A significant number of residents of these regions follow a traditional way of life, which implies constant migration. In such conditions, ensuring children’s right to education and access to compulsory general education inevitably conflicts with the traditional educational practices of preparing children for traditional ways of economic activity and everyday life, which involve the direct transfer of knowledge and learning from fathers to sons and from mothers to daughters. In different Russian regions, this problem is addressed in different ways, which defines the purpose of this study: to analyze the existing regional approaches aimed at resolving this conflict. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that the main organizing forms of the provision of general education for children whose families follow a traditional nomadic way of life are boarding school education and the creation of nomadic schools. The existing forms of ensuring the right to general education for children in the regions under consideration represent a certain compromise, since either the quality of education suffers, or the direct transfer of cultural and economic experience from one generation to another is hampered. In addition, the existing limitations of the education system do not always allow for the study of native language and culture within the framework of formal education. The article is addressed to specialists in the ethnography of the peoples of the Far North, Siberia, and the Far East, and to representatives of education authorities.

The authors examine the formation of the “Russian trickster’s” sociocultural frontier in Sci-Fi series broadcast by leading producers of transnational television. Using new empirical material and an updated methodological apparatus, the study continues the discussion of the electronic frontier, frontier stereotypes of the Other’s image, and the virtualization of the sociocultural frontier. The study aims to reveal the context of social discourse deconstructed in the series and to determine within it the narrative functions of the figurative sphere of the “Russian trickster” formed by transnational television. In the cultural orders of the selected Sci-Fi series, the authors established three narrative functions of the “Russian trickster”: 1) the salvific image of the Other, a representative of a foreign cultural normative system that rehabilitates the ethical principles of collective existence; 2) the image of a defender of a bygone era that broadcasts the concept of freedom of choice; 3) the image of a swindler, without cooperation with whom social management is impossible. The image of the “Russian trickster” is a key opponent in the rhetorical situation, demonstrating an ambivalent essence and exerting a significant influence on the worldview of Sci-Fi series fans. The paradigm of representing Russian culture as a trickster, dominant in transnational television, is heterogeneous and ambivalent due to the contradictory essence of the trickster’s sociocultural frontier. The results will attract the attention of scholars studying the frontiers of contemporary culture, cinema, and television series, as well as university students.

The city of Kazan in the early 20th century was an important center of women's education for the Volga-Ural region, where the population was mixed (Orthodox, Muslims, and others). Almost a dozen private girls' schools in Kazan were equivalent in status to gymnasiums. These aspects of regional and ethnic history require analysis through the lens of cultural interaction in a borderland context, because Kazan, as a frontier city, gave rise to new socio-cultural models. The purpose of the study is to examine the historical experience of Kazan in the field of women's education, the ethno-confessional diversity of students in private schools and alternative educational practices, as well as patterns of cultural influence. The first private educational institutions for girls opened in Kazan at the beginning of the 19th century; their founders were foreigners. A hundred years later, gymnasiums were most often opened by Orthodox women who held a teacher’s license. Muslim Tatar women were a significant part of the population of the Kazan province and the Volga region; they formally had access to imperial-type girls’ schools, but remained a minority in them. For them, the Fatiha Aitova Gymnasium, with Tatar as the language of instruction, became an alternative educational option. However, this school was influenced by other girls' educational institutions in Kazan. The article also presents an account of the cooperation of the schools of Fatiha Aitova and Lidiya Shumkova. The article is intended for historians and anyone interested in the history of the Russian Empire.

A significant number of monumental stone objects (stone crosses, anthropomorphic and cruciform steles, sculptures, etc.) have been preserved in the North Caucasus and are regarded as an integral part of the local historical and cultural landscape. The article is devoted to a generalized typological study of these objects, without explicit emphasis on religious and ethnic affiliation. Such an approach to the study of monumental objects makes it possible not only to identify the vectors of cultural influence in the local territories under study, but also, in some cases, to partially fill in the lost cultural and historical context. Based on the results of numerous field studies in the North Caucasus and a number of other regions, as well as previously published materials on the subject, the authors identify several features of the development of the forms of these monuments and propose clarifications to their typology. Conclusions are drawn about the probability of an independent genesis of the objects under consideration (anthropomorphic sculptures, stone crosses, and anthropomorphic steles) and the presence of intra-group evolution among them, with the emergence of various subgroups and types. The article also proposes a broader model for the formation of these objects of monumental stone art in the North Caucasus, and the most stable group of monuments, which can be traced for several millennia, is identified.

This article makes use of Frederick Turner’s Frontier Theory to examine how the video games Red Dead Redemption 2 and Valheim portray digital nature and shape identity within virtual spaces. The study places this analysis within a historiographical framework, exploring how developers reimagine the frontier concept, originally linked to American expansion, in digital environment. These virtual spaces address global issues of territorial expansion, resource management, and social bonding through gameplay, reflecting universal concerns about humanity’s interaction with nature. Red Dead Redemption 2 engages players with ethical dilemmas about resource use and human encroachment, while Valheim fosters collective identity and adaptability within procedurally generated landscapes. By highlighting the cultural and ecological awareness that video games encourage, this research underscores their value as platforms for cultural reflection and environmental education, demonstrating the impact of digital nature on players’ perception of the natural world.

The paper studies an episode of the Afghanistan survey performed by the officers of the Caucasus corpus’ Headquarters. The backcloth of the research is the history of the diplomatic Afghan ambassy that arrived in the Caucasus in 1835. The primary sources are kept in Russian central archives and museums such as RSMHA, SISM RSL, SM RNL, and DM SHM. The purpose of the study was to analyze the problem of the formation of ideas about the so-called “imperial geography” of frontier territories that developed in Russia as well as in other European countries in the 19th century. The article analyzes the contents of two secret notes compiled by officers of the General Staff according to the canons of military-statistical descriptions of territories as well as materials from the investigation conducted into the identities of the Afghan ambassadors. We use the “post-colonial criticism” approach widely practiced by the foreign researchers, primarily the concept of E. Said’s Orientalism conception and also methodology of the Malay historian Farish A. Noor focused on the Europeans data-gathering in the East regions. The author also took into account a systematic approach to the study of international relations, which allows considering the analytical work of the officers of the Separate Caucasian Corps in the context of the influence of the information they collected on the development of the course of diplomatic relations between the Russian Empire and the countries of its South-Eastern borderland. The paper headlines that, despite the adventurism of the embassy, the Headquarters was able to derive maximum benefit from the fact that people from Afghanistan arrived in the region. The actions of the commanding stuff indicate that it understood the connection between power, the need to expand the borders of the empire and the need to study the near, as well as remote Caucasus vicinity. The article is addressed to a wide range of researchers and all those who are interested in Russian intellectual acquisition of the East, as well as the history of the 19th century diplomacy.

The article is devoted to a very important issue of the cultural transformation of a settler or a colonist who finds himself in the new natural and cultural conditions of frontier heterotopia. The new space absorbs and consumes the subject, forcing one to constantly transgress. Coming into contact with the Alien, the subject constantly transforms, becoming the Other for the representatives of his indigenous culture. An external observer finds in one more common features with the Alien, the bearer of the local tradition, than with the representatives of the ethnic community from which one came. A settler demonstrates his closeness with this Alien everywhere, dressing like him, speaking his language, adopting his alimentary traditions, etc. All this leads to the settler developing a new worldview that brings him closer to the local peoples and distances him from his own ethnic group. As a result, a new regional sub-ethnic community is formed, aware of its special identity. We find such a model of integration into new natural and cultural realities everywhere, be it the American continent, the Caucasus, or Siberia. This was especially evident in Siberia, where contact with local peoples and a special natural environment gave rise to a new sub-ethnic community — the Sibiryak (Siberian), who is clearly aware of the exclusivity and differences from Russians. Without separating themselves from Russians in general, Siberians nevertheless declare their differences from other peoples, which is manifested in a special mentality, special behavioral patterns, etc.

This study is a critical review of ten scientific articles devoted to the Russian frontier in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean and the west coast of North America in the 18th–19th centuries, where Russian colonies were formed in Alaska and California – the so-called “Russian America”. All analyzed articles were published in 2024 in various academic journals, including journals from the list of the Higher Attestation Commission. A critical study of the texts of publications revealed a rather bleak picture: with rare exceptions, the general scientific level of works by certified historians is very low. One of the reasons for this is that this topic has become much more often studied by non‑specialists, who are characterized by an extremely poor knowledge of previous historiography, absolutely insufficient use of historical sources and foreign literature, and a frequent lack of elementary logic, when the title of the work, the abstract, and conclusions do not correspond to the content of the text of the article. However, partly the same can be said about the scientists studying Russian America professionally. All this is compounded by a low citation culture and sometimes careless presentation of references and bibliographies. The situation is aggravated by the connivance of reviewers and editors, including those from journals on the “VAK” (Higher Attestation Commission) list, who do not prevent the publication of frankly weak scientific works. As a result, articles appear that are essentially low-quality compilations with a greater or lesser sprinkling of various erroneous statements, formulations, and conclusions. In this regard, it is appropriate to raise the question of the advisability of funding such creations with grants so that public funds are not spent practically in vain. The author hopes for a continuation of the discussion of the problem of scientific publications’ quality raised in the article using other historical topics as examples.

The article attempts to examine the entire corpus of S. U. Remezov’s geographical heritage. His world-renowned works are often used as sources for various studies of Siberia of the Petrine era; however, comparative analyses of geographical and source study potential are rarely conducted, as existing methods of source analysis generally rely on historical approaches. In our study we attempted to approach the typology and functional purpose of Remezov’s maps through the lens of analyzing geographical and historical data contained within them. We also tried to verify basic hypotheses about settlement patterns in the Trans-Urals at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. Basing on the research materials, the authors were able to evaluate several strategies of settlement and territorial development. Additionally, the article proposes several methods of evaluating cartographic sources and discusses various issues related to the functional purpose of S. U. Remezov’s atlases, providing fairly prolific historiography. The main provisions and concussions of the paper may be of interest to historians specializing in historical geography and the history of Russian cartography at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries.