Faculty of Philosophy: 35 years of construction and development

The article of the Faculty of Philosophy introduces the 35-year journey of construction and development demonstrated through the work of developing staff, building training programs, compiling textbooks and scientific research.To meet the increasing demand for cadres researching and teaching political theory subjects after 1975, when the South was completely liberated and the whole country moved towards socialism, in September 1976, the Central Secretariat of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Ministry of Universities and Vocational Secondary Schools (now the Ministry of Education and Training) decided to establish the Faculty of Philosophy at Hanoi University of Science, now the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Immediately upon its establishment, the basic tasks of the Faculty of Philosophy were determined as: Training a team of cadres in Marxist-Leninist theory; researching and developing Vietnamese philosophy to serve the revolutionary cause of the nation during the period when the whole country moved towards socialism. This was an event of great significance not only for the Party's ideological and theoretical work in general, but also for the development of a fundamental theoretical science of the country - philosophy in particular. This is also the first time in the national education system that there is a training and research unit specializing in philosophy and Marxist-Leninist philosophy besides the Party school system that has played a leading role since 1975. In the world, philosophy is a science that has been focused on research and teaching for a long time. In prestigious universities with a long history, philosophy departments have been established and are given due importance to the research and training of students majoring in philosophy. Compared to the world, philosophy in Vietnam is still young. However, with the establishment of the Philosophy Department at Hanoi National University in 1976 - a prestigious and top-quality basic science research university in the country, it is the first step to open up the prospect of accelerating the modernization process of research, education and training in philosophy in our country. Since then, over the past 35 years, the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, has gradually grown, developed and made significant contributions to the cause of research, education and training of political theory cadres in general and cadres researching and teaching Marxist-Leninist philosophy in particular for the whole country. This is reflected in the following aspects: Firstly, the work of organizing, building and developing the staff of the Faculty. This is a particularly important and difficult task for the Faculty of Philosophy in the early days of its establishment. The Faculty of Philosophy did not have a team of professors, teachers and researchers to contribute to the construction of the Faculty in the early days like some other units in the University. The official staff of the Faculty initially consisted of only 3 staff, including 02 teaching staff and 01 office staff. To overcome the initial difficulties in teaching staff, the Faculty of Philosophy mainly relied on the help of research and teaching staff from units outside the University such as the Institute of Philosophy or the Party School to implement the training program of the Faculty. The Central Committee of the Party's Science and Education Commission assigned Professor Pham Nhu Cuong, who was then the Director of the Institute of Philosophy under the Vietnam Social Sciences Committee (now the National Center for Social Sciences and Humanities), to concurrently hold the position of the first head of the Faculty of Philosophy, Hanoi National University. The Faculty of Philosophy always remembers the great contributions of those who laid the foundation and pioneered the construction and development of the Faculty, which were enthusiastic teachers, prestigious and distinctive theoretical researchers such as: Professor Pham Nhu Cuong, the first head of the Faculty; the late Associate Professor Nguyen Quang Thong, Professor Dr. Nguyen Huu Vui; Associate Professor Bui Thanh Quat; teacher Nguyen Chi Hieu, the late teacher Nguyen Dinh Xuan, etc. and a number of lecturers of the Institute of Philosophy under the Vietnam Social Sciences Committee. Thanks to persistently overcoming difficulties in both performing training tasks and building a team of staff from sources of graduates retained as lecturers, recruited from Party schools or from research institutes, after the first 10 years, the number of staff of the Faculty increased from 3 to 25 people; the organizational structure of the Faculty includes 4 specialized departments: Department of Dialectical Materialism; Department of Historical Materialism; Department of History of Philosophy and Department of Psychology. The training work of the Faculty has become more proactive. However, due to many fluctuations in the economic, political and social situation of the country and the world: the collapse of the socialist regime in the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries (1991); the renovation process in our country under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam was just initiated; our country's international relations were expanded; The organizational structure of Hanoi National University changed, in 1995, Hanoi National University (VNU) was established, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (S&H) is a member school of VNU; the education and training career in general and the education and training of political theory and philosophy in particular also changed. That led to the organizational structure and staff of the Faculty constantly changing. Sometimes it increased to 60 people, sometimes it decreased to around 30 people. In 1988, due to the merger of the Marxist-Leninist Department of the University into the Faculty of Philosophy, the number of staff of the Faculty increased to 60 people. The mission of the Faculty is not only to train in philosophy but also has the additional task of teaching two general subjects: Marxist-Leninist philosophy and scientific socialism for the faculties of two schools: the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, the University of Natural Sciences (KHTN) of Hanoi National University. Due to the need to open more training codes of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, the Faculty of Philosophy has created the premise for staff to form new faculties. In 1994, the Department of Sociology and the Department of Psychology - Education - Methodology separated from the Faculty of Philosophy to form two faculties: the Faculty of Sociology and the Faculty of Psychology. In 2002, the Department of Social Management continued to separate from the Faculty of Philosophy to form the Faculty of Management Science. In 2008, the Faculty of Philosophy also contributed greatly to the establishment of the Center for Contemporary Religious Studies. The organizational structure and number of staff of the Faculty were disrupted every time a new unit was formed. The spirit and ideology of the staff in the Faculty were also significantly affected. Difficulties constantly arose on each stage of development of the Faculty of Philosophy. However, with the close guidance of the Party Committee, the School Board of Directors, the correct awareness of the position of cadre work, the striving spirit of the collective cadres and party members of the Faculty of Philosophy, in difficult circumstances, they still regularly perform teaching tasks, study to improve their professional qualifications, constantly consolidate the organizational structure, and develop the staff of the Faculty. The organizational structure and staff of the Faculty have gradually matured. Currently, the organizational structure of the Faculty includes: The Faculty Board with Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thuy Van as the head of the Faculty and 2 vice heads: Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Master Tran Thi Hanh; 6 Departments: Department of Marxist-Leninist Philosophy, Department of History of Philosophy, Department of Scientific Socialism, Department of Logic, Department of Ethics - Aesthetics, Department of Religious Studies, and Office - Documentation Group. The Faculty currently has 36 permanent staff, including 6 Associate Professors, 12 PhDs, and 12 Masters. There are 2 staff studying for Masters and PhDs abroad, and 7 staff are domestic PhD students. It is expected that by 2013, the number of staff in the Faculty of Philosophy with postgraduate degrees will reach over 90%. In addition, the Faculty also has a large team of experienced and highly qualified part-time lecturers from research institutes, Party schools, and universities in Hanoi and nationwide. In addition to the administrative and professional organization system, the Faculty of Philosophy has a Party cell with 28 members, a Faculty Trade Union, and a Faculty Cadre Youth Union. The Party organization, government, and mass organizations of the Faculty always coordinate activities smoothly, creating favorable conditions for the completion of the Faculty's tasks. Thus, over the past 35 years, the Faculty of Philosophy has built a team of scientists with high qualifications, capacity and sense of responsibility, always dedicating themselves to the cause of philosophical research and training, firmly carrying out the task of training theoretical cadres at all levels from bachelor, master to doctorate as assigned by the Party, Government and people. Second, building and developing training programs and training results of the Faculty. Along with the development of the staff in both quantity and quality, meeting the requirements of education and training, the Faculty of Philosophy also attaches importance to building training programs, ensuring scientific, modern and suitable to the practical requirements of our country. From only training at the bachelor level, the Faculty now trains at both master and doctoral levels, from having only two departments, dialectical materialism and historical materialism, now there are many new departments. After 35 years of continuous efforts and overcoming many difficulties and obstacles, the Faculty of Philosophy has built and implemented the following training programs: At the undergraduate level, the Faculty has built a standard regular bachelor training program (standard - standard system) and a high-quality regular program (standard - high quality). In the regular bachelor program (standard and high quality), the Faculty has conducted specialized training in the fourth year (final year of the course). Currently, in the Faculty's undergraduate program, there are 6 specialized departments: Marxist - Leninist Philosophy, Scientific Socialism, History of Philosophy, Logic, Ethics - Aesthetics, Religious Studies. In addition, the Faculty also implements training in the part-time system. At the master's level, the Faculty has built and implemented 3 training programs with 3 different major codes: Master of Philosophy majoring in Philosophy; Master of Philosophy majoring in Scientific Socialism; Master of Philosophy majoring in Religious Studies. At the current doctoral level, the Faculty has developed and implemented 2 training programs with 2 different major codes: Doctor of Philosophy majoring in CNDVBC and CNDVLS; Doctor of Philosophy majoring in Scientific Socialism. In the near future, the Faculty will develop and train 2 more major codes: Doctor of Religious Studies and Doctor of Philosophy majoring in History of Philosophy. The scale and training structure of the Faculty over the past 35 years have been significantly expanded. From the first course with 61 students, up to now, the Faculty of Philosophy has completed 32 regular training courses with 2,110 graduates and 2 part-time training courses with 1,026 graduates. Currently, the Faculty of Philosophy is training 325 regular students (including both standard and high-quality programs), 132 part-time students. The Faculty of Philosophy has also trained 351 Masters, 46 PhDs, and currently has 210 graduate students and 46 postgraduate students studying at the Faculty. After graduating, most of the students, graduate students and postgraduates of the Faculty of Philosophy participate in research and teaching of political theory subjects at universities, colleges or research institutes, and some work in other areas of social life. Wherever they go, students and trainees of the Faculty of Philosophy also make good use of the knowledge they have acquired during their time studying at the Faculty, actively participating in the common cause of building and developing the country. The above achievements of the staff of the Faculty of Philosophy have contributed positively to the cause of training Vietnamese intellectuals, especially the team of basic theoretical staff of the country. Third, the results in compiling textbooks, lectures, scientific research and international cooperation. To improve the quality of training and implement training programs well, the Faculty of Philosophy regularly attaches importance to compiling textbooks and lectures, promoting scientific research activities of lecturers and students in the Faculty. In the early years, when the Faculty was first established, the staff was still small, so the number of textbooks, lectures and scientific research works of the Faculty's staff was small. In the following years, the Faculty's staff matured, and every year the number of textbooks, lectures, reference books and scientific articles published and announced increased. From 2006 to present, when implementing the policy of the School and the National University on converting the training method from year-based training to credit-based training, the Faculty of Philosophy has had 9 textbooks and lectures approved and put into teaching. Faculty staff have written and published 50 monographs and reference books (including 4 books published in Germany); have presided over 18 scientific research topics at the school level, 25 topics at the national university level, 01 key topic, 01 national topic; 350 scientific articles published in specialized journals and scientific conference proceedings. In the 2010-2011 school year alone, 5 textbooks were compiled and accepted, of which 3 textbooks were published. Scientific research activities of students have been promoted. Since 2000, every year, Faculty-level student scientific conferences have been organized and participated in the school level. Many scientific research projects of students have won prizes at the ministry, national university and school levels. Scientific research activities of students have actively contributed to the innovation of learning methods and improvement of training quality of the Faculty and the school. Along with the country's integration and opening trend, the Faculty's international cooperation activities have also been strengthened and expanded. Currently, the Faculty of Philosophy has relationships in various forms with 20 international partners such as: Passau University, Humbolt University, Achen Institute for Missionary Studies (Germany), Phu Nhan University, National Taipei University, Open Society Institute (Taiwan), a number of universities in the Republic of France, the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China, the United States, the Federation of International Philosophical Societies (FISP), the German Academic Exchange Fund DAAD, UNESCO, etc. From 2005 to present, there have been dozens of lecturers from Germany, France, Russia, China, the United States, Taiwan, India, Korea, etc. coming to lecture and exchange academic knowledge on contemporary philosophical issues with staff, students, graduate students, and researchers of the Faculty of Philosophy. Some staff of the Faculty have gone to conduct research and exchange science with foreign partners. The position of the Faculty of Philosophy in the international arena is increasingly affirmed. With continuous efforts over many years, with the results achieved in training and scientific research, in 1997 the Faculty of Philosophy was honored to be awarded the Third Class Labor Medal by the State; then in 2001 the Faculty was awarded the Second Class Labor Medal by the State. In the Faculty, there is 01 cadre awarded the title of People's Teacher and 04 cadres awarded the title of Excellent Teacher, many cadres were awarded Certificates of Merit by the Government and the Ministry of Education and Training. Over the past 35 years, the Faculty of Philosophy has been a unit that has fulfilled its tasks well, achieving the title of excellent advanced labor collective for many consecutive years.Lessons learned and development directionsLooking back on the 35 years of construction and development, the staff and leaders of the Faculty of Philosophy have seriously assessed the achievements and limitations of the Faculty, from which they have drawn some lessons for the development of the Faculty in the coming time: Firstly, constantly build a united bloc in the entire Faculty, the core of which is the building of a strong Faculty Party Cell in terms of politics, ideology and organization; promote the leadership role of the Party Cell, well implement the democratic regulations, and coordinate well the activities of mass organizations in the Faculty. Secondly, take the quality of training and scientific research to develop human resources for basic theoretical research for the country as the central task. Continuously improve the quality of training and scientific research, link training and scientific research with social practice. Consider the quality of training and scientific research as two wings of a bird to enhance the position of the Faculty of Philosophy domestically and internationally. Third, constantly consolidate the staff, have a plan to train and foster successors, young staff, develop leading staff, consider this a key task to improve the quality of training human resources for basic theoretical research for the country. Combine promoting the capacity of the Faculty's staff with expanding cooperation with domestic and international research and training units to strengthen and modernize the training and scientific research capacity of the Faculty. With pride in the achievements over 35 years of construction and development of the Faculty, on the basis of lessons learned and the requirements of current social practice, the collective of staff, students and students of the Faculty of Philosophy determined the common goal of the Faculty in the coming years as: Promoting the tradition of solidarity, democracy, discipline, intelligence, improving efficiency in all activities of the Faculty, creating a clear change in the quality of training and scientific research; Successfully carry out assigned political tasks, train philosophy research and teaching staff with good moral qualities, firm political stance, modern knowledge of philosophical sciences, theoretical thinking capacity, research methods, pedagogical methods, good social work capacity, good foreign language and IT skills; proactive in international integration, meeting the increasing demand for human resources for the cause of national construction.