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Influence of the local sociocultural and academic environment to research and educational practice of historical students of the Moscow and St. Petersburg Universities in 80s - early 90s of XIX century

28.01.2004, 14:06

This project is the part of a bigger research project of the author and aimed to the detailed consideration of academic and cultural life of two particular Russian student societies representing different cultural codes and analysis of the reasons of difference.
Methodologically the project is based on comparative approach suggested by French School of Annales and includes two levels - first, exposition of criteria differing the subjects of research from each other, and second, interpretation the criteria taking into consideration the maximum of factors affected the process of their formation, mental and cultural ones first of all.
Chronological limits of the project embrace the period from eighties to early nineties of the XIX century. It was the time when students community in general was alienated from social and political life of the country and concerned mainly with studying, research and all sorts of leisure activities. The period of "political deprivation" is the most convenient to view the university students as the objects of cultural life, including analysis of diverse organizational forms of academic and educational practice, represented in various research and literary societies, hobby groups etc.
The source background of the project consists of numerous documents of personal origin (memoirs and diaries of students and faculty members - P.N. Milyukov, A.A. Kizevetter, N.I. Kareev, Yu.V. Got'e, M.M. Bogoslovsky, A.F. Kerensky and many others), articles and personal materials from periodicals ("Istoricheskii Vestnik" [Historical Bulletin], Journal of Ministry of Public Education), documents from the archives (the Central State Historical Archive in St. Petersburg, Collection ? 14, Holdings on St. Petersburg Emperor University)
According to the methodology stated above, there were chosen two students societies which might be considered as typical subjects of academic life in the capital (major) cities - the Student Research Society of P.G. Vinogradoff at the Moscow State University and the Student Literary Society of O.F. Miller in St. Petersburg). In general, the project approaches the problem from two complimentary angles:
1) to explore the influence of the local social and cultural environment to the university communities in Moscow and St. Petersburg and analyze the relationship between "the city" and " the university" and its qualitative parameters). In Moscow the relations between the city and the university community were marked by strong cultural opposition and controversy. In eighties and early nineties of the XIX century the image of Moscow was still based on rigid class and estate principles and traditional values, which had survived the reforms of sixties and seventies. The university, with its ideals of supremacy of education and personality before the social status, was virtually alienated from the city and its life. In these circumstances, the Moscow university community was deeply concerned with maintaining their identity both on personal and academic levels - the factor that explains the peculiar image of the Moscow professorate and persistence of Moscow's reputation as the academic capital of Russia.
On the contrary, the St. Petersburg University was deeply connected with the city as both of them were simultaneous products of European culture. Being accepted and naturally assimilated in the city atmosphere, the St. Petersburg professorate had no reasons to take care too much of proving their identity
2) to study the inner university atmosphere in both cities and the way it influenced the student societies (relations with faculty and professors, relations between students). The peculiarities of the cities affected deeply the way the students of history departments perceived the faculty.
In Moscow these perceptions were characterized by admiration, deference, absence of criticism and putting some of the most outstanding professors (V.O. Kluchevsky, V.I. Gerie, P.G. Vinogradoff and others) to the position of "the idols of the audience". This, in its turn, determined the peculiarities of student research and academic life - as a rule, historical societies organized by the students of the Moscow State University did not have wide membership, being almost exclusively limited with students of Department of History and Philology or even particular sub-departments. Very often the core of the society was particular professor or assistant professor, the most popular and respected one, who was able to bring the members together with common research problem or idea. Personal relations within the society were informal and very stable, being maintained even after the graduation.
In the St. Petersburg University the perception of the faculty by the students of History Department was different from Moscow. There also were a lot of imminent professors in the faculty (S.F. Platonov, N.I. Kareev, O.F. Miller, I.M. Grievs and others) but the students' vision of the university corporation was more critical and definitely without pathetic admiration. Like Moscow, the student research societies usually emerged around particular professor, but they were less stable in their inner structure and more open for students from other departments. Due to this motley membership the St. Petersburg student societies were not as private and narrow research profiled as the Moscow ones but obviously more formalized and established, being prone to creating all sorts of statutes, inner regulations and hierarchy.