PECULIARITIES OF TEACHING SPECIAL COURSES ON URBAN SPACE TO STUDENTS OF HUMANITARIAN SPECIALTIES

Abstract

The study of a modern city as a complex system presupposes an interdisciplinary approach. As a result, the urban space became an object of interest for different sciences: economics, sociology, political science, cultural studies, anthropology, philology and many others. City has become the object of scientific interest for a wide range of specialists. The response to this trend was the emergence of special disciplines programs about the city and methodological recommendations for future historians, philosophers, sociologists, economists, and managers. In the article programs of special courses and methodical recommendations on city philosophy, city sociology, city anthropology, city economy, urban studies for students of humanitarian specialties in Russian universities are analyzed. The analysis of the programs was based on three educational tasks, singled out in accordance with the modern public demand for urban research: 1) development of students’ abilities to constructive interdisciplinary dialogue with other specialists in the field of modernization and research of the urban environment; 2) formation of students’ ability to analyze complex urban processes from the point of view of philosophy, cultural studies, sociology, economics, management technologies and other sciences; 3) the formation of students’ understanding of how within their narrow professional skills they can influence the development of the city, urban spaces. It was analyzed about ten educational programs about the city and methodological recommendations developed for students of humanities in higher educational institutions of Russia. It is noted that disciplines about the city for students of humanitarian specialties have many intersections in the list of literature, which can subsequently enable students of different areas of training to construct a constructive dialogue about the urban space.The article gives recommendations on teaching and supplementing these educational programs, namely: the emphasis of students’ attention on the interdisciplinary approach to studying the city; familiarity with methods of analyzing the city from related scientific disciplines; the inclusion of «microurbanism» in the programs; enrichment of educational programs with practical tasks oriented to applying theoretical knowledge in the territory where the discipline is taught.