Dear friends !
The BSU International Relations Faculty, established on October 1, 1995 cannot yet boast of its long history. It is still in its teens, being younger than most of the faculties of its alma mater. But notwithstanding its short history, the faculty has managed to make itself prominent in Belarus and achieve a high status beyond the country's borders. The International Relations Faculty has become one of the top educational and academic brands of the Republic of Belarus, and this status provides an excellent opportunity to choose students from the best Belarusian and foreign applicants.
The high prestige of the Faculty is a result of immense creative work of its staff, which amounts to more than 250 people, including 12 Professors, about 60 Associate Professors and Candidates of Science.
The Faculty has given rise to academic and methodological schools in all 8 majors and 17 specializations obtained here. Teaching is based on a new generation of educational standards and is adequately provided with up-to-date textbooks. A considerable part of the textbooks and manuals used in the teaching process have been authored by the Faculty teachers.
A distinctive feature of all the majors of the Faculty is an intensive study of foreign languages. 15 foreign languages are currently taught at the Faculty linguistic departments.
Significant progress has been made in academic research. Within a relatively short period of time (since 1998 when the first Candidate of Science dissertation was defended at the Faculty) 7 Doctor of Science and 40 Candidate of Science dissertations have been defended by postgraduate students and teachers of the Faculty. Academic publications of the Faculty, including monographs and collections of academic papers, run into thousands.
One of the sources for the development of the Faculty is seen in expanding international links. Among its numerous permanent partners are universities, academies, institutes, research and educational centres of the CIS, Europe, Asia and America. The Faculty representatives participate on regular basis in international projects and programmes; they go abroad for academic and methodological training and receive their colleagues from abroad.
The Faculty staff and students take an active part in social and cultural activities and sporting events at the Belarusian State University. The Faculty also initiates a number of significant events and projects.
The Faculty’s good reputation is enhanced by its graduates. Since the first graduate course in 1996 most graduates from the Faculty have become experts in their fields. The Faculty graduates are represented in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, offices of international organizations and practically in all ministries and government departments. Many former students work in the production sector of economy or follow academic and teaching career. The Dean’s office gets oral and written messages of appreciation which point to remarkable professional and ethical qualities of members of the numerous and concerted community of the Faculty.
The Faculty achievements will seem even more significant taking into account that its history started with a small university department and fairly few students of the major «International Relations» of the History Faculty. Special gratitude goes to our colleagues who gave birth to the Faculty, and primarily to its first Dean — Professor Alexander Sharapo.
Along with the recognized success the Faculty has some problems yet to be solved, and there is room for development. Keeping up with the world standards of university education requires active and creative work. The Faculty has all necessary potential for this: highly skilled professional staff, talented and ambitious students and well-established traditions.
