Activities of the Irkutsk Mining and Metallurgical Institute in the post-War period (1945-1960)

The authors consider the educational process at the Irkutsk Mining and Metallurgical Institute in 1945-1960 in a substantive and broad context. A historiographical review which highlights the significant conceptual and factual achievements of the predecessors is given. The main part shows in details the close connection of pedagogical activity with students' tuition fees as well as with the intense scientific work of teachers, with the state of interuniversity cooperation, with regular dissertation defenses, and with multifaceted and very close interaction with mining and metallurgical enterprises. The Institute's staff, combining pedagogical, administrative, and socio-political work, provided systematic and diverse assistance to industrial enterprises in all republics and regions of the Soviet Union without exception. Public organizations of the higher educational institution have achieved success in developing and improving educational and socio-political work. The reflection of post-War social processes on the collective is shown. Physical education and amateur artistic activities were widely and thoroughly developed, and local organizations were assisted in conducting various socio-political campaigns. The statistics of the graduation of highly qualified specialists in various engineering specialties are given: geologists, mining electromechanics, metallurgists, concentrators, economists, etc. Since 1944, the Military Training Department of the Institute has been training platoon commanders of ground artillery. For a more complete reconstruction of the educational routine, for the first time, factual information from internal documentation is being massively introduced into wide scientific circulation, including detailed data on the places of students' production practices and the topics of the diploma design carried out before graduation. In general, the revealed material allows us to form a reasonable idea of the significant contribution of the staff of the Irkutsk Mining and Metallurgical Institute to solving problems of a governmental nature.

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