About us > History of the Faculty / Development Strategy of the Faculty and Departments

History of the Faculty / Development Strategy of the Faculty and Departments

The Faculty of Culture and Arts at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv was founded on the initiative of the rector of the University, professor I.O.Vakarchuk, the first dean of the faculty, People’s Artist of Ukraine B.M.Kozak, and with the active support of the dean of the Philological Faculty, professor T.Yu.Salyga (rector’s decree No. 632 of March 26, 2004, according to the decrees of the Academic Council of the University from 25.12.2003 (Protocol No. 14/12) and the Academic Council of the Philological Faculty of December 20, 2003 (Protocol No. 8).


By that time there had already been two departments: Librarianship and Bibliography as well as Theater Studies and Acting in the structure of the Faculty of Philology since 1999. In 2002, another artistic department was opened – the Department of Directing. Three functioning departments became the core of the newly established Faculty of Culture and Arts. Soon the Department of Music Art joined them (2005). A new wave of expansion of the faculty’s activity was launching a new direction in training students – “Choreography”, that caused renaming the Department of Directing to the Department of Directing and Choreography (2010). In 2011, under the order of the rector No 0-70 of 23.06.2011, three new departments were opened at the faculty – Musicology, Philosophy of Arts and Choral Singing, which began their activity on September 1, 2011.


The main educational task of the faculty is educating a new generation of specialists in the field of culture and art. The advantage of studying at the faculty was the combination of the highest educational standards of the classical University with gaining professional skills and abilities directly in professional artistic collectives and cultural institutions, which greatly enhances the competitiveness of our graduates in the modern labor market.


The pedagogical staff of the faculty is a real bunch of prominent scholars, leading actors, librarians, musicians, directors, choreographers, art historians. Much of the teaching staff, especially those of the artistic directions, are experienced practitioners in scene, musical and choreographic pedagogy.

The faculty’s teaching staff has been changing in quantitative and qualitative terms for thirteen years. Beginning with 119 members (among which there were 9 Professors, 26 Associate Professors, 9 Senior Lecturers and 74 Assistants) at the beginning of the Faculty’s foundation, today the team has grown to nearly two hundred Lecturers, including 10 Professors, Doctors of Sciences, 59 Candidates of Sciences, Associate Professors, 15 Senior Lecturers and 109 Assistants. It is notable that a significant part of the younger generation of the current teaching staff is graduates from the faculty, who continue their scientific career as postgraduate students and applicants in various fields of art and cultural studies.

All departments train specialists for Bachelor’s degree (four years of study) and Specialist’s / Master’s degree. During first year of the faculty’s life (2004), 145 students were enrolled in all educational areas. Up to the present their total number is almost 500 people. More than half of them study on a state form of study.


Over 800 graduates of full-time and part-time forms of education came out of the walls of the faculty for twelve years. Every year the number of graduates is growing, they are professional librarians and bibliographers, theater critics, actors, directors, teachers of musical disciplines, choreographers, cultural scientists working in a wide range of humanitarian fields: professional theaters, scientific libraries, mass media, secondary and higher educational institutions, schools of arts, cultural institutions of non-state forms of ownership, etc. Among the students from all over Ukraine who come to study here, there are foreigners who have chosen the part-time form of study.
The first head of the Department of Library Science and Bibliography was the associate professor Kolosovska O. M., nowadays the department is headed by the associate professor Demchuk N.R. The scientific work of the Department of Library Science and Bibliography focuses on the concept of development of book publishing and librarianship in Ukraine, from the standpoint of certain library collections as regular and indispensable parts of the overall process of the formation of Ukrainian scientific and public libraries in the general European and world cultural contexts; improvement of the theory of librarianship and the study of information processes at the present stage. Teachers of the department train specialists in the specialty 029 Informational, Librarian and Archival Affairs (library science, bibliography and information activities). The teaching and pedagogical process of the department is provided by leading specialists-theorists, as well as practitioners from scientific libraries, archives, and information centers of Lviv.


The priority for the teachers of the department is to train specialists of the new generation, who will meet the most up-to-date requirements put forward for library staff, book researchers, and bibliographers with the latest informational technologies. Since 2010, the department has opened the part-time form of education and made the first set for the first year of studying(secondary education) and for the third year of studying (on the basis of special secondary education, diploma of junior specialist).

The department actively introduces new information and communication technologies into the educational process – video consultations for part-time students and online lectures for secondary school teachers were launched, in 2015–2017 on the initiative of PhD R. O. Krochmalny three student Internet conferences “Information. Nauka. Biblioteka. Vesna” were organized in cooperation with KDAK (Kharkiv, Ukraine), Borys Grinchenko University of Kyiv (Kiev, Ukraine), Wroclaw University (Republic of Poland) and University of Culture and Arts (Minsk, Belarus).

The Department of Theater Studies and Acting was founded and headed by People’s Artist of Ukraine, academician of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, professor Bogdan Kozak. The department actively works scientifically, directed primarily at the study of the history of Ukrainian theater in Galicia region. The scientific work is supplemented by fruitful publishing activities, the purpose of which is the production of new high quality textbooks and books on theater studies. It also aims to provide students and teachers with modern scientific and methodological literature. A number of works by European theater critics translated into Ukrainian has also been published. Since 2001 the department has been releasing the theatrical research magazine “Protsenium”.

The Department of Theater Studies and Acting trains specialists in the specialty 026 Scenic Art (acting art of drama theater and cinema) – professional actors on the principle of creative workshops. This principle assumes that each acting course is delivered by one of the Lviv theaters’ leading masters. According to the agreements concluded between Lviv University and the National Academic Ukrainian Drama Theater named after Maria Zankovetska, the First Ukrainian Theater for Children and Youth, Lviv Oblast Puppet Theater, the Municipal Theater Institute, students study the professional disciplines, in particular, the actor’s skills, stage language, annual training practices for students are also held, students prepare course and diploma performances directly on the basis of professional theaters of Lviv. Students of the first year of study are involved in the repertoire of each theater, they participate in mass scenes in performances and the best ones are given some individual parts. Most of the graduates of the Acting department become successful representatives of the theater, on the basis of which they were trained.

In specialty 026 Scenic Art (theater studies) the department trains theatrical scholars – historians, theorists, and critics. Particular attention is paid to the national theater history, mainly the Ukrainian professional theater in Galicia region. During the study, students master the whole complex of theater studies disciplines: the theory of drama in its theoretical and practical aspects, the methods of performance analysis, the work of actors, director, scenographer, composer. They learn to write theatrical-critical articles, reviews, conduct scientific research with the help of the teachers from the department, publish critical and research materials in mass media and on the pages of other professional publications.

Department of Musical Art under the control of Professor Tainel E.Z. trains professionals of the specialty 014 Secondary Education (musical art). Graduates of the department are ready to use their professionalism in preparing students of secondary schools for the revival and enrichment of Ukrainian spiritual treasures and national musical culture, by using the most effective methods of developing musical abilities of schoolchildren which exist in Europe and have historical sources in Ukraine. In the short period of time the department has brought up students’ artistic groups: mixed, female and male choirs, instrumental ensembles of violinists and bandura players, a duet of accordionists, an orchestra of folk instruments. Students of the Music Art Department are permanent participants at faculty, university, city and regional art events and concerts. Publishing the textbook “Musical-Pedagogical Systems and Concepts of the 20th Century”, edited by Professor E.Z. Tainel can become a bright example of scientific and publishing activity of the department.

Department of Directing and Choreography under the control of People’s Artist of Ukraine Professor F. M. Strygun trains students in the following specialties: 026 Stage Art (directing of drama theater) – up to the present there have been two graduations of directors who successfully work in the Lviv theaters today; since 2010 the department has begun training specialists in the specialty 024 Choreography: the first set of students was enrolled for the first year of studying (on the basis of general secondary education) and for the third year of studying (on the basis of special secondary education, diploma of junior specialist). Students study various types and forms of choreographic art, gain professional skills in the field of performing arts, as well as future choreographers. Along with practical activity, teachers of the department work as historians and researchers in the new scientific field – choreology.

The Department of Musicology and Choral Art (headed by professor Y. E. Medvedik) is responsible for training specialists in the speciality 025 Musical Art (Musical Psychology) Master’s degree (in June 2017, department of Choral Singing (headed then by the People’s Artist of Ukraine, Professor Yatsynak VI) joined the Department of Musicology).

The main directions of scientific research of the Department of Arts Philosophy (headed by Prof. O. V. Kozarenko) are the philosophy of music, literature, fine arts, family culture, cultural anthropology, the history of world culture, the basis of socio-cultural activities, etc. The department provides teaching of History of Ukrainian culture for first year students of all specialties at the faculty. Scientific cultural studies are being conducted, focusing on the topic “Synergetic concept of culture”.

In the year 2016, the department started the post graduate course in Music Art, speciality 025, and obtained the extension of the educational license for the speciality 025 “Music Art” (Musical Psychology) Master’s Degree.

In 2017 the educational license was extended for the specialities 024 “Choreography” (Master’s Degree); 025 “Music Art” (Master’s Degree); 026 “Stage Art” (Master’s Degree); “Management of Socio-Cultural Activity” (Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree); “Information, Library and Archive Management” (Master’s Degree).

In 2018 the post-graduate course in Choreography, speciality 024, was started at the department, also the first students were admitted to studies at the master level, speciality 028 “Management of Socio-Cultural Activity”.

The department of Culture and Arts cooperates with art and scholarly centers and institutions both in Ukraine and abroad. To specify just a few, we have concluded contracts on cooperation with Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University (exchange programs for students, teachers, scholarly and educational materials), with Polish theatrical and cultural institutions – International School for Humanities of Eastern and Central Europe (Warsaw), Wroclaw University, The Ludwik Solski State Theatre School (Krakow). This enables students, theatre experts and actors alike to study in Warsaw, Krakow, and Wroclaw annually. Close cooperation has been organized with The British Councilin Lviv, Austrian Ukrainian Centre for cooperation in science, education and culture in Lviv. Due to this our students can study in European universities and improve the knowledge of foreign languages and their major fields of study.

Since July 2014 professor Medvedyk Yu. Ye. has been a co-chairman of the research project on Eastern-Slavic spiritual songs of the Baroque epoch. Specialists in Slavic studies from Ukraine, Germany, Slovak Republic and Belgium participate in this project.

One of the important tasks of the department has always been to provide future specialists with the necessary scholarly and educational materials still in short supply in the country. Therefore, publishing is one of the most intense activities of our faculty. In the last few years more than 70 books have been issued, including textbooks, manuals, monographs, dictionaries, educational materials, etc.

One of the most prominent aspects of the department’s publishing activity are the following publications: “Herald of the Lviv University. Series Art Studies” (issued annually), theatrical journal “Proscenium” (three issues per year), which were started in 2001, and also “Lviv-Ryashiv notebooks” (two issues).

Among the graduates of our young department there are the Honoured Artists of Ukraine, Honoured Men of Art, leading specialists of the library and information centres in Ukraine, academic staff.

Cultural and artistic dimension, scholarly life and studies at the Department of Culture and Arts involve intensive work and inspiration, creative stretch of imagination combined with thorough and relentless acquisition of professional skills. It also provides an opportunity to be a part of the rich cultural and artistic legacy of both Lviv and Ukraine and eventually become its active developer, researcher and communicator.

Strategy

The strategic task of the Faculty of Culture and Arts of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv is quality training of new generation specialists, creation of decent conditions for teaching and work of students and teachers in creative academic environment, development and support of scientific and creative initiatives to promote the integration of national art education and culture into the world space.

Basic principles of activity:

  • respect for the personality of the student, teacher and faculty member;
  • following the rules of academic ethics;
  • preservation of cultural and artistic traditions in a meaningful combination with innovative approaches and ideas;
  • promotion of creative initiative for the development of cultural and artistic scientific and pedagogical traditions;
  • active development of international partnership, scientific and creative interaction with colleagues in Ukraine and abroad;
  • transparency, discipline, reasonableness and consistency combined with personal and collective responsibility for decision-making.

In the near future, the faculty plans to create English-language courses and English-language educational programs of various levels, designed to promote the rapid integration of Ukrainian cultural and artistic education and science in the world.

Among the tasks for the coming years is the creation of new educational PhD programs, particularly, in the field of performing arts and informational, archival and library science.

It is planned to further update and expand the material and technical base of the faculty, in particular, open new classrooms, theatre and other halls in the buildings which are the property the Faculty of Culture and Arts.

Adherence to these principles and strategic objectives will be a prerequisite for the proper effective and dynamic response of the faculty to the challenges of our time.