Qualified reader or interpreter: on the attitude of the researcher towards the sources of cognition of legal and political doctrines

This article determines and analyzes certain characteristics of modern approaches towards the problem of attitudes to the sources of study on the history of political and legal thought. The attempts to speculate on hermeneutic practices as the constitutive method in analyzing the political and legal views of the philosophers of the past and modernity are subject to critical evaluation; and, on the other hand, the importance of qualified interpretation and analysis of the classical legal heritage is emphasized. It is demonstrated how conventional, shallow, or ideologized attitude towards the sources of study on the history and political thought creates fallacious and often just quasi-religious patterns of interpretation of the fundamental ideas and concepts, content of the discussed topics and problems, and social-practical orientation of their views. The scientific novelty lies primarily in determination and clarification of certain crucial aspects of modern methodology of the history of political and legal doctrines that are meaningful for the philosophy of law and legal theory overall. This pertains to the improvement of cognitive techniques and practices of the political and legal ideas of the past and modernity,  namely through minimization or elimination of such approaches towards their cognition that speculate on anti-historical attitudes; constitute interpretation as the key semantic unit in assessing the legal views of various philosophers; neglect the principles of objectivity and integrity in reconstructing the intellectual heritage; tendentiously articulate the accents of artistic, rather than documentary reconstruction of legal and political representations.

On the tradition of teaching basic economic theory at Moscow University: past, present, future

The article examines the tradition of teaching economic theory at Moscow University since the late 19th to the early 21st century through basic textbooks, which reflect the specificity, theoretical and practical problems of the corresponding historical periods. The narrative proposed shows the emergence of innovative textbooks that embody the breakthroughs in both the subject and method of economic theory and the methodology for its teaching. Apprehension of students and recognition of colleagues have become well-deserved attributes of manuals by A.I. Chuprov, N.A. Tsagolov and Yu.N. Cheremnykh. As well as many others, they absorbed, developed, and passed on from generation to generation the experience of teaching fundamental economic disciplines. Drawing on the «pendulum principle» widely used in the research of various intellectual thoughts, the authors show the main features of the new generation of textbooks that will be in demand by students and teachers shortly. While maintaining consistency in reflecting economic reality, the new manuals should meet the requirements of digital economy, such as fundamental and, at the same time, practical orientation of students. According to the authors, basic courses and textbooks on economic theory will be more interactive while their content expansion will occur due to behavioral aspects at both micro- and macrolevels. That will allow students to learn the principles of mainstream and alternative theoretical approaches to solving urgent practical problems.

On the tradition of teaching basic economic theory at Moscow University: past, present, future

The article examines the tradition of teaching economic theory at Moscow University since the late 19th to the early 21st century through basic textbooks, which reflect the specificity, theoretical and practical problems of the corresponding historical periods. The narrative proposed shows the emergence of innovative textbooks that embody the breakthroughs in both the subject and method of economic theory and the methodology for its teaching. Apprehension of students and recognition of colleagues have become well-deserved attributes of manuals by A.I. Chuprov, N.A. Tsagolov and Yu.N. Cheremnykh. As well as many others, they absorbed, developed, and passed on from generation to generation the experience of teaching fundamental economic disciplines. Drawing on the «pendulum principle» widely used in the research of various intellectual thoughts, the authors show the main features of the new generation of textbooks that will be in demand by students and teachers shortly. While maintaining consistency in reflecting economic reality, the new manuals should meet the requirements of digital economy, such as fundamental and, at the same time, practical orientation of students. According to the authors, basic courses and textbooks on economic theory will be more interactive while their content expansion will occur due to behavioral aspects at both micro- and macrolevels. That will allow students to learn the principles of mainstream and alternative theoretical approaches to solving urgent practical problems.

Integration in the Learning Process

The article deals with the issue related to the use of the integrated approach and the integrated cross-curricular interaction in education. It focuses on its advantages for conducting a modern learning process, orientation to specific results and practical orientation of training. Issues of e-learning are addressed. Experiences and good practices of innovative schools in the implementation of integrated cross-curricular interaction are shared.

V International Congress “UralEndo” “Endoscopy: different views, common language”

The article is dedicated to the V International Congress UralEndo “Endoscopy: different views, a common language” held in Yekaterinburg on February 12, 2021. The review of the congress examines the main events of the congress concerning the direction of development of modern endoscopy in both scientific and practical orientation. The immediate tasks include the improvement and standardization of endoscopic terminology in order to develop a unified understanding of the definitions of modern endoscopy by doctors of different specialties. The key event of the congress is an online round table with international experts-endоleaders, during which the issues of terms and definitions, their correct use, both in English and in Russian, were also considered.

Motivations of a Practical Orientation

The basic social sciences did not develop independently and later seek application; the practical motivations that animate scholarly chronologies are inescapable. Historical investigations also show plenty of distasteful origins, including the consistent role of American social science in eugenics. That matters not just for how we interpret the past, but also how we address the motivations driving us today. It is easier to see how the racist impulses of the past drove misinterpretations of evidence and poor design—but that epiphany enables a review of how our own motivations (new and perennial) continue to bias research. From finance to information technology, the rising industries of today are built on social science but tempted by triumphalism. Scholars are driven by proving our studies useful—in ways that can both uphold existing institutions and transform them. An acknowledgment of our evolving social, economic, and political goals can help address scholarly biases.

The Lure of the Apocalypse: Ecology, Ethics, and the End of the World

What should we make of the apocalyptic tone taken up by politicians, journalists, scientists, and activists? Some environmental thinkers such as Michael Shellenberger contend that alarming rhetoric distracts us from the technological and governance challenges presented by climate change. In the article, it is argued that retrieving a practical apocalyptic political theology from the Christian tradition can both clarify conceptual contradictions within this discourse as well as offer a practical orientation toward living within ecological endings. Amid the cascade of environmental crises we are living through, apocalyptic practices of renunciation of the world offer a guide and discipline for living in the end.

Cultural Heritage as a Basis for Dialogue Between Society and Power, Cultures and Faiths of the South of Russia

Сборник статей по итогам Пятого международного научного форума «Культурное наследие Северного Кавказа как ресурс межнационального согласия», проходившего 10–13 октября 2019 г. в с. Кабардинка (г. Геленджик), отражает современное состояние междисциплинарных практик изучения, сохранения и актуализации культурного наследия Северного Кавказа, его роли в укреплении российской государственности, формировании патриотических чувств граждан, установлении межнационального согласия, этнокультурном брендировании регионов. Проанализированы структура и содержание сборника, выделены основные тематические направления и комплексно обозначен спектр научных проблем, осмыслению которых посвящены помещенные в нем публикации. Актуальная проблематика в сочетании с научно-практической направленностью статей, диалогический стиль структуры и широкий тематический охват обеспечат востребованность издания как в академической среде, так и в различных областях социально-культурной и управленческой практики. The collection of articles following the results of the Fifth International Scientific Forum “Cultural Heritage of the North Caucasus as a Resource of Interethnic Concord” held on 10–13 October 2019 in village Kabardinka (Gelendzhik) reflects the current state of interdisciplinary practices of studying, preserving and updating the cultural heritage of the North Caucasus, its role in strengthening Russian statehood, forming patriotic feelings of citizens, establishing interethnic concord, ethnocultural branding of regions. The author examines the main program objectives of the scientific forum, characterizes the composition of the authors, whose articles are posted on the pages of the peer-reviewed publication. The structure and content of the collection are analyzed, the main thematic areas are highlighted, and the range of scientific problems, which the authors of the articles in the collection are attempting to solve, is comprehensively identified. Topical issues in combination with the scientific and practical orientation of works, the dialogical style of the structure and a wide thematic coverage will ensure the relevance of the collection both in the academic environment and in various areas of sociocultural and managerial practice.

Paradigm of reforming higher legal education in Ukraine in the context of training practising students

The relevance of the study was explained by a special public demand for the quality of legal education, ensuring compliance of the content of legal education with modern requirements of the labour market and the tasks of professional activity of lawyers. The purpose of the study was to consider methodological, research and theoretical, legislative, educational, and methodological foundations regarding the practical orientation of the educational process of training lawyers as a paradigm for reforming higher legal education and determining the forms of organising the educational process aimed at improving the quality of legal education. The methodological framework of the study was formed considering philosophical, general scientific, and special scientific methods of scientific cognition. Conceptual approaches to the introduction of possible methodological forms of organising practical training of students into the educational process of higher legal educational institutions were proposed, considering the elements of the Bologna Process and the development of a unified educational space according to the European vector of development of Ukraine. The study considered methodological, scientific and theoretical, legal, and methodological foundations for a general understanding of the practical training of law students in the educational process, its functional purpose in the context of implementing the reform of legal education as a component of legal reform in Ukraine. The study emphasised the necessity of preserving and further developing fundamental higher legal education and combine it with the established national and foreign doctrines of law and the practical orientation of the educational process as a paradigm for reforming legal education in Ukraine. It was concluded that the development of practical skills and abilities of a legal education applicant occurs in the educational process due to various forms of methodological organisation of the educational process. In particular, the authors considered the features of conducting practical classes using case methods and solving incidents, as well as binary classes, practical training, working in a law clinic, performing dual education, taking part in court debates, etc. The practical value of this study lies in the fact that it proved the advisability of preserving the national traditions of higher legal education in the educational process and introducing new, progressive forms of the educational process aimed at improving the quality of higher legal education, which would meet the requirements of the labour market and the challenges facing a modern democratic society, global development trends and tasks of professional activity of lawyers in various fields

Keywords as method

This short essay seeks to restore the keywords approach initiated by Williams to a more central place within the cultural materialist paradigm he also developed. Combining Williams’ cultural materialist account of language with the practical orientation of Keywords, it sketches a way of developing the keywords approach as a method of sociocultural analysis. Drawing on some practical examples, it offers ‘keywords-as-method’ as a means of carrying out a historicist and materialist study of the relationship of linguistic to social change, that goes beyond the simple glossary of terms approach that has thus far limited the explanatory and critical potential of Keywords. In so doing, I hope to contribute to the renewal of Williamsian scholarship that has coincided with the centenary of his birth.