In accordance with the credit system and the principles of Bologna process, students of the International relations faculty major in the three-level system: Bachelor’s degree, which lasts 4 years, Master’s degree-1 or 2 years, PhD program-3 years. The system comprises 4 majors;
· International relations
· International law
· Area studies
· World economics
Goals of the faculty:
- to give the International relations students necessary knowledge, to teach skills and methods, taking into account changing needs of the professional labor market;
- to train students as scientific and creative workers, to them critical thinking;
- to develop responsibility for professional activities in the course of democratic and law-bound state.
There is a documentation package and papers on teaching methods for 4 majors available at the faculty to provide training process for the specialists of an appropriate level. The faculty professors have worked out several generations of the State Standards of Education for Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree and PhD program on “International relations”, “Area studies» and “World economics”.
The teaching staffs of the faculty deliver lectures and conduct classes in 445 general courses, special courses, and elective subjects and teach some subjects in English. Subject-teachers have prepared teaching and methodical kit for almost all subjects, which are included in syllabus and are worked on the basis of sample curriculum in conformity with the “Academic policy” of the Kazakh National University after al-Farabi. Due to the total movement towards the credit system of studies and introduction of the electronic system UNIVER, syllabuses and other materials of the teaching and methodical kits on all subjects, delivered by the faculty professors, are introduced in the above mentioned system, what makes possible to insert new information to improve the quality of studies.
The great attention is payed to the individual training, taking into account students’ majors. The faculty has introduced new majors, taking into consideration expectations of interested parties, and has worked electives on the basis of the elective courses catalogue, including all suggested subjects. In particular, students on major “International relations” choose subjects on special courses: Country Studies (Central Asia countries, China, France, Germany, the USA, Great Britain, India and Japan) and Diplomatic and Consular Services. On “Area Studies” students choose subjects on 4 regions: Asia-Pacific region, Middle East, Western Europe, the USA and Canada. Moreover, the students of all majors choose many other electives.
The remarkable thing is that the faculty of the International relations pays great attention to the teaching of foreign languages. The faculty students choose two foreign languages from nine western and eastern languages depending on their major. “Documentation management in Kazakh language” is delivered for all majors in Kazakh and Russian classes.
The faculty is seriously interested in publishing teaching and methodical literature.
To improve the training process and studies in connection with the introduction of the credit system, subject-teachers organize workshop meetings on the introduction of modern educational technologies.
They use active forms of studies: round tables, political debates, disputes, conferences, role games, audio and video materials, seminars on the participation of students in overseas exchange programs.
The above-mentioned methods help students to systematize materials and develop critical thinking. Young specialists attend demonstration lectures and classes to learn teaching methods, interactive and innovation forms of studies. It is the usual thing that the faculty lecturers include in the process of studies the results of their scientific researches to develop the most actual process of today-integration of science and education.
