STALINGRAD-VOLGOGRAD AS A SYMBOL OF HEROISM AND PATRIOTISM IN THE PUBLIC SPACE OF THE MODERN WORLD

The paper presents the analysis of the Russian and foreign academic events dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the defeat of German fascist troops by the Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad, in which lecturers, postgraduate and undergraduate students of the Volgograd State University (VolSU) took part. The focus of the paper is on the multilateral activities of the Center for Public Diplomacy, functioning on the basis of the VolSU, as well as of the Scientific and Educational Center “Modernization of the multidimensional social and political space of modern Russia” at the Department of International Relations, Political Science and Area Studies of VolSU on the presentation of Volgograd as a academic and methodological center for the formation of patriotism and civil identity in the Russian Federation. E.N. Vasilyeva presents an analytical review of the international scientific and practical conference “Stalingrad – a symbol of heroism, patriotism and cohesion of the peoples of Russia and the world”. S.B. Kozhirova characterizes the cooperation of foreign scholars with colleagues from the Volgograd State University on the formation of the historical memory of generations. S.A. Pankratov highlights the main activities of the Center for Public Diplomacy and the academic and educational center “Modernization of the multidimensional social and political space of modern Russia” in the context of the institutionalization of the practices of people’s diplomacy in the public policy of the hero city Volgograd-Stalingrad.

One of the central scientific forums, as part of the celebration of the anniversary of the defeat of German fascist troops by the Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad, was the international scientific and practical conference "Stalingrad -a symbol of heroism, patriotism and cohesion of the peoples of Russia and the world", organized in the Interactive Museum "Russia -my history" in Volgograd.The key issues discussed on the event were devoted to historical truth in the works of researchers and speeches of current politicians; carrying out search operations on finding and burying remains of dead soldiers from both opposing sides; the specifics of the formation of patriotism of modern youth and the reproduction of intergenerational solidarity.The main tone of the conference was set by the speakers at the plenary session: salutary address of vice-governor of the Volgograd region Z.O.Merzhoeva; scientific reports of the hero of labor of the Russian Federation and honorary professor of Volgograd State University Yu.V. Lepekhin, director of the Higher School of Social Sciences of the Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University S.V. Kulik, head of the expert council of the publishing house "Prosveshchenie" A.A. Danilov, a longtime research partner of the University and historian, professor of the National Research N.G.Chernyshevsky Saratov State University V.N.Danilov.
A multifaceted discussion of leading and young scientists of the VolSU was at the section 1. "The Stalingrad victory as the platform of people's diplomacy in preserving and strengthening peace".The key aspects of the discussion were: Following the results of the plenary session and the work of 8 sections at various Volgograd universities, a resolution was adopted, in which it was noted that "people's diplomacy in unity with academic science is a powerful resource of influence on society and states in countering speculative manipulation and falsification of global historical events, including the Battle of Stalingrad".
The panorama museum "The Battle of Stalingrad" and the Volgograd State University co-organized with the Expert Institute for Social Research (Moscow) a public-expert seminar on "The future of Russia: historical memory in the formation of civil identity".As the moderator of the event, co-chairman of the Russian Society of Political Scientists, Dean of the Faculty of Political Science of the Lomonosv Moscow State University A.Yu. Shutov, noted, "We did not accidentally choose the hero city Volgograd, which on February 2 marked the 75 th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet troops at Stalingrad, in order to talk here about the importance of preserving the historical memory, the need to counter attempts to falsify history.Manipulation of historical consciousness is one of the methods of conducting hybrid wars against our country.Therefore, an important task is the development of effective ways to counteract them" [1].
It is important that the individual and group work of students and professors of the Department of International Relations, Political Science and Area Studies of the VolSU with experts from the Expert Institute for Social Research S. Manenkov, I. Kuznetsov, D. Anikin was conducted with the usage of modern innovative forms of communicative interaction and modeling of problem situations, as well as technologies for their resolution.The participants presented the model of the state of the future, discussed the effectiveness of civil society interaction with the authorities, and formulated a list of growth points for the Volgograd region.
Within the framework of the research and socio-political discourse the Department for International Cooperation of the VolSU, the Center for Public Diplomacy conducted a series of international conferences -Peace and concord campaign 'Heirs of Stalingrad'.The participants of online meetings were lecturers and students of VolSU and Samarkand State Univer sity (Uzbekistan), Vanadzor State University named after Hovhannes Tumanyan (Armenia), Ostrava University (Czech Republic), Turan University (Kazakhstan).Rector of the univer sity V.V. Tarakanov was quoted saying, that "such conferences contribute to strengthening the image of Volgograd as a center of public diplomacy".This status of the city was noted by President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin at the meeting of the organizing committee Pobeda.
The presentation of Volgograd as a scientific and educational center of Russia, which preserves the memory of the Battle of Stalingrad -a turning point in the defeat of fascism in World War II, was conducted during working trip to Rome by the head of the Department of International Relations, Political Science and Area Studies of the VolSU S.A. Pankratov, as a member of the delegation headed by the mayor of the hero city A.V. Kosolapov.The central event of the visit of the Volgograd delegation to Italy was the holding of a roundtable at the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Rome "Stalingrad: A lesson in history that we did not realize".In his speech "European security: from global threats to effective cooperation and mutual understanding" S.A. Pankratov noted that "we articulate the priorities of our development, but they are not hostile towards others.And when there are many common threats and risks, we are doomed to build a common security system.Public diplomacy, cooperation of municipalities, representatives of education, science and culture -this is what can really make the world safer".
The scientific events organized with the active participation of the Volgograd State University dedicated to the 75 th anniversary of ХРОНИКА НАУЧНОЙ ЖИЗНИ Вестник ВолГУ.Серия 4, История.Регионоведение.Международные отношения.2018.Т. 23. № 2 the victory of the Soviet people in the Battle of Stalingrad, demonstrated the need for further study of the events of the radical turn in the Great Patriotic War in order to preserve historical memory and civil responsibility for the destiny of the country and future generations of the Russians.