Head of the Department of Portuguese and Lusophone Studies
Prof. Yana Andreeva, PhD
e-mail: y.andreeva@uni-sofia.bg
The Department of Portuguese and Lusophone Studies is the sole unit in the Higher Education system in Bulgaria in which a whole cycle of training in Portuguese Studies is carried out and Lusophone Research is developed. The programme in Portuguese Philology has been existing as a first high-school programme at the University of Sofia since 1992 and by a decision of the Academic Council from November 17, 2021 it was established as an independent department within the Faculty of Classical and Modern Philology.
The programme in Portuguese Philology offers education in both Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree. The Bachelor’s Degree builds knowledge and skills in Portuguese as a foreign language and provides a general philological and specialised training in the fields of the Portuguese, Brazilian and African Portuguese-speaking literatures and cultures, Portuguese linguistics and translation. The specialising courses in the curriculum are aimed at building systematic knowledge of the overall view about Portugal and the other Portuguese-speaking countries, taking into account their language and community, their present and past, their arts and literatures, their natural and cultural diversity which is the base of the comprehensive knowledge and skills needed for efficient multicultural communication in Portuguese. The Master’s Degree offers specialised theoretical and practical training through a large range of specialising linguistic, sociocultural, literary and translational courses with an emphasis on the latest linguistic, social and cultural phenomena in the Lusophone world. The professional qualifications acquired by the students in both the Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree meet the public needs and allow their successful future placement in a number of professional areas requiring a high expertise in the field of the Portuguese language, literature and culture, of the translation from and into Portuguese, of the Lusophone societies and cultures and of the intercultural mediation.
The variety of courses within the Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree programmes in Portuguese Philology is taught by academic staff of highly qualified professors, by guest lecturers from Portugal, Brazil and the African Portuguese-speaking countries, as well as by experts who are renowned in their professional fields.
The Department continues its international cooperation and foreign exchange with various Universities in Portugal – the University of Lisbon, the University of Porto, the University of Coimbra, the University of Minho, Lisbon Nova University, the University of Algarve, the University of Evora as well as with related departments and programmes at universities in Central and Eastern Europe. During their studies, students in Portuguese Philology could enjoy the opportunity to carry out mobility for partial training at partner universities in Portugal.
The department’s academic staff develops many projects, organises national and international scientific forums, maintains high publication activity and competitive environment in teaching and researching. The members of the department and its Ph.D. students are part of the team of the Academic chair José Saramago, which was established in 2019 at the Faculty of Classical and Modern Philology via a Cooperation Agreements between the University of Sofia and Camões – Institute for Cooperation and Language at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Portugal.