| Title of the study programme | Ph.D. programme History and Dialectology of the Croatian Language |
| Type of study programme | Doctoral programme |
| Form of study programme | Regular/Part-time |
| Duration | 6 semesters for full-time students, 10 semesters for part-time students |
| ECTS points | 180 ECTS |
| Academic qualification | Doctor of Philosophy in Humanities |
About the programme
The study programme History and Dialectology of the Croatian Language is a continuation of the postgraduate master’s and doctoral study programmes in linguistics and places a special focus on the dialectology of the Croatian language (synchronic and diachronic aspects). It has been offered by the Department of Croatian Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka since 1998. It was the first of its kind, where prior to this no such course existed in Croatia or elsewhere.
Programme objectives
The main objectives of the programme are:
- To educate research students about the history of the Croatian grammatical structure and Croatian written heritage, as well as speech in modern Croatian using contemporary theoretical and methodological approaches to the Croatian linguistic past and present
- To prepare researchers for work in other fields, such as the study of Croatian onomastic heritage, etc.
- To equip researchers with the skills to apply basic and applied knowledge in linguistics in language practice, especially in the fields of language history, dialectology, and onomastics
The doctoral programme offers a wide range of content and is based on linguistic research projects that include workshops and mentoring. The individualised teaching approach allows students flexibility when organising their studies, where they can focus on their own research interests. The course offers candidates dialectological teaching content, preparation for independent field research on organic speech, knowledge about how to determine features of pure otherness, alterity and areal characteristic in their research, skills in the critical reading of the relevant literature, and the reading of dialectic and isogloss maps, as well as their creation. Through their work on texts and research projects into the history of the Croatian language, students acquire the competences to be able to carry out independent research into the diachrony of linguistic phenomena, where they are especially equipped to manage teams in the preparation of publications about older Croatian written heritage. The programme’s intradisciplinary character enables students to acquire knowledge about onomastic and general linguistic areas.
Competences acquired and possibilities for employment:
The programme does not only offer students new general and specialist knowledge, knowledge about the writing and defence of a doctoral thesis that culminates in the award of a doctorate. It also enables students to acquire a wide range of general and specific competences. Students will acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to be able to work independently within the academic community, and to work in academic and other similar institutions.
General competences
- Research competences, both for independent research and research as part of a team, as well as competences in the organisation and management of teamwork.
- Highly developed communication skills.
- An ability to present and defend one’s views, along with the ability to actively listen and be open to other people’s positions.
- An ability to search literature and professional databases.
- Competences in using the most up to date information technologies.
- An ability to actively allocate time for research.
- Competences in analysis, synthesis, and abstraction.
- Critical thinking skills.
- Academic writing skills.
- Skills in the oral presentation of research.
- Discussion skills based on logical argumentation.
- An ability to deal with success and failure.
Specific competencies
- To independently carry out research.
- Using theoretical knowledge.
- An ability to prepare academic research proposals, with the appropriate methodology.
- An ability to develop new methodological procedures in linguistics.
- Skills in conducting high quality linguistic research.
- An ability to participate, organise and manage dialectological research.
- An ability to participate, organise and manage research on texts.
- An ability to participate, organise and manage onomastic research.
- An ability to create a network of collaborators for field research.
- An ability to stimulate further developments in the field of linguistics.
- An ability to interpret unforeseen/unexpected research results.
- Skills to offer scientific and popular-scientific presentations of linguistic topics and content.