Faculty of Social Sciences

The Department of Social Planning commenced its activities in 2002, following its reconstitution from the former Department of Cooperative Studies and Social Welfare. The department admits students across three degree levels, encompassing the following programs: Bachelor of Social Planning, Master of Social Welfare Planning, Master of Tourism Planning, and Doctor of Social Welfare.

In accordance with the country's development plans, the department's comprehensive research agenda is organized around the following objectives:

a) Quantitative and qualitative inquiry into, and evaluation of, development policies and social programs—including welfare-oriented development policies and programs, urban and regional planning, as well as tourism policies and planning;

b) Investigation of the trajectories and transformations affecting various forms of development policies and welfare programs at both local and macro levels, alongside an examination of their ramifications for the lives of diverse social groups. These studies encompass both quantitative and qualitative dimensions, and are pursued with the aim of generating knowledge and formulating policy recommendations directed toward the enhancement and betterment of life for all citizens of the country.

The following are among the subjects and topics with which undergraduate students in the department become acquainted:

• Sociological foundations for planning;

• Theories and policies of social welfare;

• Techniques of social planning;

• Fundamentals and principles of urban and regional planning;

• Fundamentals and principles of leisure planning;

• Theories of poverty and social inequality;

• Principles and foundations of tourism planning.