The history of Institute of Journalism begins since 1947 when the new profession “Journalism” was opened on the basis of Faculty of Philology at the National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. 87 persons who were yesterday’s front-line soldiers, serving in the soviet army in the war-time as war correspondents, party and komsomol workers became the first students of this new Faculty. Faculty of Journalism appeared rich in graduating students. Already in 60th years of ХХth century there was the glory of many Ukrainian poets, prose writers, publicists, literary critics, humorists and song writers who were its alumni. In 1991 the independence of Ukraine was announced. It caused the changes in all social, political, educational and scientific spheres of the young Ukrainian state. And the Faculty of Journalism did not become the exception and yet in 1993 it was renamed into the Institute of Journalism. Those two events designated also the new stage in development of journalistic education in the independent state. The special role and status of Institute of Journalism was grasped as a leading center of training of high-professional specialists for the young state. At Institute of Journalism there are 9 departments: Social Communications, Publishing and Editing, Advertising and PR, Electronic Editions and Mediadesign, Periodic Press, Television and Broadcasting, Film and TV Art, History of Journalism, Ukrainian Language and Stylistics. Also there are 6 educational laboratories here (polygraphic, publishing, mediadesign, TV studio, radio studio, informative and calculating sector). Today Institute of Journalism is both a leading educational institute of Ukraine and also the scientific research center. The major scientific directions of the Institute are scientific problems of domestic journalism studies, mass communication, publishing business, editorial management, history of journalism, advertising and public relations, forming of modern specialist model. It publishes also scientific literature on the acute issues of mass communications, textbooks and manuals on all educational disciplines and the scientific articles in 8 professional scientific collections. The Institute of Journalism maintains relations and co-operates fruitfully with the leading faculties, schools and institutes of journalism and mass communication from the USA, Germany, the Great Britain, France, Russia, Poland, Bulgaria and more than 100 journalistic centers from different countries all over the world; it carries out general scientific projects with authoritative international organizations, in particular, with the European Academy of Berlin, the Institute for European Affairs (Ireland), Fojo Media Institute (Sweden), Byelorussian Association of Journalists and others.
Natalia Vashchenko (Наталія Ващенко), 38 from Ukraine
