History education in the universities of the Lower Volga region in 1945-1991

In the period under review training historians was carried out in accordance with the directives of the state and the Communist Party. The content of higher education in the USSR was determined by model curriculum developed and approved by the Ministry of Higher Education. Curriculum for specialty "History" in 1947 was designed for four-year training. The block of socio-political subjects was quite extensive. Through the mandatory study of Marxist disciplines, the authorities pursued the policy of indoctrination and politicization of society. Thus, they achieved the goal of educating a person loyal to the communist ideals, handling all the multi-dimensionality of history through the prism of just one scientific method of Marxism-Leninism. The course of foreign history had about twice more hours than the one of national history, which, in general, was typical of the academic tradition of higher education before the revolution. Stalinist government restored the basic pre-revolutionary forms of education in 1930 and formally continued to adhere to the old scheme and periodization of the history, and the ratio of hours on domestic and foreign history. In 1955, the curricula and programs were revised taking into account the new list of specialties. This event was aimed at reducing the multidisciplinarity, transfer of some compulsory subjects to the optional block, reduction of the number of hours for classes and exams, increase of the time for students' self-study. In the Lower Volga universities, the evolution of training historians followed the above mentioned trends. The History Faculty of Saratov State University survived another reorganization in connection with the adoption of its decision to merge with the History Faculty of the Pedagogical Institute in 1955. Since 1956, all faculties had a five-year period of study. The History Faculty had one day a week completely free for independent work. In the postwar period, students supervised by professors continue research work. At the scientific conference of professors of Stalingrad universities held on March 10th and 11th, 1959, Director of Stalingrad Pedagogical Institute Drozdov said in his report that professors are active in organizing and managing research circles. The idea of connection between school and life determining the priorities of the state educational policy in the Law "On organization of connection between school and life, and further development of the public education system in the USSR", was adopted by universities in the Lower Volga region and was directly reflected in the organization of the whole educational process. Centralization of education management, on the one hand, helped to maintain a unified educational space, on the other, it essentially limited the autonomy of universities.

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