11.12.2024
Andrei Viktorovich, what role does RSUH play in the liberal arts education in Russia?
RSUH was founded as the first liberal arts university in the country, based on the ideas of interdisciplinary, dialogue of cultures and renewal of the methodological foundations of humanities. It arose at the junction of two historical eras, which led to the emergence of many different trends. The most important for RSUH was the tendency to restore what was lost: historical memory, continuity of academic traditions and academic freedom. At a certain period, RSUH was perceived as a stronghold of liberal ideas, not so much in the political context, but in terms of the revival and development of the university-related and, more broadly, humanitarian freedom. It seems to me that the historical experience of RSUH has proven the correctness of the system of ideology and values in which the University grew and developed.
However, stagnation is contraindicated for any development, so today, rethinking and clarifying the strategic goals of RSUH, we assert that RSUH is no longer a liberal university of the early 1990s, it is rather a resource center for modern humanities, a university of development.
RSUH was founded in 1991 on the basis of the Institute of History and Archives, which at that time had already existed for 60 years and had a renowned archival and source study school.
The Institute still remains a key part of the University and at present, it represents the historical basis of the entire RSUH. However, today the University is so diverse that the Institute of History and Archives is not the only "core".
The academic and pedagogical school of the Institute of History and Archives has always been based on the principle of the primacy of the source and the document: first the source, then its interpretation. Indeed, everything we can learn about events, phenomena, facts, as well as about a person and society as a whole, comes to us from a historical source, as was emphasized by the renowned professor of the Institute of History and Archives, Sigurd Shmidt.
The dynamic educational system, developed and implemented at the Institute, is a classic example of an interdisciplinary approach to teaching students and academic research. This approach, developed primarily by the academic and pedagogical school of Dr. Medushevskaya, underlies the activities of many other institutes and faculties of RSUH. From this point of view, we can say that the Institute remains the core of the interdisciplinary approach implemented at RSUH. If we look at the innovative projects at RSUH, then in many cases the faculty base of these projects is made up of researchers and teachers who graduated from the Institute or who currently work here.
Since its foundation in 1930, the Institute of History and Archives has been located at 15 Nikolskaya, one of the most beautiful buildings in the city. Do you think it is possible to imagine the Institute without the building with the lion and the unicorn?
The building on Nikolskaya is one of the historical symbols of Russian education. It was built at the beginning of the 19th century, following the stone structure of the Moscow Print Yard of the 17th century. The architect of this building during the reign of Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich was the outstanding master Trefil Sharutin, who also created the Terem Palace. This fact alone shows the ever-existing importance of printing and the dissemination of printed knowledge. For several centuries, the complex of buildings on Nikolskaya was the center of the entire educational process in Russia.
"The gates of learning" is what Mikhail Lomonosov called Smotritsky's "Grammar" and Magnitsky's "Arithmetic", published at the Yard on Nikolskaya. The history of the Institute is inextricably linked with this building. It is very important for us to feel and confirm by our actions the continuity that started with Ivan Fedorov and the whole galaxy of zealots of book culture and heroes of national education. After all, the first school in Russia, essentially a higher educational institution for “different ranks of people”, the Typographic School, the prototype of the future Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, began its work right here, at Nikolskaya, 15. The Institute of History and Archives is the heir to this centuries-old tradition of scholarship and education, and the basis of its mission, as one medieval prince said, is “so that the candle does not go out”.
The building of the Institute is a cultural heritage site. People come here on excursions, because in the courtyard of the Institute there is the Correction Chamber, a division of the Print Yard, a fragment of the Kitay-gorod, etc. Are there plans to turn all these monuments into a museum for future generations?
The most ancient historical parts of the building on Nikolskaya should be turned into a museum. Actually, they once did perform museum functions. At the beginning of the 20th century, a museum dedicated to the history of Russian writing, book culture and book printing was created in these chambers. There was a small authentic printing press from the 17th century, a plaster cast of Ivan Fyodorov's tombstone, and the display cases contained monuments of Russian book culture from the 16th–18th centuries and other museum items. In the Soviet times, when the building was occupied by the Institute of History and Archives, on the initiative of its management and the Department of Auxiliary Historical Disciplines, in 1947, an exhibition was opened in the chambers. It was dedicated to the history of Moscow before Peter the Great and the history of book printing. The Institute of History and Archives with its unique library of rare books and valuable collections of historical items could organize an exhibition of the highest level. This would become a unique museum and university complex, which has no analogues in our country.
In addition to the excursions, we hold Sunday lectures "Meetings on Nikolskaya", thus reviving the tradition of public lectures where scholars speak to the general public about the discoveries and ideas of the humanities.
It was here that the first printer Ivan Fedorov printed the first Russian printed book "Apostle", which became a major event in Russian history. Can we say that archivists continue the traditions of the first printer, preserving the past reflected on paper?
Ivan Fedorov is considered the founder of Russian book printing. All printed books that are published in Russia today ultimately owe their appearance to the events that took place in 1563-1564, when "Apostle" was printed. The Institute of History and Archives is an institution for preserving documentary heritage. It is an important aspect of protecting the main cultural wealth of national memory. In this context, the Institute of History and Archives and RSUH as a whole naturally continue the important work of Ivan Fedorov, which has sacred significance for our culture.
The education at the Institute of History and Archives is based on classical humanities: history, source studies. What is the demand for the graduate of the Institute in the labor market today? How popular is the Institute among applicants?
Our graduates hold positions of directors of federal, municipal and departmental archives, as well as heads of documentation services, government agencies, large companies and corporations. We regularly update this data. The results show that archivists and document specialists are in high demand in the labor market. Regardless of changes in the world, archives and documents remain important. Therefore, the professional activities of archivists and document specialists will always be relevant.
Our students obtain comprehensive knowledge in the field of digital transformation, electronic document management and electronic archives. Our professors are the authors of modern textbooks and manuals on archival science, documentation, source studies, archeography, archival heuristics and personnel records management.
These materials are used as teaching aids not only in other regions of Russia, but also in the CIS countries. In addition, teachers of the Institute of History and Archives have developed many Russian history textbooks for both universities and schools. Thus, our Institute acts as an educational and methodological center in the field of archival science and documentation, and also develops professional standards for these specialties. The Institute consistently demonstrates a high level of competition and ranks among the most popular in the admission period.
What majors does the Institute offer today?
The Institute of History and Archives offers many majors, which shows our commitment to interdisciplinary approaches in humanities. Among them are "Documentation Science and Archival Science", "History", "Public Policy and Social Sciences", "International Relations", as well as "Oriental Studies and African Studies".
Modern technologies have influenced all areas of our lives. How do you see the future of archival education?
One of the mottos of RSUH, "Century-old traditions - modern technologies", serves as the basis and program of our work. I am convinced that "centuries-old traditions" are not just beautiful words: the continuity is a necessary condition for moving forward. Modern digital technologies replace the old ones just as printing materials replaced handwritten books in the 16th century. But handwritten books have become even more valuable to us. Therefore, in the archivist's profession, the traditional and the new, the changing and the permanent will always coexist. This is what the entire history of the academic and pedagogical school of the Institute of History and Archives teaches us.
