The Department of Bulgarian Language, Literature and Art (BLA), part of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Education, is responsible for the training of students in the Bulgarian language and history major and takes part in training in the majors of Preschool and Primary School Pedagogy, Primary School Pedagogy and foreign language, Social pedagogy, Law. At the Department, in different periods of time, the following master's programs have been opened and taught: Cultural tourism, Tour guiding and education, Career counseling and development, Linguistics in primary school (English), Linguistics in junior high school (English), Modern Bulgarian studies and education. The department conducts training in two accredited doctoral programs: Bulgarian Language and General and Comparative Linguistics. From the 2018/2019 academic year, the BLA department teaches students of special Bulgarian language and history at the RU Branch in Vidin.
The department consists of 9 people: five associate professors, three main assistants with the scientific-educational degree "Doctor" and one assistant with the scientific-educational degree "Doctor". The BLA department trains one full-time doctoral student, and in the period 2012 - 2018, six doctoral students at the department defended their dissertations and were awarded the scientific and educational degree "Doctor".
The department conducts lectures and exercises in the following areas: Linguistics, Literary Studies, Teaching Methodology in Bulgarian Language and Literature, Teaching Methodology in English, Teaching Methodology in Music, Teaching Methodology in Fine Art. The scientific interests of the professors are in the same direction.
The department is the initiator of several prestigious scientific forums, in which prominent Bulgarian and foreign scientists take part: Arnaud readings, the materials of which are published in the Arnaud collection series (11 volumes so far); round tables dedicated to the writers V. Tachev, St. Gechev and A. Gechev, Zmey Goryanin, as well as the problems of legal speech and spelling in the modern Bulgarian language. The Arnaud readings forum was started in 1998, when in October, on the initiative of the Department of Bulgarian Language, Literature and Art, the first forum dedicated to the 120th anniversary of the birth of Academician Mikhail Arnaudov was held. Since then, Arnaud's readings have had eleven editions. The main organizers of the events are: Department of Bulgarian Language, Literature and Art and the Scientific Centre for Folklore, Literature and Linguistics "St. Dimitar Basarbovski", as well as Regional History Museum - Ruse. Every year (from 2000 until now) within the Scientific Conference of the University of Ruse and the Union of Scientists - Ruse, the BLA Department organizes Linguistics and Literary Studies sections, and in recent years - Art Studies sections, and the reports are printed in a separate collection.
For more than 20 years, the Scientific Centre for Folklore, Literature and Linguistics "St. Dimitar Basarbovski" has been operating at the BLA Department, which is a centre of attraction for people with scientific pursuits not only from academic circles. It was created by the idea of Prof. Rusi D. Rusev, PhD, who has also been its chairman since its creation. The centre aims to revive the centuries-old Bulgarian tradition of the university being a centre of scientific and cultural life in the city. That is why the BLA department has repeatedly hosted meetings of artists and intellectuals from Ruse. Together with them, in 2011, a large-scale scientific project was implemented to study the literary life of the city. For 20 years, the department has been the founder and organizer of the Philology Section of the Union of Scientists - Ruse, which includes professors from the BLA department, philologists from the Silistra Branch of the University of Ruse, as well as Bulgarian language and literature teachers from the city.
A priority in the activity of the Department is the work with the students. In 2006, the first International Student-Doctoral Scientific Conference was held with the participation of students and doctoral students from Volgograd State University, Russia, who were guests of the Department and the University of Ruse. Student scientific readings are organized annually, and the best papers are awarded the Best Paper. Scientific and practical seminars are also held with the participation of students and doctoral students - young researchers. In 2015, under the leadership of Associate Professor R. Rusev, PhD, a Laboratory for the Study of the Linguistic Heritage of the writer Yordan Valchev was established, in which students from the specialization Bulgarian language and history and from the specialization Modern Bulgarian Studies and Education work. The main goal of the Laboratory is to research the archive of the writer Yordan Valchev, donated to the Department by Dr. Vladka Valcheva - the writer's wife.
Palette Club and Affect Music Club give the opportunity to perform for those who discover creative impulses in themselves. They actively participate in performances not only at the university, but also in front of the Ruse public. The art studios held by the clubs together with RL "L. Karavelov" become a centre of attraction for young students.
The Save the Bulgarian student club was founded on October 19th , 2005 by students majoring in "Bulgarian language and history". It implements activities and projects aimed at preserving, researching and popularizing the cultural heritage and natural wealth of Bulgaria. The teachers from the Department of Bulgarian Language, Literature and Art devote their work not only to the field of humanitarian studies, but also to humanity: every year the Department organizes a charity theatre performance for children from different kindergartens, which becomes a holiday for all students. The young apprentices of the Palette Club organize a bazaar to help their disadvantaged colleagues.
Teachers from the BLLA Department join the cultural events of the city by co-organizing literary festivals, presenting books by Ruse, national and foreign authors. They are judges in local and national literary competitions.
In recognition of its multifaceted activity, the Department of Bulgarian Language, Literature and Art received the prestigious award of the Municipality of Ruse - RUSE AWARD 2017 in the EDUCATION AND SCIENCE section!
