The scientific conference on "Russia's Paths in the 20th - Early 21st Centuries: Historical Track or Political Determination?" brought together the founders of the university's historical educational program, its first graduates, and current students. The program of the event held on February 27th and 28th includes reports and master classes by invited historians.
On February 27, 2000, the Rector of South Ural State University German Vyatkin had signed an order, on the grounds of which a new humanitarian direction of study – the Faculty of History – had been one of the first to appear at our famous technical university.
The Director of the SUSU Institute of Media, Social Sciences and Humanities Lidiya Lobodenko delivered a congratulatory speech:
"The emergence of such an educational program in the year of 2000 became an important milestone in the development of South Ural State University – a classical university that includes a large number of humanitarian areas of study. Over the twenty-five years, the Department of National and Foreign History has trained several hundred specialists who work in archives, museums and in the higher education system all across Russia today. It is the Department of History at the Institute of Media, Social Sciences and Humanities that has the largest number of doctors of science; it is here that scientific projects most often receive decisive grant support. And we are especially proud that outstanding world-renowned historians and archaeologists work with future specialists at the department. I wish my colleagues to continue to successfully train highly qualified specialists and have new interesting scientific projects."
The Chairperson of the regional branch of the Russian Historical Society, Doctor of Sciences (History), Professor Nataliia Parfentieva also gave a ceremonial speech. The Chairman of the State Committee for Archives of the Chelyabinsk Region Sergei Ivanov sent congratulations to the institute. Colleagues and representatives of other universities of our region also congratulated the Institute of Media, Social Sciences and Humanities.
Scientists from the SUSU Institute of Media, Social Sciences and Humanities shared their research results with the audience at the conference dedicated to the problems of historical development of Russia at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Associate Professor Nikolai Antipin spoke on behalf of the Department of Russian and Foreign History with a report on the topic of "Installation of the Monument to Alexander II in the Moscow Kremlin: the Culmination of Commemoration"; Professor of the Department Evgeny Volkov told the audience about oral histories about Soviet officers in the German Democratic Republic; Associate Professor Nelly Zhuravleva spoke about the Chelyabinsk literary brigade "Orange Circle"; Head of the Department of Russian and Foreign History Svetlana Krivonogova cited the European experience of parliamentarism in state building of modern Russia; Professor Mariia Miroshnichenko spoke on the topic of "Ural Women in Male Professions (based on the materials of 1920s)"; Associate Professor Tatyana Raeva presented a report on the study of the history of a South Ural city of the early 20th century and the features of the source base; Associate Professor Irina Rudometova studied the bakery industry of the Chelyabinsk Region in 1946-1950; Professor Igor Sibiryakov told the audience about the features of the formation of such a scientific direction as the environmental history of Russia; Associate Professor Aleksandr Timofeev delivered a report on the role of railways in the modernization of the South Ural region using the Trans-Siberian Railway (1891-1914) as an example; and the topic "The West as an Idea and Personal Experience: the Case of Emilia Ilyina" was chosen by Associate Professor of the department Rozaliia Cherepanova.
The invited guests spoke online. Doctor of Sciences (History) Viktor Balakin presented a report on "The USSR in the Perestroika Era (1985-1991): Dogmas and Innovations in Economic Thought"; Professor of Perm State University Igor Narsky spoke on the topic of "Everyone Loves Birch": Birch in the National Identity of Russians in the Late Soviet Period", which sparked a lively discussion among the participants.
After the science-to-practice conference, an extended meeting of the Department of National and Foreign History was held, where the participants summed up the results of historical educational activities of SUSU over the past twenty-five years, and also outlined the goals, objectives and priority areas of scientific development for the coming years.
Day one of the scientific event ended with the awarding of letters of gratitude to outstanding scientists, teachers and veterans of the department.
On final day two of the science-to-practice conference, master classes will be held online for history students of the 1st to 4th years by alumni of the department: Candidates of Sciences (History) Tatyana Petrova (HSE) and Tatyana Kosykh (Institute of Historical Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences), as well as by the Deputy Chairman of the All-Russian Public Movement "Corpus "For Clean Elections", member of the Public Monitoring Commission of Moscow Aleksey Peskov. At the meeting, the guests will share with young people their personal experience of applying historical education in various professional fields.