Faculty of History

Dean: Prof. Sergey P. Karpov

The Faculty of History is a leader of historical education in Russia. The faculty provides its graduates with a broad view of history both geographically and chronologically ? from the history of the Americas and Europe to the history of mankind as a whole. There are seventeen departments and 300 faculty members ensuring high quality instruction for our students. The faculty, counting Solov?ev and Klyuchevsky, Tikhomirov and Rybakov among its former members, attaches great importance to the notions of school and tradition. The cornerstone, in our view, is classical university education, but we are also open to various modern trends. Our faculty has five divisions with a wide range of specializations.

The Division of History is the oldest and, in the proper sense of the word, classical. Besides general compulsory courses on the history of various countries and epochs, starting from their third year our students have an opportunity to choose their specific areas of interest from among archeology, ethnology, pre-19th century Russian history, Russian history of the 19th century, Russian history of the 20th and 21st centuries, Russian history source studies, ancient history, Southern and Western Slavic history, the history of the Modern Ages, the modern and contemporary history of European and American countries, the history of social movements and political parties in Russia and the CIS countries. We also have laboratories doing research on the history of Russian culture, the history of international relations and national politics, the history of the United States, the history of Byzantium and the Black Sea Region in the Middle Ages, archeography. The curriculum includes basic compulsory courses, such as World and Russian history, the history of arts, foreign languages, Latin, etc. Students can choose from a wide variety of special elective courses, according to their major areas of interest.

The Division of the History of Art is the Division of History, gives classical education; it is the oldest and highly respected among the departments of its kind. Our students study the fine arts and architecture of many different styles, countries and epochs. We provide courses covering all aspects of the fine arts ? from the art of the Ancient World to the modern art of non-conformists; there are courses ? The Castles of France?, ?Life of English manor?, ? The History of European jewelry?, ? The Soviet underground art of the 1960-80s?, to name just a few.

The Division of the History of International Relations rains historians of international relations and political analysts. The curriculum includes a full set of relevant disciplines, namely, the history and theory of international relations, the history of diplomacy, the basics of international law, international organizations and many others. A special stress is on modern language learning for graduates to be fluent in two European languages. Our students have their field placements and externships at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Students enrolling in this division are to pay tuition fees.

The Division of Historical and Cultural Tourism trains specialists for such an upcoming sector of modern entrepreneurship as travel industry. Our students study historical and cultural resources in Russia and abroad, the organization of tours, museum and exhibition management, linguistic support of tourism, legal aspects of tourism, the economy and management of tourism business and many other disciplines. Lectures to our tourism students are delivered by representatives of the leading Russian tour operators. While teaching modern languages, a special stress is on graduates? fluency. Students have their field placements and externships in various travel agencies. Students enrolling in this division are to pay tuition fees.

The Division of Politology was opened in 2009, but our faculty has 10-year experience of teaching politology as one of major specializations. The division trains politologists. Students study both the theory of politology and its practice in the past and at present. Our faculty?s resources and its unique experience in teaching cross-cultural and linguistic subjects allow us to train analysts specializing not only in the political history and development of Russia, but of European and American countries as well.

Students enrolling in this division are to pay tuition fees.

Whatever the division or specialization students may choose, they acquire the breadth of vision and cultural competency. Our students deal with all periods of human history, from pre-historic times to yesterday, and with all its aspects, namely, economy, politics, culture, etc.

Students of the Faculty of History have appropriate field placements and externships at archeological excavation sites, in museums, archives and libraries , etc.

We also offer additional elective courses in economics and psychology, courses on historical and cultural monuments, on the history of Russian and foreign art, with demonstration of visual materials, visits to museums, excursions. There is a department of historical informatics, a telecommunications laboratory, three computer classrooms with Internet access, well-equipped for IT courses. The stress on effective foreign language teaching in our curriculum makes our graduate fluent speakers of one or more of modern languages.

Graduates are conferred the qualification ?historian, teacher?, identifying their major specialization, as, for example, ?history of international relations?, ?historical and cultural tourism?, ?historical politology?, ?ethnology?, ?archeology?, etc. The qualification ?art historian? is awarded to those majoring in ?history of art?.

Liberal arts education our students receive provides them with comprehensive knowledge that opens the doors of opportunity to a wide variety of careers. About a third of our graduates become scholars and instructors at institutions of higher education, others work in public administration, various foundations, businesses, in the media and PR.

Full-time undergraduate program is completed in 5 years.

Part-time evening program is completed in 6 years.