The Department of Social and Humanitarian Sciences is almost the same age as Samarkand State Medical University. Having carried out its activities since the 1930s, together with the professors and teachers of the medical departments, it has gone through all the historical stages of the university’s development.
Until 1936, social sciences were taught without a separate department. In 1936, the Department of Socio-Economic Sciences was established. Its first head was Associate Professor I.M. Klyuchko. The department also included Professor N. Larin, Associate Professor Valiev, and Lecturer A. Shakirov. In 1939, the department was renamed the Department of Social Sciences, on the basis of which three new departments were formed in 1965. From 1939 to 1942, the department was headed by Associate Professor V.I. Mishin. From 1946 to 1947 – by Lecturer M.S. Strelkova. In 1959, she defended her candidate dissertation and received the title of Associate Professor.
- In 1947-1951, he headed the department. Zakharov S.M.
- In 1951-1954, Associate Professor. Muratov N.M.
- In 1955-1957 - Associate Professor. Abdullaev H.
- In 1965, on the basis of the department, three new departments were organized:
- Department of Philosophy (Assoc. Prof. A.A. Akhtamov);
- Department of History (Assoc. Prof. G.S. Abdusattarov);
- Department of Political Economy (Assoc. Prof. N.Yu. Abdurazakov).
The number of teaching staff also increased. If in 1936 there were 4 teachers, in 1965 there were 12, and by 1978–1979 there were already 23 teachers.
After the achievement of independence, since 1995 the departments were once again merged into a single Department of Social Sciences.
A significant contribution to the development of the department was made by the professors, associate professors, and senior lecturers who headed it in different years: Professors A.A. Akhtamov, G.S. Abdusattorov, F.S. Solieva, M.M. Mukhammadov; Associate Professors L.N. Juraev, Yu.M. Khalimbetov, Doctor of Philosophy H.Yu. Salamova, Candidate of Juridical Sciences, Associate Professor Yo.S. Sadikova; Senior Lecturer Sh.F. Majidov; as well as those who headed the department’s courses (in 2007–2011): in Economic Theory – Assoc.Prof.M.J.Jamolov, and in Philosophy – Senior Lecturer D.Yu. Yuldasheva.
Since October 2019, the department has been headed by Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophical Sciences (PhD), Professor Aziza Nugmanovna Makhmudova. Her dissertation topic: “Legal Socialization of the Individual in Modern Civil Society.” She is the author of more than 200 scientific articles and theses, 5 monographs, and 6 textbooks.
The main tasks of the department consist in teaching the principles of philosophical thinking and the methodological foundations of medical and scientific activity; fostering individuals capable of responsible participation in social processes and continuous self-improvement; as well as the spiritual, moral, patriotic, and environmental education of modern students.
Yu.M. Khalimbetov, Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Associate Professor; L.R. Usmanova, Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department. In 2021, she defended a candidate dissertation on the topic: “Romantic and Aesthetic Features of the Art of Miniature of Central Asia”; D.Yu. Yuldasheva, Senior Lecturer of the Department; Sh.F. Majidov, Senior Lecturer of the Department, responsible for the technical support of the educational process at the department. He conducts scientific research on the topic: “Ethno-political Aspects of National Security: the Experience of the States of the European Union and Central Asia (1991–2016)”; Kh. Abdumajidova, Senior Lecturer, Head Teacher of the Department, responsible for the educational process of the department. Dissertation topic: “The influence of modernization of countries on the intensity of socio-political relations in the development of society (a socio-philosophical analysis on the example of the countries of Central Asia)”; G. Tursunova, v.b .associate professor, responsible at the department for spiritual and educational work, in 2023 defended a dissertation on the topic: “The resettlement policy of the Russian Empire in the Syrdarya region and its consequences (second half of the 19th century – beginning of the 20th century)”; Sh.R. Umurov, Assistant, responsible for work with transfer students, works on a dissertation on the topic: “The attitude of the Russian Empire to the policy of waqf property in Turkestan and its consequences (second half of the 19th century – beginning of the 20th century)”; as well as trainee-assistants Kh. Boimirzaeva, G. Mardieva, G. Kadirova, D.Sh. Turaeva, R. Askarov, S. Yokubov, B. Abduganiev, R.Latipov, Zh. Beknazarov, D. Azamova, D. Abulkosimova, M.Z. Karimova, P.Zh. Aslamkulova, S. Ubaydullaeva.
Over the past 5 years, department staff have published more than 350 scientific works, including 6 textbooks, 5 teaching aids, 10 teaching aids, 8 monographs, 30 electronic programs, and more than 150 articles in leading republican and international journals.
Within the framework of the program of international cooperation and academic mobility, the Head of the Department, Associate Professor A.N. Makhmudova, and Associate Professor of the Department L.R. Usmanova delivered lectures and master classes in St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, Ufa.
Thus, the activity of the Department of Social and Humanitarian Sciences is aimed at the development of the worldview of the medical student in the context of the ideas:
- “A doctor is a philosopher; for there is no great difference between wisdom and medicine.” — Hippocrates;
- “Medicine is the sister of philosophy.” — Democritus;
- “It is impossible to heal the body without healing the soul.” — Socrates.
