History

Profession

Ancient authors began to systematize knowledge about peoples and their past, compare and signle out common features in their development, and formulate patterns. Everything is interconnected in the historical process, so a historian must be able to identify the cause-effect links of events. The phenomena and contradictions of the modern world have their origins in the past. Cicero said: “History is the teacher of life.” A bachelor in history knows and can explain the past, which is necessary to understand the present and be able to predict the future anticipating possible mistakes.
A historian knows how to reveal the reliable facts of history; understand why, how and what for they happened; analyze what results and consequences they entailed, how they influenced people's lives and further development of society. Therefore, a historian is necessarily an analyst who knows how to detect patterns. Graduates are able to identify reliable facts from sources which can be material artifacts (tools, household items, housing, clothing, etc.), written sources, oral folklore. Historians master modern methods of historical research and information technology, ancient and foreign languages in the learning process.

Educational Process

Bachelor’s programme 46.03.01 “History” includes compulsory and elective disciplines.
30 compulsory disciplines lay the foundation of the profession: History of Primitive Society, Archaeology and Ethnology, History of Ancient East and Antiquity, History of Culture, History of Religions, History of Europe and America (by periods), etc. History of Russia is studied in depth by epochs and problems: History of Ancient Russia, History of Medieval Russia, History of Russia in 18 — early 21 centuries. Traditionally, History of Asian, African and Latin American Countries (by periods), History and Culture of Traditional Societies and Modernization Processes are studied in detail. As a result, a universal specialist well versed in the world historical process and the characteristics of historical epochs and civilizations, who knows the history of regions and individual countries is trained.
The student's specialization consists of elective disciplines (about 30) and is linked, first of all, to their research interests and the languages studied. Thus, the student's training path is formed in one of the following areas: History of Primitive Society, Ancient World, Ethnology; History of Europe and North America; History of Asia, Africa and Latin America; History of Ancient Russia and Medieval Russia; Modern and Contemporary History of Russia; History of Russian Culture in 10-20 centuries; Source Study and Research Methods.
History students study Western languages (English, French, Spanish, German); Oriental languages (Arabic, Chinese, Farsi); Latin. This not only activates communication, but also expands the possibilities of research, study of a wide variety of sources and scientific literature.

Practice

One of the most important characteristics of the learning process is its practice-oriented focus. Disciplines that form students' practical skills in working with a text, a source, teach them to professionally build, write and design a study, express their thoughts competently and reasonably (orally and in writing), speak to an audience, and lead a discussion: Methods of Writing Academic Papers, Source Study, Methods of Scientific Research, Archives in Scientific Research, Computer in Historical Research, etc.
Applying knowledge in practice, internships, language and field-oriented internships are of great importance. An archaeological on-site internship is one of the most unforgettable events in the student life (Moscow and Moscow Region, Krasnodar Territory, Republic of Tyva, France, Italy, etc.). Teaching internships take place in Moscow schools, where students can apply not only their professional and historical knowledge, but also communication, educational and organizational competencies. Archival internships take place in the archives of research institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts, State Historical Museum, where students have a unique opportunity to literally “touch history” — historical documents — living witnesses of eras (chronicles, letters, diaries, manuscripts and etc.). Language internships: Egyptian-Russian University (Egypt), Jordan University (Amman, Jordan), Shandong University, Xi'an University, Xiamen University, Weihai (PRC), Dublin School of English (Ireland), Inbispania (Madrid, Spain)). Inclusive study programmes: University of the Balearic Islands (Palma de Mallorca, Spain), University of Pierre Mendes France (Grenoble, France).
History students are actively engaged in research work: they publish articles, participate in the activities of scientific student societies, speak at scientific conferences, and are involved in research grants.

Career

After successfully mastering the educational programme, a graduate can work not only in academic science and education (to be a researcher, teacher at school), but also to carry out the activities of an expert (depending on the specialization area), analyst, manager, creative media employee (journalist, international columnist, specialist in intercultural interaction and PR), public employee, specialist in historical, cultural and educational tourism, museum and archival worker.