Penza, 20 September 2016. PenzaNews. Plenary Session of the II International Scientific and Practical Conference “Russian Science and Culture: Past and Present” was launched within the framework of the festival “Zhar-Ptitsa” in the governor's house in Penza on Tuesday, September 20.

© PenzaNewsBuy the photo

Welcoming the participants, the deputy chairman of the government of the Penza region, Oleg Yagov noted the diversity of the festival “Zhar-Ptitsa.”

“I want to draw your attention to the fact that this is a unique festival, which has not only cultural, but also a scientific component. We have a lot of similar forums, events, but it is hard to remember that any cultural festival ever had a scientific-practical conference,” he stressed.

Oleg Yagov also invited Olga Sukhova, approved in the position of the Dean of History and Philology of the Penza State University, to allocate 50-100 pages in their monograph to be released in 2017 to publish the conference materials.

Then, the participants and organizers of the event were addressed by the deputy chairman of the Legislative Assembly of the Penza region Alexander Eremkin, who stressed the relevance of the festival for multinational region.

“We know that we have more than 100 nationalities in the Penza region, each has its own culture, traditions and customs. [...] Today's conference will make another step towards the knowledge of our cultural values,” he said.

In turn, the member of the Federation Council Committee for Science, Education and Culture, head of the department of “History of Russia, regional studies and methodology of teaching history” of PSU Victor Kondrashin expressed the opinion that an appeal to history is a way to preserve and strengthen the state.

“I am pleased as a specialist in the history of the Russian village that in Penza [...] we hold such conference,” he said.

After the official part, the reports and discussions began.