Philosophy at the VolSU: Is a Dream Coming True? Reflections on the Results of the All-Russian Round Table “Problems and Prospects of Philosophical Education: On the 30th Anniversary of the Beginning of the Training of Philosophers at the Volga State

On June 20, 2024, Volgograd State University hosted an all-Russian round table organized by the Department of Philosophy and Theory of Law and dedicated to a significant date for the university– the 30th anniversary of the beginning of professional training of philosophers. The round table brought together philosophy graduates from different years, as well as researchers and teachers from Volgograd, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Belgorod, Ulyanovsk, and other cities. The subject of active discussion was issues related to the analysis of the current state of philosophy with a focus on the problem of its academicity or publicity; the trajectory of professional success that professional philosophical education allows; the study of the specifics of the regional aspect of the philosophical community and philosophical schools; and current issues of teaching philosophy. The discussion of the participants contributed to the consideration of the topic of the round table through the prism of the ideals and values of not only philosophy itself but also of an educated person, the interdisciplinarity of philosophical knowledge, the social recognition of philosophical education, as well as the prospects for the preservation and development of philosophical education at Volgograd State University. Dmitry Ilyin, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, Doctor of Sciences (Philology), Professor, who opened the round table meeting, expressed in his speech an important idea for university philosophers that all classical universities began with a philosophical school. Therefore, the opening of the Philosophy major is a history of university development justified by life itself. But without the enthusiasm, energy, and charisma of the initiators of the creation of such a philosophical school, it would be difficult to imagine this process. First of all, these words are true of Nikolai Omelchenko, who, through all his activities, contributed to the development of the Philosophy department at our university. The moderator of the round table was Svetlana Tokareva, who proposed an interesting format for the event, which provides for consideration of the relevance of the issues stated in the program through the prism of the history of the emergence and development of the training of philosophers at VolSU.