University as a socio-cultural phenomenon

The article deals with the development of cultural knowledge in the system of soviet university education. The authors analyze the concept “culture” which is fundamental in understanding the specificity of cultural education. The formation and the development of culturology date back to the beginning of the XX century thanks to the American culturologist Leslie White. The article analyzes the formation of culturology as an independent discipline, as well as the specialty of higher vocational education in the soviet system of university education. Culturology is a worldview discipline aimed at the formation of the key parameters of the personal culture. Soviet cultural education got widespread use in the soviet period. In 1960—1980 of the last century the direction began to develop in the state educational system. At the end of the XX century in the soviet educational system the certain steps were undertaken for well-rounded integration of culturology into the educational process.