Zhukovskaya, T. N. CAPITAL CITY AND UNIVERSITY: FORMS OF PUBLICITY AND THE SYSTEM OF INTERACTION IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE XIX CENTURY. Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2022;44(8):50–56. DOI: 10.15393/uchz.art.2022.834


Russian history

CAPITAL CITY AND UNIVERSITY: FORMS OF PUBLICITY AND THE SYSTEM OF INTERACTION IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE XIX CENTURY

Zhukovskaya
T. N. 		St.-Petersburg Institute of History RAS
Keywords:
history of St. Petersburg University
university commemorations
university connections
history of everyday life
history of St. Petersburg
urban studies		 Summary: The study presents and structures insufficiently studied forms of interaction of the pre-reform university as an institution and as a community with the external environment on the example of St. Petersburg University. The documents of departmental and university archives and other sources reflect the administrative, social, cultural contacts of the university corporation with city residents and at the same time communications of the university as an institution with the city authorities and the higher administration. Comparative historical observations show that at the beginning of the XIX century, the university existed in a fairly closed space both geographically and socially, which gave rise to the problem of recruiting students capable of taking a course of sciences. With the development of teaching, the university became a center of attraction for noble youth who wanted to make an official career, social ties and public influence of professors are expanding. Such forms of publicity as open lectures and debates, participation of professors in the work of other educational institutions, membership in scientific societies and Academies of Sciences, teaching to representatives of the royal family, as well as annual solemn acts and other university commemorations, turned the university into an influential actor on the cultural and political map of the imperial capital. Of great importance was the university’s participation in the management of the schools of the capital’s educational circle, their inspection, accumulation of school reports, distribution of graduates to teacher vacancies, who turned into university agents in provincial centers. In the system of bureaucratic management, the university acquired the role of an expert thanks to the system of licensing the knowledge of officials who wanted to receive the rank of VIII class. The capital University conducted more extensive activities in this direction than other universities, which is reflected in the number of certificates issued to them and tests conducted. The participation of professors in the work of departmental commissions, departments of the Ministry of Public Education, the censorship of books and magazines, the publication of textbooks, including for secondary schools, also contributed to strengthening the reputation of the university.



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