The Department of Social Anthropology and History of the University of the Aegean is committed to a policy which aims at providing high quality education, producing new knowledge in conditions of academic freedom, security, equality, and transparency, as well as evaluating educational procedures. This policy has been approved by the department’s General Assembly and is consistent with the quality assurance policy of the University of the Aegean, as evidenced in the relevant decisions made by the University Senate, the Quality Assurance Unit, the University’s strategic planning, and the principles informing the Internal System of Quality Assurance.
Using the procedure of internal and external evaluation of the Department and the Institution as a point of departure, the Department’s General Assembly constantly examines and decides on practices of improvement of educational functions and their results, in accordance with the legal framework in force, and the aim of assuring the provision of education, the conduct of research, and the dissemination of research findings, as appropriate to the academic ethos and the broader principles it adheres to and serves. The Department of Social Anthropology and History, as a cutting-edge academic unit in the social sciences, aims at accommodating scientific, social, and cultural developments, in Greece as well as internationally, and seeks to educate its students at the optimal possible level, providing high quality knowledge and skills befitting its interdisciplinary profile. The Department recognizes that a quality policy constitutes a constant process of improvement of teaching and research practices and that, in this respect, vigilance and academic dialogue are prerequisites for its assurance. In charting its quality assurance policy, the Department is informed by broader academic developments and the constitution of a European and international academic charter as regards the composition and structure of Undergraduate Study Programs as well as the job market, which is constantly changing. In this frame:
- The Program of Undergraduate Studies is revisited and updated every Spring semester and on a yearly basis. To this effect, data regarding the Department’s Program of Undergraduate Studies is collected and organized and results are subsequently analyzed. Moreover, the Department collects, analyzes, and compares Undergraduate Study Programs offered by other Greek and foreign academic institutions on similar fields.
- Learning outcomes are pursued in accordance with the European and National Qualifications Framework for Tertiary Education Graduates.
- Quality and efficiency of teaching are evaluated on a yearly basis.
- Teaching staff selection corresponds fully to the requirements of the Undergraduate Studies Program with members of staff offering courses on their areas of specialization.
- Quality and quantity of research work by members of staff of the Department are promoted and participation in research projects and collaboration with other institutions at home and abroad are encouraged.
- The connection of teaching and research, in the frame of the Undergraduate Study Program, is pursued through institutional educational structures.
- The Department provides high level knowledge corresponding to contemporary needs and concerns which offer the possibility of diverse career paths in the public and private sector, while forming a solid basis for advanced studies on many areas of the social sciences and the humanities.
- Special emphasis is placed on the quality of electronic services which support coursework, while teaching is supported by an extensive collection of titles in anthropology and history available at the Mytilene Branch of the Library of the University of the Aegean.
- Internal evaluation of the Undergraduate Studies Program is conducted on a yearly basis aiming at quality assurance. Good practices are sought, both within Greek and international academia, which are aimed at enhancing the efficiency of the Undergraduate Studies Program, extroversion, and the international promotion of the Department, always within the frame of possibilities offered by the University of the Aegean.
Responsibility towards students, the administration of the institution, the academic community, and Greek society at large requires reflexivity as regards our educational practices in the direction of implementing optimal quality in education and its evaluation.
The Department’s quality assurance policy is available on the Department’s webpage and the online Study Guide, which are updated on a yearly basis. First year students are informed about this policy during a special orientation meeting.