Trajectories of national identity and civic-mindedness in research projects of humanities students
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Importance. In the context of transforming socio-political landscapes, the role of higher education as a space for constructing civic identity is becoming increasingly important. Research projects by humanities students represent significant material for studying how abstract categories of nation and civic-mindedness are comprehended and experienced in practice. However, there is a lack of a holistic methodology for their examination in the literature. The purpose of the study is to identify and analyze the key vectors of civic-mindedness that emerge in humanities students’ research projects based on empirical material. Materials and Methods. The study is based on a qualitative analysis of 15 texts of student project concepts completed within the framework of the “Scientific Code” program. The methodological tool is the author’s model of “civic-mindedness mapping”, which involves analysis along the axes of “value focus” and “modality of research action”, as well as the parameter of “scale of responsibility”. Results and Discussion. Four key value clusters (nation / state, culture / language, social institutions, human potential) and three research strategies (criticism, construction, interpretation) were identified. Civic-mindedness is manifested not in the choice of a specific topic, but in a hybrid combination of value selectivity, methodological awareness, and responsibility for the chosen scale of the problem. The analysis also made it possible to identify typical methodological challenges faced by students. Conclusion. The study confirms that project activity serves as a laboratory for the formation of civic-mindedness as a complex, critically reflective position, rather than the assimilation of readymade ideologemes. In humanities knowledge, civic-mindedness appears as a methodological choice that requires the discipline of scientific inquiry, which is facilitated by expert support that transforms a value-based impulse into the language of a scientific discipline.
Author: M. A. Yurchenko
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7201866933