Faculty of Social Sciences

History

The decree on the establishment of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki was issued in December 1944. The Faculty launched its operations by holding its first meeting on Victory Day, 9 May 1945 , the day that marked the end of the Second World War in Europe.

The first suggestions for the establishment of the Faculty in the early years of the 20 th century were motivated by the need to reform the education of civil servants. The general opinion was that the studies in law traditionally completed by civil servants did not suffice, and that they needed to be well versed in issues relating to society as well. As Professor Ernst Nevanlinna put it in 1917, “Public administration concerns all the various spheres of the life of a nation. In order to successfully attend to the duties of public administration, civil servants are required to thoroughly know and understand the operations, phenomena, laws and needs of public administration.”

The newly established Faculty of Social Sciences was a compromise between different views as to the nature of the degrees it should award. As the government committee preparing the matter had suggested, the Faculty offered two kinds of degrees: a civil service degree qualifying for public office and the Bachelor of Social Sciences degree focussing on research on the social sciences. The Finnish name of the Faculty, Valtiotieteellinen tiedekunta, attempts to highlight two objectives: firstly, the initial objective of providing an education preparing for the civil service (the Finnish word valtio meaning ‘state’), and secondly, of recognising social sciences as an academic discipline, which was of primary importance at the time of the establishment of the Faculty.

The roots of the Faculty go back far into history, for the oldest of the current chairs, the chair in social and moral philosophy, was established in 1640, the same year that the Academy of Turku was founded. As the field of this chair included various aspects of politics, economics, history and social issues, the academic traditions of the Faculty extend over centuries and far beyond the field of social and moral philosophy.

The first professorship in economics was established in 1747 at the Academy of Turku . The scope of the field of teaching of this chair was, however, much wider than what has been later understood to belong to the field of economics. Consequently, the first holder of the post was a natural scientist and the most renowned Finnish scholar during the period of the Academy of Turku , Pietari Kalm. Teaching in statistics was launched in 1886 and teaching in sociology in 1890, when Edward Westermarck was appointed Docent in Sociology. Subsequently Professor of Social and Moral Philosophy, Westermarck was a pioneer and leading figure of Finnish research in the social sciences who also won wide international acclaim. The first professorships in political science and finance were established in 1921.