History

Faculty of History

Dean: Professor Sergei P. Karpov
International Students Office: phone: +7-095-939-5610, -939-3566, fax: +7-095-939-2390
EMail: faculty@hist.msu.ru
WWW: http://www.hist.msu.ru

General Information

Faculty of History is one of Russia’s major centres for History teaching and research. The Faculty’s academic traditions have taken shape over centuries. As such, it exerts a significant influence on the nation’s historical sensibility and culture.

Departments

  • History of Russia to 1800
  • History of Russia in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries
  • History of the Soviet Union and Contemporary Russian History
  • Source Study in Russian and Soviet History
  • History of Social Movements and Political Parties in Russia
  • History of the Ancient World
  • History of the Middle Ages
  • Modern and Contemporary History of Europe and America
  • History of the Southern and Western Slavs
  • Archaeology
  • Ethnology
  • History of World Art
  • History of Russian and Soviet Art

Laboratories and Centres

  • History of Russian Culture
  • History of Interethnic Relations and Nationality Policy in Russia
  • History of the USA
  • History of Byzantium and the Black Sea Area
  • Archaeography
  • Information Studies in History
  • Metallorgaphic and Spectral Analysis
  • Center for Theoretical Problems in History
  • Center for Research and Training in Applied Ethnology
  • The Faculty maintains the research museum of Archaeology and Ethnography.

Bachelour and Master Degrees

5 years full time

Directions

  • History of Russia
  • World History
  • History of Social Movements and Political Parties in Russia
  • Archaeology, Ethnology, History of Art
  • Russian Historiography and Source Study

General Courses

  • Fundamentals of Archaeology
  • Fundamentals of Ethnology
  • History of Primitive Society
  • Ancient History of the Oriental Civilizations
  • History of Ancient Greece
  • History of Ancient Rome
  • History of Russia to 1800
  • History of West European Art
  • History of Russian Art
  • Philosophy
  • History of the Middle Ages
  • History of Russia in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries
  • History of Asia and Africa in the Middle Ages
  • History of Philosophy
  • Economic Theory
  • Quantitative Methods in Historical Research
  • Information Science and Mathematics
  • History of Russia and the Soviet Union in the 20th Century
  • Modern History of Europe and America
  • Modern History of Asia and Africa
  • Source Study
  • Modern History of Europe and America
  • History of the Southern and Western Slavs
  • Modern History of Asia and Africa
  • Historiography
  • Problems of Method in Historical Research

Courses in Speciality

History of Russia

  • History of Russian Culture
  • Historical Geography
  • Archive Science
  • Paleography
  • Old-Russian Language (for students of Russia prior to 1800)
  • Reference Facilities for the Study of Russian and Soviet History

Elective Courses

  • The State of Genghis Khan and His Descendents: The Golden Horde and Its Successors St. Vladimir and His Era
  • Old Russian Book Culture
  • Old Russian Painting: Methods of Analysis and Interpretation
  • The Manuscript and the Printed Book
  • Historical Events as Reflected in the Architectural Relics of the 11th through the 18th Century
  • Church and State in the 17th Century
  • The Oprichnina of Ivan IV
  • Absolutism and the Russian Merchant Estate in the Second Quarter of the 18th Century
  • The Age of Enlightenment: 18th Century Russia
  • Problems of the Genesis of Capitalism in the 17th and 18th Centuries
  • Russian Government Policy in the Caucasus and Central Asia in the 19th Century
  • Russia in the Context of International Relations from the Napoleonic Wars to the European Revolutions of 1830-31
  • The Balkans and the Straits in Late 19th Century Russian Foreign Policy
  • The Formation of the Territory of the Russian Empire
  • The Orthodox Church in Russia in the Late 19th Century and Early 20th Absolutism in Russia
  • Liberalism in Russia, 1762-1861
  • Government Policy towards the Press in the Late 19th Century and Early 20th
  • Autocracy in Struggle with the Revolutionary Movement in the Late 19th Century and Early 20th
  • The Eastern Question in Russian Foreign Policy in the First Half of the 19th Century
  • The Socialist Revolutionaries: Myths and Realities
  • The Agrarian and Peasant Questions in the Programs of Russian Political Parties in the Period of the Revolution of 1905-07
  • Foreign Capital in Russia: Russian and Foreign Research, Methods of Study, and Contemporary Implications Entrepreneurship in Russia: Contemporary Practice and Historical Tradition
  • The Russian Socio-Economic Tradition in the Light of Social Psychology
  • Idols and Leaders in 1917 in the Mirror of the Contemporary Press
  • How the Village Has Managed Its Affairs for the Last Hundred Years
  • Interethnic Relations in the USSR
  • Nationality Problems of the USSR in Emigre and Dissident Writings
  • The War of 1941-1945
  • The History of Russian and Soviet Constitutions
  • Moscow in the 20th Century
  • Soviet and Foreign Historiography of the October Revolution
  • An Introduction to Foreign Historiography on the Soviet Period
  • The Russian Emigration
  • Russia and the Independent Soviet Republics in Foreign Policy, 1918-1922
  • The USSR, Russia and the UN
  • The Political History of Russia, 1990-1995

World History

  • Source Study
  • Historiography
  • Historical Geography
  • Cultural History (various periods)
  • Auxillary Historical Disciplines
  • Greek Epigraphy
  • Roman Epigraphy
  • Akkadian
  • Old Egyptian
  • Ancient Chinese
  • Sanscrit
  • Mayan Inscriptions
  • Latin
  • Ancient Greek
  • Latin and Greek Paleography
  • History and Theory of International Relations
  • The Rise and Development of the System of International Relations
  • Fundamentals of Political Science
  • History of Political Theory
  • Slavic Paleography
  • Economic Geography
  • Slavic and Other Foreign Languages
  • Area Studies

History of the Ancient World

  • Introduction to Egyptology
  • Fundamental Problems of Ancient Chinese Civilization
  • Literature of the Ancient Orient
  • Aristotle’s Theory of the Coup de Etat of States
  • The Mode of Life of a Greek Citizen According to Aristotle and Xenophon
  • Fundamental Problems of Ancient Indian History
  • The Class, Status and Political Structure of Roman Citizenship the Late Republican Period
  • Classical Roman Slavery as a Socio-Economic System
  • The History of Ancient Culture
  • Fundamentals of Roman Private Law
  • Sources of Roman Law
  • The Rome of the First Tsars
  • The Ancient Roman as Man and Citizen
  • Christianity in the First Three Centuries of the Common Era
  • Roman Land Law in the First Three Centuries of the Common Era

Medieval History

  • An Introduction to Byzantine Studies
  • The Crusader States in the East
  • The System of Estates and Monarchy in France
  • Political and State Institutions of Medieval Europe: Comparison of Western Europe and Russia
  • Problems of the Socio-economic History of Southern France
  • The History of the Reformation and Absolutism in France
  • The Habsburg Monarchy in the Context of International Relations
  • Italian Colonization of the Black Sea Area in the 13th Century through the 15th
  • Italian Humanism in the Era of the Renaissance
  • Problems in the History of Medieval Scandinavia
  • The Civilization of the Pyrennees: Symbiosis or Synthesis?
  • The English Parliament of the Tudor Era
  • Problems of Socio-economic Development in England in the Medieval and Early Modern Periods

Modern and Contemporary History of Europe and America

  • Pending Problems of the French Revolution
  • The Foreign Policy of France, 1815-1848
  • The Political System of the Fifth Republic
  • Ideology in England in the Age of Enlightenment
  • The First International in England
  • British Economic Policy in the 1820s and 1830s
  • Problems of Colonialism in English History
  • The Enlightenment in Italy
  • Problems in the History of Revolutionary Marxism
  • The Ostpolitik of the Federal Republic of Germany
  • The Genesis and Ideology of German Fascism
  • Ethnic and Regional Problems in Spain, 1940-1990
  • Spanish Culture of the 16th and 17th Centuries
  • American Policy in Central America and the Caribbean
  • The Revolutionary Process in Latin America
  • The History of International Relations in the Modern Era
  • Crisis and Conflict in the History of International Relations
  • The State and the Economy in the Twentieth Century

History of the Southern and Western Slavs

  • International Relations in the Balkans
  • The Bulgarian National Revival
  • The History of Social and Political Thought in Serbia in the Second Half of the 19th Century
  • History of the Slavic Baroque: Humanism and the Counter-reformation
  • Serbian-Russian Relations in the Late 19th Century and Early 20th
  • The Yugoslavian Crisis of the 1980s-1990s
  • Catholicism and Orthodoxy in the Polish State and the Slavic World in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
  • The Culture and National Self-consciousness of the Slavic Peoples of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the End of the 19th Century and the Beginning of 20th
  • The Ideological Development of the Polish Peasant Movement in the Interwar Period
  • The History of Slavic Studies in Russia and the USSR

History of Social Movements and Political Parties in Russia

  • The Historiography of Political Parties
  • Sources of the History of Political Parties in Russia
  • An Introduction to Comparative Historical Political Science
  • Public Opinion and Political Culture in Russia in the 19th and 20th Centuries
  • The History of the Development of Science and Technology in Russia and the USSR (Socio-political and Economic Aspects)
  • The History of the Programme of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers Party
  • The History of Russian Social and Political Thought, 1917-1945
  • Parties and Organizations in Society’s Political System: History and Contemporary Aspects
  • The History of the “Comintern”
  • The Political Doctrines of Russian Liberalism
  • Ethnic Issues in the Political Life of Russia
  • Youth Movements in Russia
  • Economic Problems in the Programs of Political Parties in Contemporary Russia

Archaeology

  • Field Archaeology
  • Scientific Methods in Archaeology
  • History of Archaeology
  • Methods of Archaeological Typology
  • The Stone Age
  • The Neolithic and Bronze Ages
  • The Iron Age
  • Archaeology of the Ancient World
  • Archaeology of Ancient Rus

Elective Courses

  • Archaeology of Ancient Russian Towns
  • The Archaeology of Siberia
  • Stone-age Tombs
  • Habitations of the Upper Paleolithic Period
  • Ancient Scandinavia and the Wider World in the 9th – 11th Centuries
  • Burial Mounds of Ancient Rus
  • The Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages in the Southwest of the CIS
  • Metallorgaphy in Archaeology
  • The Application of Statistical Methods to Archaeology
  • Muslim Archaeology
  • Ancient Glass
  • The History of Production in Antiquity
  • Russian Sphragistics
  • Specialized courses on Scythian themes
  • Archaeology of Moscow
  • Ancient Cultures of the South-Russian Steppe
  • History of Primitive Ceramic Production
  • Medieval Finno-Ugric Archaeology

The departmental research and teaching seminars: Novgorod, Smolensk, Scythian-Sarmatian, the History of Antiquity Production, and the Morphology of Ancient Arteifacts.

Ethnology

  • Methods of Ethnology
  • Problems of Ethnology
  • Peoples of Russia and Neighbouring Nations Ethnodemographics
  • Economic and Cultural Types and Historico-ethnographic Regions
  • History of Social Organization in Pre-class Societies
  • Culture and Social Structure of Traditional Societies
  • Problems of Cultural Anthropology
  • Ethnography of Foreign Peoples: Asia, Europe, America, Africa, Australia and Oceania
  • Theoretical Ethnology
  • Religions of the Peoples of the World

Main Elective Courses

  • The Contemporary Family Among the Peoples of Russia and Neighbouring Nations
  • Ethnocultural Processes in Modern Times and Today
  • Everyday Islam
  • Cossacks Past and Present
  • Ethnic Self-consciousness and Culture of the Peoples of the World

The Department maintains the Centre for research and training in Applied Ethnology.Undergraduates study Methods of Sociological Investigation, Methods of Estimation (as applied to Ethnological Prediction), Problems of Applied Ethnology, Fundamentals of Ethnosociology and Political Science Aspects of Ethnology, among others subjects.

Art History

  • Ancient Russian Art
  • Russian Art of the 18th Century
  • Russian Art in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries
  • 20th Century Russian and Soviet Art
  • Russian Art Criticism
  • Techniques of Restoration

Elective Courses

  • Russian Architecture between the Medieval and the Modern
  • Novgorodian Architecture of the 14th and 15th Centuries
  • Russian Architecture at the Turn of the 20th Century
  • The Gothic in Russian Architecture of the 18th and 19th Centuries
  • Modern and Eclectic Architecture
  • Restoration of Tempera Paintings
  • Interactions between Russian and West European Art in the 18th Century
  • Fundamentals of Attribution and Iconographics with Respect to Russian Art of the 18th Century
  • Art and Culture of the Russian Feudal Estate in the 18th and 19th Centuries
  • Landscape Architecture of Russian Parks of the 18th Century
  • Paintings of the Russian Avant-garde
  • Artistic Life in Russia in the Late 19th Century and Early 20th
  • The Creations of Contemporary Moscow Artists
  • Problems of Succession in Contemporary Soviet Art
  • Russian and Soviet Stage Design
  • Costume in Russian Painting of the 18th and 19th Centuries
  • Problems of Research on Russian Buildings

History of World Art

  • Methods in the Art Studies
  • Art Theory
  • Description and Analysis of Art and Architecture

In addition, the Department offers a series of courses on the History of Foreign Art embracing all phases of world culture from primitive art to the present day, for example: “Art of the Ancient Orient, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome”; “Early Christian Art”; “Byzantine Art”; “Art of India and the Far East”; “Renaissance Art”; “West European Art of the Baroque and Classical Periods”.

Specialised Courses

  • Culture and Art of the Ancient World
  • Restoration of Paintings
  • West European and Russian Applied and Decorative Arts from the Late 17th Century to the 20th European Ceramics and Glass from the Renaissance to the Modern Age
  • Collection and Formation of European Painting in Russia, 18th to 20th Centuries
  • History and Theory of Architectural Restoration
  • Conception of the Mosque: Sources and Evolution of an Architectural Form
  • Typology and Iconographics in the Architecture of the Mediterranean and Transcaucasia in the Early Middle Ages
  • The Art of Ancient Khersonesos and Its Area
  • The Comparative Study of Buddhist Art of India and the Far East
  • The World of the Artist in the Italian Renaissance
  • Foreign Art of the 19th and 20th Centuries
  • Problems of Kitsch and Mass Culture in 20th Century Art

Master Degree

2 years full time

Directions

* History of Russia * World History * History of Social Movements and Political Parties in Russia * Archaeology * Ethnology * Art History * Russian and Soviet Historiography and Source Study

Individual curriculum for each student

PhD Degree

3 years full time

Specialities

  • History of Russia
  • World History
  • Source Study and Historiography
  • Archeology
  • Ethnography
  • Art History
  • History and Theory of Political Science
  • Ideology and Political Culture