Education and Formation

Education and formation are among the key areas of the Sententiae Community’s work. We value university education in philosophy as a foundation and complement it with specialised courses, practical experience, and engagement with the professional academic environment. This helps participants develop the competencies needed for research, teaching, and editorial work.

By formation, we mean the development of an academic ethos: integrity, responsibility for one’s own work, openness to reasoned discussion, and readiness to collaborate.

For this reason, all of the Community’s educational initiatives are brought together within the Sententiae Academy – an educational and formative environment where learning is combined with the professional development of future researchers.

The year-long educational and formation programme is at the core of the Sententiae Academy. It is designed for philosophy students, graduates, and PhD candidates who seek not only to deepen their knowledge but also to develop professional competencies, gain hands-on research experience, and become part of the academic community.

The Academy’s educational programme brings together core courses focused on developing key professional competencies. The core curriculum comprises three practice-oriented courses:

Formation is an integral part of the Academy. Its purpose is to develop not only professional competencies but also a culture of academic collaboration, responsibility, and academic integrity.

The programme includes regular meetings with Ukrainian and international researchers, public intellectuals, and leaders of the Community’s projects. Participants become familiar with the work of research centers, take part in seminars and scholarly discussions, and gradually become part of the Sententiae academic community.

A distinctive feature of the Academy is that learning extends beyond the classroom. The most successful participants have the opportunity to contribute to the work of the Community’s research centers, publishing and media projects, pursue their own research, and develop professionally in a real academic environment.

Specialised courses in the history of philosophy address topics that are not always covered in university curricula but are important to contemporary research in the field.

Depending on the course topic, participants work with manuscripts and archival materials, examine issues related to translation and the publication of sources, and engage with current methodological approaches and lesser-studied parts of the history of philosophy.

The courses are taught by established Ukrainian and international researchers and lecturers with substantial scholarly expertise in their respective fields. Lectures are combined with scholarly discussions, analysis of specific research cases, and debate on the methodological challenges facing contemporary research in the history of philosophy.

Specialised courses in practical philosophy address contemporary issues in moral and political philosophy, as well as emerging areas within practical philosophy. They complement university education by introducing topics and research approaches that are not always sufficiently represented in university curricula and by engaging participants with international academic debates.

This area of work grew out of the educational and research programme “Practical Philosophy”, which later provided the foundation for the establishment of the Kyiv Center for Practical Ethics. Today, the courses combine academic lectures, professional discussions, and debate on current research questions, creating a space for the development of a new generation of Ukrainian researchers in practical philosophy.