The history of the Faculty of Social Sciences
This is a brief description of the history of the Faculty of Social Sciences from the establishment of the University of Copenhagen in 1646 to the present day.
The Faculty of Social Sciences originally belonged to the Faculty of Philosophy and the Faculty of Law.
It is unknown whether practical philosophy, which included ethics, politics and economics, was taught in Catholic times. However, after the Reformation, the university's charter stipulated that the law professor should also teach politics if he was academically capable of doing so. Based on the same premise, the mathematics professor should teach ethics.
Thus, the Faculty of Philosophy was given a special chair in ethics in 1646, and in 1677 Th. Bartholin was appointed professor politices et historiæ patriæ (politics and history).
The faculty developed in line with the pace of the time and appointed its first professor of economics in 1762. In 1788, statistics was introduced as an independent subject, and in 1815, Oluf Kristian Olufsen was appointed Denmark's first professor of political economy.
In 1848, the political science programme was established with two new chairs in statistics and political economy. At the same time, the Faculty of Law was transferred to the social sciences and changed its name to the Faculty of Law and Political Science.
The faculty retained this name until 1970, when it changed its name to the Faculty of Social Sciences.
For practical and historical reasons, the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences has in recent times shared the administrative organisation with both Law and Theology. The faculties have each had their own dean but the same administrative management. That is, one dean for theology and one dean for law/social sciences.
In 1993, the Faculty of Law was separated as an independent faculty and thus got its own dean, but social sciences and law still shared finances.
In January 1996, the Faculty of Law was given its own administrative management and the budget sharing with social sciences ceased.
In June 1999, it was decided that the Faculty of Theology's administration would also be separated from the Faculty of Social Sciences' secretariat.
On 1 January 2004, the subject of psychology was transferred to the faculty from the Faculty of Humanities at its own request.
On 1 January 2005, the NIAS Nordic Institute for Asian Studies became part of the faculty.
In 2022, it was decided that the Faculty of Social Sciences will move to South Campus. The move could begin in 2024, but is dependent on several factors (including space allocation and various reforms). The latest status (November 2024) is that the first units of the administration will move during 2025.
The Faculty of Social Sciences is one of six at the University of Copenhagen. With approximately 6,600 students, the faculty has a relatively large student population in relation to the number of degree programmes.
The faculty grew up in the vibrant Latin Quarter in the centre of Copenhagen, where until 2004 it was housed in old buildings in Studiestræde, Frederiksholms Kanal, Rosenborggade, Linnésgade and Store Kannikestræde. During 2005, the Department of Anthropology, the Department of Political Science, the Department of Sociology and parts of the Department of Psychology moved to the Centre for Health and Society (CSS) at the former Municipal Hospital in Øster Farimagsgade 5. The faculty administration also moved at the same time.
The rest of the Department of Psychology subsequently moved as well and is now almost all located in Øster Farimagsgade 2A. In 2009, the Department of Economics moved from Studiestræde to CSS.
The move brought the entire faculty together in the old hospital area, which also houses the Department of Public Health and a number of external research units.
Only the Department of Economics had initially chosen to stay in the city centre (Studiestræde), but after the publication of UCPH's campus plans in 2006, it was decided that space should also be found for them at CSS.
The central location in the city centre provides an active interaction with the city's public and private institutions. This helps to ensure the faculty's special dynamism.
The Faculty of Social Sciences offers a wide range of programmes and courses. Every year, an ever-increasing number of students are admitted (in 2022, 1127 BA students were admitted). These students can look forward to relevant, five-year programmes at the highest level in anthropology, psychology, sociology, political science (including social sciences) and economics. In addition, the faculty offers three international Master's programmes in Social Data Science, Global Development and Security Risk Management.
Social science graduates have traditionally held the top leadership positions in our society, and demand for graduates is high in the public and private sectors.
Abroad, many of our graduates also fill qualified positions in, for example, the EU, the UN or one of the many NGOs.
Research and education are anchored in the faculty's five large departments, which together have approx. 520 FTEs (VIP and TAP employees), approx. 180 PhD students and a total student population of over 6,600 students (2022 figures).
The extensive research at the departments is characterised by being varied and at the same time specialised to the highest level within the individual departments' research areas.
The subject areas at the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences have a long tradition of working independently internally and acting as one externally.
Financially, the faculty is one of the university's smaller faculties, and the philosophy is that funding is best utilised through good internal and external collaboration - including with other higher education institutions.
The University of Copenhagen regularly adopts a university strategy, which usually runs for several years.
The purpose of the strategy is to establish the framework and direction for the university's continued development. The intention is that students and employees, through their daily studies, work and commitment, should be able to see themselves and, through their own initiatives and ideas, contribute to the fulfilment of the strategy's objectives.
Based on the strategy, a strategic target plan is prepared, which also includes the goals that the University of Copenhagen is obliged to work towards according to the strategic framework contract signed between the Ministry and the University of Copenhagen for the strategy period.
