General information

The Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies dates back to 1943, when the Department of Social Disciplines was established at the newly created Chimkent Technological Institute of Building Materials.

In 1960, the Department of Philosophy and Scientific Communism was separated from the Department of Social Sciences, which lasted until 1965. In 1965, the department of "Marxist-Leninist Philosophy" became independent, and its first head was the candidate of Philosophical Sciences, associate Professor N. K. Kalshabekov.

Until 1980, the department of "Marxist-Leninist Philosophy" was headed by the candidate of Philosophical Sciences, associate professor Zh. I. Ablasanov. During the years of his leadership, the teaching staff of the department has grown qualitatively due to the defense of candidate theses by V. N. Shutova, A. T. Koseubaev, S. K. Dauletiyarov.

In the late seventies and early eighties, the department was replenished with young graduates of the Faculty of Philosophy and Economics of the Kirov Kazakh State University (now Al – Farabi Kazakh National University) N. R. Musayeva, A. Sh.Myrzabekova, G. K. Kurmangalieva, B. U. Zhasabayeva, S. E. Abdrakhimova, G. K. Yessirkepova, N. T. Dosybayeva, S. E. Nurmuratov, N. N. Imankulov, T. A. Suleimenov, S. B. Eleup, a graduate of the Faculty of Philosophy of the Leningrad State University V. A. Ievsky.  Among them, N. R. Musaeva, N. N. Imankulov, G. K. Kurmangalieva, and A. Sh.defended their PhD theses.  Myrzabekova, S. E. Nurmuratov, T. A. Suleimenov, G. K. Yessirkepova, which dramatically increased the quality level of the teaching staff of the department and it turned into a recognized center for socio-humanitarian research not only of the Kazakh Chemical and Technological Institute, but also of the entire region.

1980-1985 the head of the department was Candidate of Philosophical Sciences K. A. Amankulov, who made a certain contribution to the further development of the department.

1985-1986 the acting head of the department was V. A. Ievsky, who was widely supported by the continuation of the tradition of sending young specialists to the central universities of the Soviet Union and the Kazakh SSR in order to improve their skills. Thus, N. R. Musayeva, S. B. Eleup, G. K. Yessirkepova completed an internship and full-time postgraduate studies at the Kirov State University, S. E. Nurmuratov completed full-time postgraduate studies at the Abai Kazakh Pedagogical Institute, T. A. Suleimenov completed full-time postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Lomonosov Moscow State University.

1986-1990, when the head of the department was the Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Associate Professor V. G. Ostapenko, there was a further strengthening of the material and technical base and personnel of the department.

In connection with the transition of V. G. Ostapenko to work in the regional party committee, the duties of the head of the department in 1990-1991 were assigned to the candidate of Philosophical Sciences, associate Professor N. R. Musaeva. In the 1992/1993 academic year, the Department of Philosophy and Political Science was merged and the leadership of the department passed to the Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor A. I. Ismailov.

The independence of Kazakhstan gave new incentives for the further development of the department. First, the deideologization of higher education required the search for new ways and methods of teaching the disciplines of the department. Secondly, the introduction of the philosophical discipline "Cultural Studies" into the educational process dictated the need to create a department of "Philosophy and Cultural Studies", which was done at the beginning of the 1993/1994 academic year. The duties of the head of the Department "Philosophy and Cultural Studies" were assigned to the Candidate of Philosophical Sciences T. A. Suleimenov. He was the head of the department until the beginning of the 1997/1998 academic year.

From September to November 1997, the department was headed by Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Associate Professor N. N. Imankulov.

Since March 1998, a new stage of further development of the Department of "Philosophy" begins, associated with the merger of the South Kazakhstan Technical University and the South Kazakhstan Humanitarian University into the South Kazakhstan State University named after M. Auezov. Accordingly, the two departments of the humanities cycle are being merged into the Department of "Philosophy and Law", the leadership of which was entrusted to the Doctor of Philosophy N. R. Musayeva. She was the head of the department from November 1998 to February 2013 and during this period of time the department has achieved the following major successes in educational, teaching and methodological, research and educational activities:

1. The number of faculty members of the department with an academic degree has increased: N. R. Musayeva defended her doctoral dissertation (1998), and N. A. Ibraeva (2007), A. B. Shaldarbekova (2009) and M. K. Rakhimshikova (2010) – candidate dissertations.

2. The teaching staff of the department was one of the first at the university to master the credit technology of training, for which Associate Professor T. A. Suleimenov repeatedly participated in seminars and trainings held by foreign professors in Almaty and Astana.

3. In 2000, the department organized and conducted an International scientific and theoretical conference on the topic "Nomadic culture and the Great Silk Road: a dialogue in time" with the participation of scientists from Turkey, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

4. Since 2002, the department has been an experimental platform for the introduction into the educational process of the project on spiritual and moral education of schoolchildren and students "Self-knowledge", authored by the President of the Bobek Foundation S. A. Nazarbayeva.

5. The teaching staff of the department has completed the study of state budget topics: "The philosophy of the nomadic civilization of the Kazakhs", "The formation of legal consciousness in Kazakhstan".

6. Since 2002, on the basis of a state license, the department has been operating a master's degree program in the specialty 6M020100-Philosophy. To date, about twenty masters have been released.

7. In May 2011, in Astana, Associate Professor T. A. Suleimenov took part in the Republican contest "DaryndyUstaz" and took 1st place in the nomination "Humanities" with the presentation of a diploma of the 1st degree and a cash prize.

​From February 2013 to August 2017, the department was headed by Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Associate Professor T. A. Suleimenov.

​At the beginning of the 2017/2018 academic year, the departments of "Philosophy" and "Political Science"were merged. The department received a new name "Philosophy and Cultural Studies" and its new head was the Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor M. U. Zhumabekov. Under his leadership, the teaching staff of the department makes every effort to successfully complete the tasks assigned to it. Since 2018, the department has been preparing a bachelor's degree in 6B02210 - Philosophy and 6B03120 - Political Science, as well as a Master's degree in Political Science - 7M03120. Since 2020, the name of the department has changed to "Philosophy and Political Science".