The Ministry of Education and Science has prepared a curriculum for the course “History of Religions of Russia” for universities

The Russian Ministry of Education and Science has prepared a program for the course “History of Religions of Russia,” which will be tested in 27 Russian universities starting next semester. The developers explained to Kommersant that the difference from religious studies courses already existing at a number of universities lies in the semantic emphasis: “The role of religions in the formation of Russian identity, patriotism and ethical attitudes is important here.” The educational department promised to adjust the program based on the results of the pilot semester.

The Ministry of Education and Science has approved the course program “History of Religions of Russia.” The project is being implemented within the framework of the decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin “On approval of the Fundamentals of State Policy for the Preservation and Strengthening of Traditional Russian Spiritual and Moral Values.” The initiative to create the course itself was proposed by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ last year.

The standard curriculum for the curriculum “History of Religions of Russia” (available to Kommersant) is designed for 72 teaching hours, half of which are lectures, half are independent work. It is planned to attract personnel who, in addition to higher education, have practical experience in this field (training areas “History”, “Religious Studies”, “Philosophy”) to teach. The course itself “is aimed at presenting adequate and up-to-date knowledge about the religious traditions of Russia in the context of the formation of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values ​​and all-Russian civic identity.”

As explained in the Ministry of Education and Science, one of the three main blocks – the “Historical and Religious Studies Section” – lays the foundations for the idea of ​​the cultural, social and spiritual meaning of traditional religions in the life of society. The second reveals the main aspects of the formation of Russia as a “multi-confessional state-civilization.” The third section tells about the religious traditions of Russia and traditional Russian spiritual and moral values. Students will also be told about “the commonality of spiritual and moral values ​​for believers and non-believers, the value of family, civic identity and service to the fatherland.” Attention will also be paid to legal aspects: legislation on religious associations, property for religious purposes, state-religious relations. A separate topic is devoted to religious radicalism, as well as risks and threats in this area.

The development of the standard program was carried out by religious scholars and historians from Moscow State University, the Orthodox St. Tikhon’s Humanitarian University, and consultants from other educational organizations were also involved. Olga Boytsova, head of the Department of Philosophy of Religion and Religious Studies at Moscow State University, said that the course serves as an addition to the already introduced course on “History of the Fatherland.” Mrs. Boytsova notes that the fundamental difference with the religious studies courses already existing at various universities lies in the semantic accents: “What is important here is the role of religions in the formation of Russian identity, patriotism and ethical attitudes, and not in the history of the development of religions themselves as a whole. This is more of an ideological orientation, rather than a historical and religious one.” She notes that conclusions about the need to create advanced training courses for teachers, as well as the possibility of introducing a course not only in socio-humanitarian specialties, can be made after testing is completed. “Both techies and natural scientists are representatives of different faiths, so it would be nice for them to know the history of the development of traditional Russian religions in order to understand each other and their country as a whole,” believes Olga Boytsova. According to the expert, it will also become clear later whether it is necessary to create a new textbook for the program.

Starting from the next semester, the course will be tested in 27 universities as part of educational programs in the social and humanitarian fields. “Universities were selected taking into account their regional significance, jurisdiction and profile,” explained the Ministry of Education and Science.

Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Konstantin Mogilevsky noted in a conversation with Kommersant that “when launching the course, the department proceeds from the fact that in each university participating in this pilot project, the course will be implemented differently, but based on a standard program” . “Approbation itself is an experiment. He will help, if necessary, clarify the program, better correlate it with various, including non-humanitarian, areas of training,” notes Mr. Mogilevsky. “We plan to analyze this experience and support the most successful approaches.” As criteria for the success of the course, the deputy minister named the volume and quality of knowledge about the history of the religions of the peoples of Russia, which will remain with the students.

In most of the educational institutions interviewed by Kommersant that participated in the pilot, the course program has just begun to be studied. The HSE noted that the course will be taught “primarily for non-humanities majors, since many students in the humanities already have a significant amount of knowledge about religion as part of their professional curriculum courses.” At RANEPA, the subject will be included in educational programs in the areas of state municipal management, international humanitarian cooperation, foreign regional studies, political science, training of historians and others.

Deputy Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Russian Federation for Education and Science Renat Islyamov considers it important to understand the specifics of Russian religions for peace and respect between representatives of different faiths. However, Mr. Islyamov added, he does not know about the development of the course, so “if it was discussed with religious organizations, it was with some others.” Mr. Islyamov believes that the implementation of the initiative will require highly qualified teachers: “In order for lectures not to turn into missionary work and for the emphasis not to predominate on one of the traditional religions, it is necessary that the lecturer be unbiased and as neutral as possible.”

Polina Yachmennikova