoretical and empirical studies undertaken by our research team focus on disability as a factor of social exclusion risk, local communities’ self-organisation and support and their conditioning; efficiency of socialisation in different educational environments and the role of early educational intervention, the impact of socialisation in childhood on adults’ activities, and physical, social and psychical conditioning of learning outcomes.

• Application of the salutogenetic and pathogenetic model: health resources,  risk factors of mental disorders as well as prevention of civilisation diseases, psychotherapy, ProHealth intervention methods and therapeutic techniques.
• Organisational behaviour: work attitude, psychological contract, organisation management, career development, woman and work, organisational culture.
• Psychology of cognitive processes: mechanisms of consciousness , mechanisms of defense against distraction, thinking and problem solving, development of child's 'theory of mind', the emotion-cognition relationship.
• Diagnosis process and methods: mechanisms taking place during examination, diagnostic decision making processes and psycho diagnostic skills, content analysis, narration and self narration, software for diagnostic procedures, individual differences, qualitative research methods.
• Emerging adults and interpersonal communication in family: developmental changes in adolescence and adult life, couples in close intimate relations, problems of  in development and communication in adolescence, families with mentally handicapped children, singlehood and its conditioning.
• Interpersonal communication and psycholinguistics.

INSTITUTE OF SOCIOLOGY

•    Sociology of work and economic system
•    Sociology of culture and civilisation
•    Public sphere, civil society
•    Visual and material culture
•    Sociology of family
•    Sociology of youth
•    Social work and social intervention
•    Sociology of  city, urban sociology
•    Social stratification and inequalities
•    Sociology of ethnicity and nation
•    Sociology of health
•    History of social thought
•    Modern social theories
•    Sociology of migrations and multiculturalism

CHAIR OF THE STUDY OF RELIGION AND COMPARATIVE RESEARCH

•    Philosophy of religion (particularly Christian religion)
•    Modern philosophy
•    Rationality in religion and philosophy; rationality of social life
•    Sects, cults and new religious movements
•    History of gnosis, Gnosticism, neognosis (theosophy, anthroposophy)
•    Relations between literature and philosophy, literature and gnosis
•    Christian mysticism
•    Russian philosophy and literature
•    Religious language use
•    Cognitive theories of religion