Pre-revolutionary Russian Universities in Modern Historiography

Abstract

The article focuses on the main trends in Russian and foreign historiography of Russian universities at the turn of the 20th century to identify the most promising directions for research. The author suggests that the current stage of historical and university research be counted from the 1980s–1990s. Though historiography of the 1990s was quick to abandon ideological clichés, it inherited a range of approaches, problems, and conclusions from the past. Having examined a number of summarizing monographs on the history of Russian education and theory of university research, the author assumes that the 2000s witnessed a certain “social turn” with its profound attention to the “human dimension” of the university’s past. The most topical and promising trends in historiography of Russian universities include the study of intra-corporate relations in various universities, “university conflictology”, academic mobility and dissertation ethics in Russia, professorial daily life and leisure, etc. Drawing on works of foreign historiographers, Russian historiographers should abandon the formal approach limited by state borders. It is suggested that the works by Ukrainian, Polish, Estonian and other researchers from the countries where some universities of the former Russian Empire are located should be viewed as a separate group. It is also noted that, unlike Russian historiographical tradition, the West European and American framework in the 20th century was not discrete by its nature and retained its traditional interest in the problem of relationships between universities (i.e. academic community and students) and Russian society. In conclusion, the author points out the anthropocentric approach as very valuable for the studies of university history.