The Impact Of Comparative European Social Survey Data On Teaching Social Science Courses

Bulgaria has rejoined its membership in the European Social Survey longitudinal project and in the International Social Survey Program in 2019. The 6 years absence of data in the survey rounds has caused problems for Bulgarian social scientists to analyze the dynamics of the European and global social climate in a cross-national context without being able to organize the knowledge in relation of ourselves to others. Reestablishing the opportunity to participate in international social projects stimulated the use of comparative analyses on the grounds of variety. The determinants of the country differences in the assessment of personal satisfaction, happiness, feelings of optimism, etc., began to be seen on the level of social identification and the process of differential socialization instead of on the rank level of social development. This led to remodeling the course syllabus in Sociology for undergraduates at the University of National and World Economy by presenting core themes in a cyclical way following ESS rotating themes. As an illustration of the way the sociological syllabus might be adapted to ESS topics, we demonstrate revision of the core curricula with emphasis on the themes - Justice and Fairness and Timing of Life, representative of ESS Round 9.