The Department of Political and Legal Sciences (SCIPOG), established in 2015, represents the ideal continuum of the former Faculty of Political Sciences, founded at the University of Messina in 1969. The Department is located near the Orto Botanico Pietro Castelli, in premises situated in Piazza XX Settembre nos. 1–4, and in Via Tommaso Cannizzaro no. 278.
The Department of Political and Legal Sciences includes faculty members from the Historical Area (which focuses on the political, social, and economic history of the modern and contemporary ages, with particular attention also to the history of institutions, territory, diplomatic relations, globalization, and mass media), from the Legal Sciences Area (which examines legal institutions in substantive, procedural, and trial law from a systemic perspective, that is, taking into account their interaction with the European and international context and without neglecting the practical implications of the institutions under consideration), from the Political and Social Sciences Area (which studies social and political phenomena in their historical evolution and analyses their most recent developments, also in light of their interconnections, through empirical and comparative research), and from the Linguistics Area (which focuses on lexicology, phraseology, discourse analysis, translation of linguistic essays, and terminology).
All faculty members of the Department share a common research agenda aimed at exploring issues related to the evolution of the legal, political, historical, and institutional system from an interdisciplinary, comparative, and international perspective.
The governing bodies of the Department are the Director, the Executive Committee, and the Council.
The technical-administrative staff is organised into the areas of teaching, research, general services, and the Director’s office.
Educational offer
The Department’s educational offer includes four three-year Bachelor’s degree programmes (L-16 Political Sciences, Administration and Services, L-14 Law of New Technologies, L-36 Political Sciences and International Relations, and L-39 Social Work), which are naturally completed by the corresponding Master’s degree programmes (LM-63 Public Administration Sciences and LM-52 International Relations).
All programmes provide a solid multidisciplinary foundation (in the legal and international, economic and statistical, historical, sociological, political science, and linguistic fields), which is complemented by professional internships and traineeships at qualified bodies and institutions operating at the local, national, European, and international levels.
This multidisciplinary training enables the Department to educate professionals capable of understanding the many facets of contemporary society and of offering solutions to specific problems, considered in all their complexity.
More specifically, the skills acquired by graduates of the Bachelor’s programme in Political Sciences and International Relations will allow them to work in international organisations, embassies, consulates, or local authorities responsible for relations with the European Union and to sit competitive examinations for international careers. Those who continue with the Master’s programme in International Relations will be able to pursue a diplomatic career or find employment in international organisations, both governmental and non-governmental, in public administrations and private companies, as well as in bodies and associations operating in the field of international cooperation.
Graduates of the Bachelor’s programme in Political Sciences, Administration and Services will be able to find employment in public administration at both national and local level, and in complex organisations (businesses, public and private companies, non-profit organisations, employment agencies, political organisations, trade unions, and associations representing economic interests), performing technical-organisational, administrative, and public relations functions. After obtaining the Master’s degree in Public Administration Sciences, they will be able to work as managers in the central and peripheral offices of state, regional and local authorities, as well as in the administrative offices of parliamentary and constitutional bodies and in the offices established abroad by the State, Regions, and local authorities.
Interdepartmental degree programmes
The Department of Political and Legal Sciences also contributes to the delivery of an interdepartmental educational offer:
- the three-year Bachelor’s degree programme in Navigation Sciences and Technologies (L-28). This programme, which benefits from the support of the University Centre for Transport Studies (CUST), aims to train professionals capable of meeting the needs of the maritime transport sector and involves the Departments of Engineering; Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences; Mathematical and Computer Sciences; Physical Sciences; and Earth Sciences.
Other educational activities: master’s programmes and advanced training courses
Since its establishment, the Department has offered several advanced training courses and first- and second-level master’s programmes, which highlight the privileged relationship developed with the local area and its institutions, including:
- the seminar cycle on Gender-based violence (organised with the Provincial Equal Opportunities Counsellor and the University’s Single Guarantee Committee, in collaboration with CEDAV, the Bar Association and the Medical Association of Messina), aimed at raising awareness and providing methodologically sound information to young people on the roots of gender-based violence and ways to combat it, in order to promote a culture of gender equality, fight stereotypes, and inform and train on the concepts of equality and equal opportunities;
- the Advanced Course for Court-appointed Technical Experts in civil proceedings, Experts in criminal proceedings, and Party-appointed Technical Consultants, designed to provide appropriate professional qualification to young graduates intending to enter this field and to ensure an adequate level of continuing education for those already practising these activities;
- the training course on Cultural heritage, tourism development and religious traditions, with the aim of training technical staff specialised in promoting cultural itineraries linked to religious tourism;
- the first-level Master’s degree in Cultural Heritage Management, aimed at training experts in the promotion and management of cultural heritage and in tourism and cultural marketing;
- the first-level Master’s degree in Project Design for the Development of the Euro-Mediterranean Area, intended to equip participants with the skills needed to identify relevant project ideas and draft sustainable projects consistent with the funding opportunities offered by EU intervention policies, with particular attention to those concerning the countries on the northern shore of the Mediterranean;
- the first- and second-level Master’s programmes in Prevention and countering of organised crime of the mafia-type and political-administrative corruption and in Administration and management of assets confiscated from the mafia, organised in collaboration with the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Messina, the Court of Messina, the Bar Association of Messina, and the Association of Chartered Accountants and Accounting Experts of Messina, with the aim of training specialised professionals both in the repression and prevention of organised crime and political-administrative corruption and in the management of assets confiscated from the mafia.
Research centres affiliated with the Department
The Department of Political and Legal Sciences hosts the following centres:
- the Centre for Canadian Studies, which promotes multidisciplinary research on Canada and on relations between this North American country and Europe, through cycles of conferences, seminars, and publications;
- the Documentation Centre for the History of the University of Messina, which collects and organises documentation on the University of Messina and promotes, with scientific rigor, systematic studies on its history from its foundation in 1548 to the present day;
- the European Documentation Centre, whose aim is to promote and develop teaching and research on European integration by providing students and faculty members with information resources on the European Union;
- the Centre for Studies and Research on Mafia-type Organised Crime and Political-administrative Corruption, which aims to support, encourage and disseminate the scientific analysis, critical debate and public awareness of all issues related to mafia-type organisations and to the pathologies that the widespread presence of the mafia introduces into the political and administrative context;
- the Centre for Studies in Parliamentary Law and Representative Assemblies, which aims to support, encourage and disseminate, in both the academic-scientific and political-institutional spheres, scientific analysis, debate, critical reflection and dissemination on issues related to parliamentary law and representative assemblies at all levels of government, as well as on related historical, political science, and economic profiles.
The Department is also a partner (together with the Departments of Ancient and Modern Civilisations and of Economics) of the Centre for Migration, Social Integration and Intercultural Communication, established by the University of Messina with the aim of promoting integration and fostering the development of the social and economic system.