On September 18-23, 2017 the academic staff of History and Tourism Department of Polotsk State University – a PhD in History, an associate professor A. Korsak, a senior teacher Y. Kezha and a teacher V. Baranenko – including 38 representatives from different universities of the Republic of Belarus and Russian Federation took part in the II Academic school for young researchers «Russia and Belarus: history and culture in the past and in the present». The event was hosted by Smolensk State University (Russia).
The educational project is developed by the academic centre at Smolensk State University, the autonomous non-profit organization «Porubezhye» and the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund. The project is aimed at the consolidation of current approaches and the formation of the new ones to the history of two countries, provides wide opportunities for formal and informal communication of young researchers in Humanities sphere.
Among invited experts there were the following representatives: an associate professor of the Department of Southern and Western Slavs at the History Faculty of Lomonosov Moscow State University Dr. Yuri Borisenok, a leading research assistant and academic secretary of Ethnolinguistics and Folklore Department of the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences O. Belova, a professor of Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno Dr. Dmitry Karev, a PhD in History A. Gronsky, also staff of the Centre and Smolensk State University including Vice Rector for Research, head of REC «Russia and Belarus» Evgeniy Kodin.
Our university has a long-standing scientific and educational traditions with many researchers among represented experts: lectures for students studying at the programme «History», joint research projects, participation in international conferences «Belarusian Padzvinnie: experience, methods and results of field and interdisciplinary researches» (that has been carried out by History and Tourism Department since 2008).
At the academic school the participants discussed scientific directions developed by young researchers, also considered a wide range of relevant questions of humanitarian researches (history, sociology, political science, philology, culturology) within Russian and Belarusian dialogue. The Centre staff carried out the excursion program for all the participants with visiting historical places in Smolensk.
The participants of the academic school «Russia and Belarus: history and culture in the past and in the present» were awarded certificates about their successful training process.