Vivat universitas! 100 years of institutionalisation of sociology at the Belarusian State University

Authors

Keywords:

sociology, Belarusian State University, institutionalisation of sociology, Belarusian sociological school, time-honored tradition, history, stages of development

Abstract

The article identifies three stages in the development of sociology at BSU, reveals their content and features. It is argued that the institutionalisation of sociology on the territory of Belarus began with the opening of the Belarusian State University and the creation of the department of sociology and primitive culture, where students were given lectures on genetic sociology, issues of labour, law, cultural history, and sociology of family and marriage. After the identification of historical materialism with sociology, the teaching of sociological disciplines was excluded from the curricula of BSU. Sociology revived in the 1960s with the creation of the Problematic Research Laboratory of Sociological Studies at the BSU. In its depths, as well as in the sector of applied sociology at the department of philosophy of the humanities faculties, personnel were trained and the necessary conditions were created for the opening of the section of sociology and the department of sociology in 1989. Professor G. P. Davidyuk is rightfully considered to be the founder of modern Belarusian sociology. Currently, at BSU, centuries-old traditions in the field of sociological science and education are being developed at the Center for Sociological and Political Researches and at the department of sociology of the faculty of philosophy and social sciences. It is concluded that BSU is one of the leading universities in the post-Soviet space and it possesses everything necessary for its further development. Sociological science and scientific schools are actively developing at BSU. The university staff includes well-known specialists who provide the training of highly qualified personnel with competences to work in conditions of global instability and readiness to give an adequate respond to the new challenges of the time.

Author Biography

  • Alexander N. Danilov, Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliežnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

    corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, doctor of science (sociology), full professor; head of the department of sociology, faculty of philosophy and social sciences

References

  1. Elsukov AN. [Sociological thought in Belarus: formation and stages of development]. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya. 1998;9:5–11. Russian.
  2. Maksimchik AN. [Scientist, teacher, organiser and head of the Soviet higher school]. In: Kokhanovskii AG, Yanovskii OO, Danilov AN, editors. Pamyat’ i slava: Solomon Zakharovich Katsenbogen. K 130-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya [Memory and glory: Solomon Zakharovich Katzenbogen. To the 130th anniversary of the birth]. Maksimchik AN, compiler. Minsk: Belarusian State University; 2019. p. 9–32. Russian.
  3. Maksimchik AN. Little known pages of biography and activities of professor S. Z. Katsenbogen (1889–1946). Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology. 2017;2:65–86. Russian.
  4. Danilov AN, Elsukov AN, Rotman DG. Sotsiologiya v Belorusskom gosudarstvennom universitete: istoriya, fakty, dokumenty [Sociology at the Belarusian State University: history, facts, documents]. Minsk: Belarusian State University; 2006. 144 p. Russian.
  5. Katsenbogen SZ. [Belarusian State University for 1922–23 academic year: results and prospects]. Pracy Belaruskaga dzjarzhawnaga wniversitjeta. 1923;4/5:230–281. Russian.
  6. Kovalevskii MM. [Sociology in the West and in Russia]. In: Kovalevskii MM, de Roberti EV, editors. Novye idei v sotsiologii [New ideas in sociology]. Saint Petersburg: Obrazovanie; 2013. p. 1–10. Russian.
  7. [Report of the deputy People’s Commissariat for Education of the SSRB S. Z. Katsenbogen on the state and problems of the Belarusian State University at a meeting of the Council of People’s Commissars of Belarus in the framework of the discussion of the issue of the activities and work plan of the People’s Commissariat for Education of the SSRB (Minsk, 1922 August 25)]. In: Kokhanovskii AG, Yanovskii OO, Danilov AN, editors. Pamyat’ i slava: Solomon Zakharovich Katsenbogen. K 130-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya [Memory and glory: Solomon Zakharovich Katsenbogen. To the 130th anniversary of the birth]. Maksimchik AN, compiler. Minsk: Belarusian State University; 2019. p. 38–43. Russian.
  8. Kozlova LA. [Post-revolutionary Russian sociology: a failed attempt at Sovietisation]. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya. 2016;12:105–113. Russian.
  9. Shavel’ SA. Obshchestvennaya missiya sotsiologii [The public mission of sociology]. Minsk: Belaruskaja navuka; 2010. 404 p. Russian.
  10. Aleksandrov GF. Istoriya sotsiologii kak nauka [The history of sociology as a science]. Minsk: Belarusian State University; 1958. 79 p. Russian.
  11. Danilov AN, editor; Grishchenko ZhM, compiler. Problemnaya nauchno-issledovatel’skaya laboratoriya sotsiologiches kikh issledovanii Belorusskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta (PNILSI BGU): k 50-letiyu sozdaniya [Problem Research Laboratory of Sociological Research of the Belarusian State University (PNILSI BSU): to the 50th anniversary of its creation]. Minsk: Publishing Center of the Belarusian State University; 2017. 99 p. Russian.
  12. Toshchenko ZhT. [Belarus: a time of hopes]. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya. 1998;9:3–4. Russian.
  13. Davidyuk GP. [Sociology was born in agony and suffering]. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya. 2008;6:93–99. Russian.
  14. Danilov AN, Elsukov AN, Beznyuk DK, Rotman DG, Chernyak YuG, Pokhomova AA. Kafedra sotsiologii BGU: istoriya i sovremennost’. K 25-letiyu sozdaniya [Department of sociology, BSU: history and modernity. To the 25th anniversary of its creation]. Minsk: Belarusian State University; 2014. 230 p. Russian.
  15. Simonyan RH. [Social philosophy, social science or generalistics: to the problem of the crisis of sociology]. Voprosy filosofii. 2021;3:29–40. Russian.
  16. Danilov AN. Institutionalization of professional sociological education in Belarus: origins and prospects. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology. 2019;2:4–13. Russian.

Downloads

Published

2021-10-08

Issue

No. 3 (2021): Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology

Section

Editorial-in-Chief Column

License

The authors who are published in this journal agree to the following:

  1. The authors retain copyright on the work and provide the journal with the right of first publication of the work on condition of license Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial. 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
  2. The authors retain the right to enter into certain contractual agreements relating to the non-exclusive distribution of the published version of the work (e.g. post it on the institutional repository, publication in the book), with the reference to its original publication in this journal.
  3. The authors have the right to post their work on the Internet (e.g. on the institutional store or personal website) prior to and during the review process, conducted by the journal, as this may lead to a productive discussion and a large number of references to this work. (See The Effect of Open Access.)

How to Cite

[1]
Danilov, A.N. 2021. Vivat universitas! 100 years of institutionalisation of sociology at the Belarusian State University. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology. 3 (Oct. 2021), 4–12. DOI:https://doi.org/10.33581/2521-6821-2021-3-4-12.