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What is the importance of a humanities education today? What do graduates of social sciences bring to society? Do these disciplines compete with technical disciplines? These questions will be answered by the guests of the panel discussion Humanities and Social Science Education and their role in a democratic society, which will take place on Thursday, 4 October from 1 to 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Faculty of Education at 42 Veleslavín Street, and will be addressed to students, both university and secondary school students, academics and the general public. The conference was prepared by students of the Department of Philosophy of the Faculty of Arts UWB. 

The panel discussion will address the strengths and weaknesses of humanities and social science education and what problems may arise from the neglect of the humanities, which have been considered the foundation of education for millennia and which have an undeniable impact on the functioning of modern societies in the 21st century. 

"I wish we would not ask the question whether humanities education makes any sense, because logically, if we say that it does not, it shows that the person is not educated," says journalist and TV presenter Václav Moravec, PhD, in his medallion for the panel discussion. Not only him, but also other prominent personalities will be guests of the autumn panel discussion. Namely, Prof. Jan Sokol, Ph.D., CSc. (university professor at the Faculty of Humanities, Charles University), Marek Hilšer, M.D., Ph.D. (scientist, university professor and presidential candidate in the 2018 elections), Filip Matějka, Ph.D. (economist and university professor at CERGE-EI) and leading representatives and lecturers of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. Dr. RNDr. Miroslav Holeček (Rector of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen), PhDr. David Šanc, Ph.D. (Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of West Bohemia), Assoc. PhDr. Jan Váně, Ph.D. (Head of the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts, West Bohemian University), doc. Ing. Jiří Masopust, CSc. (traveller and university teacher of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, ZČU) and PhDr. Jaromír Murgaš, CSc. (university teacher of the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, ZČU and Faculty of Humanities, Charles University).

The speakers will represent the confrontation of theory and practice and will thus convey the experience with a new perspective. Their main effort will be not only to clarify the current status of the humanities, but also to provide appropriate feedback to students. They will represent almost all the departments of the Faculty of Arts and will respond to the contributions of the lecturing experts and academics of ZČU with questions, comments and arguments.

Interested parties can find details of the conference here.

The conference will be followed by other student activities. In November, a discussion with Erik Tabery, editor-in-chief of the weekly Respekt, will take place at the TOTEM intergenerational centre in Plzeň; in December, a discussion with economist Tomáš Sedláček will take place at the university's Družba café; and in February, the leading biochemist Martin Fusek will be a guest.