Teaching the History of Marginalities: Prospects and Challenges

Abstract

Darya Vershinina – Candidate of Science in History, Associate Professor, Department of General History, Perm State University, Perm, Russian Federation. Email: daryapros@yandex.ru

In the West, the problems of marginalization are actively integrated into historical research. In Russia, however, contemporary historians and university teachers continue to cast a skeptical eye at prospects for analyzing a phenomenon emerging from sociology. As a result, courses devoted to the study of historical
processes through the prism of marginalization and discrimination are practically absent in the curricula used by the history faculties of Russian universities. This means that Russian students are less prepared to perceive history not only as the life and work of the winners, but also as the struggle and the existence
of the vanquished and the oppressed. This paper sheds lights on the experience of teaching a course on the history of marginal communities within the framework of the program for Master’s Degree in Applied Historical Research in Perm State University. The author presents the problems of the course structure,
the discussion issues raised while working with students, as well as problem points and prospects for the development of such courses in Russian universities. The author notes the reasons for the lack of interest for the problems associated with the processes of marginalization in Russian university education
and Russian academia in general, making a conclusion about the significance of students’ acquaintance with this new view on social processes. In the course, the theory of marginality was connected with different theoretical frameworks (gender theory, queer theory, postcolonial and critical racial theories) and their importance to social knowledge. In conclusion, the author states that the experience of teaching the course on the history of marginality in Perm University was successful and evaluates the prospects of such approaches for the formation of the historical consciousness of master students.