Department of Foreign Languages

The teaching of foreign languages in the faculty of history is considered a mandatory and important component to the professional preparation of professional historians. For this reason, the department of foreign languages was created in 1965.

Foreign languages are studied in the faculty of history as a second specialization. The following qualifications are appropriated to the faculty's graduates: "historian - teacher with knowledge of a foreign language". English, German, Greek, French, Spanish and Italian are taught in the department.

One distinctive feature of students' language preparation in the faculty of history is the instruction of two modern foreign languages and professionally directed courses.

Within the department's structure are 9 associate professors, 13 senior lecturers, 19 teachers, and 3 assistants. Associate professor I.V.Shevliagina is department chair.

Students enrolled in the faculty of history are taught with specialized textbooks, prepared by the department's staff: "The English Language for Students of the Faculty of History," (E.A.Bondi), "The English Language for Historians" (E.A.Kirillova, T.G.Lobova, A.P.Min'yar-Belorucheva), "Textbook on the German Language for Senior Classes" (V.A.Tatarinov), "A Manual for Learning to Read in German for History Students" (E.G.Davankova, T.N.Lyubarskaya), "A Manual on Reading for Students of Lower and Upper Courses in the Faculty of History. The Italian Language" (N.I.Novikova), "Methodical Manual on Learning to read Texts in Modern Greek: For History Students" (E.G.Davankova), "A Manual on Russian History for Senior Students in the Faculty of History. The French Language" (I.V.Shevliagina), etc. In total, from 1984 to 2000, the department has published 30 textbooks.

The students have the possibility to attend lectures, organized by the department, conducted by native speakers from Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and the USA.

In addition to attending seminars, students and the post-graduate students listen to lectures on regional linguistic geography and the theory of translating academic - historical texts.

Research work is an essential component of the department's activities. The basic academic directions are on the most pressing issues of professional lingual-didactics and the study of the peculiarities of language in historical texts. The research conducted by the department's staff lies in course with interdepartmental academic subjects. The results of their research is published in the periodical issued by the department "Problems of Linguistics and Techniques of Teaching Foreign Languages." The department has become the basis or the "Russian Terminological Society" ("RosTerm"), which has united Russian academic researchers, professionally connected to researching problems on terminology and methods of teaching foreign languages in high schools without specializations in languages. Members of the staff who teach French are members of the Russian Association of French Teachers, participating in its seminars and contributing to its publications.

The department maintains close academic ties with foreign colleagues. Over the last two decades, more than 40 of the department's staff members have trained abroad and have participated in international conferences in various countries. The department retains contacts with cultural centers of foreign countries, functioning at embassies.