THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITOLOGY AND THE STUDY OF UNIVERSITY HISTORY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN RUSSIAN SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

Modern information society faces the relevant problems of development and improvement of university education. Thus, the appearance of special branch of social sciences and humanities - universitology - seems to be quite consistent. The subject field of this branch shows an interdisciplinary synthesis of university history, problems of higher education pedagogy, a socio-cultural approach, the formation of legal research, the study of sociological and psychological issues, and so on. The aim ofthis study is to analyze the interdisciplinary nature of universitology since it allows highlighting its role in the development of the modern system of higher education in Russia, as well as to develop practical recommendations for conducting research on the history of Russian universities. The research is of an interdisciplinary integrative character that considers the modern model of a Russian university as the center of the 'university space'. This broad methodological term includes institutional, anthropological, and socio-cultural approaches. This study also analyzes the widely used 'oral history' method, which has formed a significant database of retrospective interviews and other oral history sources. The authors study the practical research in universitology that has already been formed in Russia and abroad. The prospects for the development of this branch of socio-cultural knowledge and its current demand indicate further institutionalization of universitology. An integral feature of this process is finding new thematic blocks (legal, pedagogical and philosophic branches of universitology) and the introduction of new concepts ('university need'). The databases of oral and historical sources have been created, and evidence of university students has been recorded. The use of new research approaches would allow creating interdisciplinary works based on systematic, integrated approaches that can form a broad retrospect of the entire system of modern Russian universities. Based on the systematic experience of conducting research in the history of Russian universities, the authors propose their own conceptual methodology with a description of separate stages of work. The research results can be used in preparing commemorative publications devoted to the history of Russian universities. In addition, they have educational potential. The involvement of student volunteers in interviews cultivates a sense of belonging to the university corporation in them. At the same time, the authors argue sticking to the interdisciplinary character of such research, which would eventually go beyond the official 'commissioned' memorial publications.