University Science in Russia in the 19th to 21st Centuries: the Regional Dimension
Galina Krivosheina
How to do away with “bourgeois science”: A story of scientific societies in Russia
Soviet ideology traditionally adhered to the notion of two sciences – progressive “proletarian science” and stagnating “bourgeois science”. The former enjoyed all-round state support, while any forms and shapes of the latter, be that scientific schools or academic associations, were spotted and destroyed. When we speak about struggle with “relics of bourgeois science” in the Soviet Union we usually remember Lysenkoism and numerous other ideological campaigns in mathematics, physics, sociology, linguistics et c. But that was not all. The Soviet state inherited from tsarist Russia a whole system of “bourgeois” scientific institutions, among them Academy of Science and about three hundred scientific societies. Unlike Academy, which was state-owned, those societies were voluntary non-governmental associations and were autonomous in their scientific, administrative, and membership policy. In tsarist Russia they played a key role in organization and support of scientific research but during first decades of the Soviet power these “bourgeois associations of scientists” lost their leading position and were transformed into an instrument of ideological control of science and scientists. The ways how it was done will be discussed in detail using extensive archival data.
Dmitry Khaminov
Regional Corporation of Soviet historians: society, state, authorities (the case of Siberia)
The relevance of the research is based on the fact that the historians, as a native carriers and translators of a special kind of knowledge – historical one, throughout the modern history, in all states and societies presented a specific scientific and educational corporation, different from other scientific and educational communities. This feature was caused by the fact that the history served as a special ideological and cultural repeater, was a specific sphere of social relations and the special direction of a state policy, thanks to which the succession of generations and the connection of time were carried out, was formed the historical consciousness of the individual, its civil and political identity, worldviews, feeling of patriotism (in the broadest sense of the term), moral values, etc.
During the study the author used the party and government policy and directory documents, all-union, regional and local regulations relating to the political and ideological issues and the organization of higher education and science. The local archive documents of Siberian national regions, such as reports on the work and records of meetings of university party organizations, academic institutions and their structural units, as well as local authorities (municipal and regional), became an important component of the source base.
The issues of policy towards national and territorial formations always occupied a special place in the Soviet state. The government faced the task of deep integration of the population of the Soviet Union national subjects through a set of different activities into a single social, economic and cultural space of the country. In particular, it was carried out through the development of history education (training of national cadres of historians at the local level) and science (the organization of historical research and study of the past of these regions). This allowed the Soviet government to integrate the population of national subjects into a single cultural and historical community of Soviet people. The policy of RSFSR in national subjects of Siberia since the 1930s and until the end of 1960s was aimed at the solution of such problems.
During the study the author used the party and government policy and directory documents, all-union, regional and local regulations relating to the political and ideological issues and the organization of higher education and science. The local archive documents of Siberian national regions, such as reports on the work and records of meetings of university party organizations, academic institutions and their structural units, as well as local authorities (municipal and regional), became an important component of the source base.
The author applied methodological approach, principal novelty of which is a synthesis of three research strategies: modernization theory, the concept of the “center-periphery relations”, and the concept of “internal colonization” of Siberia.
The article is written in the framework of the project “The University community of Western Siberia as the basis of the intellectual capital of the territory and the driver of the sociocultural and economic modernization of the country in the 19th-20th centuries” (Russian Fund for Basic Research, No. 18-39-20008)
Vasilii Mironov
The specifics of the development of geology in Soviet and post-Soviet universities.
The Article is written in the framework of the project “The University community of Western Siberia as the basis of the intellectual capital of the territory and the driver of the sociocultural and economic modernization of the country in the 19th-20th centuries” (Russian Fund for Basic Research, No. 18-39-20008)
Higher geological education in Siberia appeared in the early XX century in Tomsk technological Institute (now Tomsk Polytechnic University) and began training “Mining engineers-geologists.”[1]. Then in 1925 there was the first issue of “Geologists” from Tomsk state University. Despite the similarity of the educational programs of the two leading Tomsk universities, which today are training geologists, it is worth noting the fundamental difference between the graduates of TSU and TPU. This difference is important to consider in the General context of the development of Soviet and Russian Geology, as well as through the prism of changing the General “paradigm” of geological research in post-Soviet Russia.
The peculiarity of the Soviet approach to the study of the Earth is the presence of two types of closely related to each other and rapidly developing geological works: regional geological works and geological exploration (this type of work is also divided into search, exploration and exploitation of deposits). As A. Stavsky writes: “RGW [regional geological works – V. M.] are focused, first of all, on obtaining new knowledge about the subsoil, which can be used in geological exploration, and for other needs of the person, the state and society”[2, p. 5]. In other words, within the framework of regional works, a General and special study of the earth’s interior is carried out, and the result of these works was geological maps of different scales. Just for this type of geological work in the greater degree will be useful to graduates of the University with a research specialty “Geologist”, where the educational programme is more focused on the training of geologists for the regional works the geological surveys of the area, as well as the prediction of the most promising sites for prospecting and exploration of mineral deposits.
If the regional geological work is aimed most often at a General study of the geological structure, the geological exploration, as Stavsky writes, ” focused on solving a specific problem: to find, evaluate, and then explore and prepare for operation a mineral Deposit”[2, p. 5] Now for this type of work more suitable graduates “Mining engineers-geologists”, who studied the methods and approaches to work with mineral deposits.
In the framework of the Soviet system functioned effectively. However, by the end of the 1980s, geological maps of the territory of the Soviet Union of 1: 1000 000 and 1: 200 000 scales had already been made within the framework of regional geological works. The next stage in the development of regional geological works could be the construction of geological maps with a larger scale, for example, 1:50 000. However, in 1991 the USSR ceased to exist as a state, and Russia moved from a planned to a market economy. In the post-Soviet period there was a change of” economic paradigm”, which also affected Geology. The Soviet system of geological works, which was effective within the framework of the planned economy, could not become profitable in the system of market relations.
Changing the approach to geological research in Russia has the following reasons:
- Regional work is very expensive and in a market economy is not feasible in the short term.
- Conducted regional work in the USSR at the time of the 1990s was enough. All other geological work can be carried out by geological engineers
The sharp decline in demand in modern Russia for regional geological work, and as a consequence of the release of training of classical regional geologists, makes a review of the educational programs of geological specialties in classical universities of Russia in particular, such a University as TSU. In the new economic situation, the Bologna system with a set of elective disciplines allows the responsible student to enter the labor market more adapted to the economic realities than in the Soviet system in a market economy.
However, in addition to the need to change the approach to training, especially “geologists”, it is also necessary to take into account the main drawback of the “market” approach to geological works, which is carried out in modern Russia. This approach is to exploit the achievements of Soviet geologists without strategic long-term planning of regional geological works.
Conclusions
The General assessment of the situation of modern Russian universities in the country in comparison with Soviet Geology is as follows:
- in modern Russia, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, state funding for strategic regional work has sharply decreased, as the need for them has ceased to be acute due to the fact that the entire territory of the country in the Soviet period was studied well enough
- reducing the demand for geologists in the modern labor market, which are prepared in classical universities, such as TSU. This forces students of classical universities to change their specialization either in the process of training, choosing courses not on regional geological works, but on the search and exploration of mineral deposits, or after graduation from the University.
- the advantage of the modern approach to geological research is the saving of funds for regional work, the disadvantage is the loss of continuity of generations in the fundamental regional works, as well as the lack of strategic plans for the development of the geological service can cause big problems in the future
References
1) Boyarko, G. Yu, Goryukhin E. Y. polytechnic in search of solid minerals on Tomsk soil// news of Tomsk Polytechnic University. 2004. Vol. 307. No. 4. p. 179-186 2) Stavsky, A. P., the Alternative concept of regional geological work in Russia / Centre “Mineral” FGUNPP “Aerogeologiya”. – Moscow, March 2008 – p. 47
Sergei I. Fokin
Wladimir T. Schewiakoff – scientist, teacher, science organizer
Scientific career of well-known Russian protozoologist, Professor W. T. Shewiakoff (1859–1930) and his impact to the Russian system of high education are discussing. Не graduated from the Heidelberg University in 1889. In October 1893, the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg elected Dr. Schewiakoff laboratory assistant at the newly formed the Special Zoological Laboratory of the Academy. In spring 1894, Shewiakoff defended the Magister’s (PhD) thesis “On the Biology of Protozoa” in St. Petersburg and in the autumn of the same year he finally settled in Russia. In February of 1896 he defended in the Petersburg University the Doctor’s thesis “The Organization and Systematics of Infusoria Aspirotriha (Holotricha Auctorum)” and became the head of the Zootomical Cabinet. He completely reorganized student’s education in invertebrate zoology. Schewiakoff’s greatest innovation was establishment of practical lessons and “large special practicum” played a valuable role in the student’s personal education in the field. The Imperial Academy of Sciences elected Professor W. T. Shewiakoff its corresponding member in 1908. In 1911 Shewiakoff was appointed Vice-minister of the Ministry of People’s Education of Russia; and he held this post until 1917. He did much for improving education in Russia. He was one of the founders of the Imperial Women pedagogical institute (1903). The foundation of the Perm University (1916) was a personal merit of Professor W. T. Shewiakoff. Late in 1918, the scientist became professor of the Agricultural Institute in Omsk, also performing rector’s duties. In January 1920, Wladimir Timofeevitch was elected professor of the Irkutsk University. He took an active part in the foundation of the Medical faculty, where he was head of the Department of Medical Zoology and Parasitology. The importance of the scientific and administrative activity of Professor Shewiakoff for Russian science cannot be overestimated. He was one of the founders of the Russian protistological school. He introduced to Russian universities a system of teaching invertebrate zoology that trained a constellation of eminent scientists at the end of the XIX — the beginning of XX centuries.
Mikhail Gribovskiy
The “Third Role” of Universities of the XIX – вeginning of the XX сentury: Realization of the Social Mission in Imperial Russia
The focus of this research project is the problem of the implementation by Russian universities throughout the imperial period of their social functions that went beyond the framework of science and education.
Modern concepts of the university suggest going beyond the boundaries of the classical two-dimensional model of ideas about the university, including educational activities and scientific research.
A university is more than a place of study. Not even the most advanced university is a complex social institution that is included in the system of social relations, operating on the basis of social laws. Therefore, it is unacceptable simplification to consider it solely as a place of education. The same can be said about the scientific component of the university: for all its importance and intrinsic value, together with education it does not determine the essence of the university.
Increasingly, the question arises of the need to expand ideas about the sphere of activity of universities at the expense of the “third role”, that is, its impact on the city, region, and local community.
There are many definitions and ideas about the content of the “third role” of the university, but summing up the various approaches, this concept can be reduced to the following points:
- Transfer of technology by University. In this regard, the “third role” derives from one of the two “first roles” of the university – research, and involves the movement of ideas, inventions, practices, technologies derived from university research into a non-academic environment, where this can lead to social and commercial effect.
- Education. It is also associated with one of the two “first roles” of the university, but it does not concern the teaching of students in basic educational programs, but involves the training of representatives of local communities throughout their lives in order to improve knowledge, skills and competencies;
- Social contribution to regional development. This item involves the cooperation of the university through knowledge and resources with the public and private sectors of the economy to enhance research and creative activities, improve curricula, educational process and education, graduate and educated socially active citizens, strengthen democratic values and civic responsibility, solve social problems and good.
The author will identify specific forms of implementation by universities of social functions in the imperial period (XIX – beginning of the XX century), make conclusions about the applicability of the concept of the “third role” of universities to the realities of pre-revolutionary Russia.
The article is written in the framework of the project “The University community of Western Siberia as the basis of the intellectual capital of the territory and the driver of the sociocultural and economic modernization of the country in the 19th-20th centuries” (Russian Fund for Basic Research, No. 18-39-20008)
Alexander Sorokin
University model of development of science on the example of Tomsk universities in the Soviet period
Universities are currently entering the era of qualitative transformation of both research and educational processes as well as management system and the content of academic professional activities. Under these conditions, the intellectual potential of a university professor becomes an important cultural capital, and universities, as institutions that facilitate its accumulation reproduction, are key factors of high competitiveness of state and society.
It is important to note that, most of research dealing with universities focus on the West. Thus non-Western practices, including Russia, of higher education management are ignored. Rare exceptions of studies on Africa, Korea and China (see, eg: Balzer and Askonas 2016; Dezhina 2016) demonstrate that special attention should be paid to ways of how science and innovations are organized that differ regionally and globally.
Tomsk and Siberia as a whole, being poorly developed industrially, were the macro-region of the Russian state, the place where the traditional structure and the extensive economy prevailed. They have being showed a slow socio-economic and cultural development for a long time. Here from the end of the XIX century the qualitative changes began from such “megaprojects” of its time as the foundation of the first Empire Tomsk University in the Asian part of the country and the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. The Stolypin agrarian reform also gave impetus to the development of Siberia. In the Soviet period, industrial development of Siberia continued. It became one of the objects of the industrial leap of the 1930s, as well as the development of the oil and gas complex in the 1960s – 1980s. The universities of Tomsk turned out to be included in the implementation of a large-scale project for the development of the Ural-Kuznetsk complex, which posed many applied scientific and technological tasks for universities. At the same time, due to the specifics of their development, universities were involved in the implementation of the Ural-Kuzbass coal basin and other industrial projects of the 20th century in several ways: training of personnel for the new industries, examining and consulting of industrial enterprises, educational and cultural and ideological activities in the enterprises.
The report will be devoted to the analysis and identification of the role of university models of the organization of science and higher education in strengthening the intellectual capital of Western Siberia and adjacent territories in the 20th century, on the example of the Tomsk University Complex.
Acknowledgements
The article is written in the framework of the project “The University community of Western Siberia as the basis of the intellectual capital of the territory and the driver of the sociocultural and economic modernization of the country in the 19th-20th centuries” (Russian Fund for Basic Research, No. 18-39-20008); the project “University and intellectual capital: historical experience and answers to the challenges of modern Tomsk University complex in XX-XXI centuries” (Russian Fund for Basic Research, No. 18-49-703004); the project “Youth vector of development of science, education and innovation and its contribution to the development of intellectual capital of Western Siberia, domestic and world science, socio – cultural and economic modernization of the country in the XX-early XXI centuries” (Grant of the President of the Russian Federation for state support of young scientists and leading scientific schools of the Russian Federation No. МК-2268.2018.6).