Department of Economic Theory

The Department of Economic Theory was established in 1991. The starting point was a 2 - week educational-methodical seminar conducted in Dobromyl (1990). Lecturers from Lviv universities and almost 20 students and post-graduate students took part in the work of the seminar. Professor Petro Vorobiy from Canada delivered a course of "Economics" for them. Mr. Vorobiy handed over the lecture texts of his daughter Tetyana Vorobiy to the future department of economic theory lecturers. These texts became a basis for new educational courses of macro- and microeconomics. The first educational-methodological textbooks for students majoring in economics and economics teachers of general education secondary schools (1992-1993) were based on these courses.
In the beginning the department was called "The Department of Economic Theory and International Economic Relations". The department carries its present name since 1993. The number of lecturers is growing from year to year, mostly due to graduates of postgraduate studies, which functions in the department since 1993. The total number of departments' lecturers amounts to 17 people, including 4 professors and 12 associate professors.
Since the first year of its functioning the department not only radically changed the content and methodology of teaching of educational courses, but also the direction of its research efforts. Major attention of the faculty and post-graduate students is dedicated to questions of the Ukrainian economy's transition to market relations and to the reform of its state regulation system. The scientific output of the department is reflected in thesis, handbooks, manuals, monographs, articles.
An important direction of the department's scientific work is the improvement of the Ukrainian economic terminology and translation of world well known English textbooks of macro- and microeconomics, banking, etc. Particularly, the faculty has translated into Ukrainian: the book entitled "Economics" by the Paul A. Samuelson, Nobel Prize winner in economics; also it has done so with other books, namely: "The Economics of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets" of Frederic S. Mishkin; "Macroeconomics" of N. Gregory Mankiw; "Money, the Financial System, and the Economy" of Hubbard R. Glenn and others.
Parallel to American and West - European authors' textbook translations, the department devotes its constant attention to the preparation of its own books. In 1995 the faculty prepared a textbook on economic theory for students majoring in economics who study in institutes of higher education and a textbook for general education secondary school students. These books took part in a contest organized by the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and the International Renaissance Foundation as a part of the program entitled: "Humanities Education Transformation in Ukraine". Both books were acknowledged as the best ones from all submitted for the contest - 1st and 2nd places respectfully. Textbooks were published in 1997 with support of the Renaissance Foundation. A second edition of a textbook for university students majoring in economics was presented in 1998 and a third edition, substantially improved in 2001. In 1999 a third edition of the textbook for general education of secondary school students "Economics" was published.
The increased experience in modern economic theory course teaching and strengthening of the department's scientific and pedagogical potential, contributed to the establishment of major "Economic Theory" in 1997, according to the Economic department Academic Council's decision. In 1998 first students chose economic theory as their major subject of learning.
In recent years new textbooks and manuals were prepared and printed by Stepan Panchyshyn, Zinoviy Vatamanyuk, Yevhen Mayovets' and others. The Department's staff devotes its time and effort to the student's scientific work. A traditional event is the students' "Days of Science" being conducted in the department annually during the months of April-May. A considerable part of the reports on the conferences is constituted by undergraduate and postgraduate students' research results, which are obtained with the help and supervision of the faculty.
A considerable amount of work is conducted in the economic branch of the Small Academy of Sciences, where high school students study; examples of such work are: the delivery of lectures and scientific research under the department's supervision. The faculty takes part in preparation and conduct economic Olympiads; they deliver lectures at preparation courses in the university.
The department has prepared four doctors and 20 candidates of economic sciences. Today department's associate professors are working on their doctoral theses. In the postgraduate studies conducted by the departments faculty there are 22 postgraduate students and three staff members are also working on their candidate theses.