The past several centuries have presented well-documented cases of prodigious youth. Many represented extreme examples of children who had burned brightly and then faded into obscurity, succumbed to a mental illness or an early death, or entered into a career deemed below their mental capacity. These very public displays of mental prowess caused…

Russia is witnessing an unprecedented explosion of interest in its history. This is entirely understandable. In the Russians' desire to understand the profound changes going on in different areas of their lives they are attempting to look at the past with new eyes, because the past has merged with the present and to a large extent determines its…

Education rests on the foundation of culture in the broadest sense of that word. How deeply and solidly that foundation has been laid down determines the size and solidity of the building that can be constructed on it. This applies in particular to higher education, which is by no means designed solely to offer just a body of specialized…

Characterizes the telling and learning of political jokes as a powerful socializing tool for children to learn about the world. Maintains that this activity serves as a means of storing and transmitting social knowledge as well as information about the world of public affairs. Includes some representative examples. (MJP)

During this period of social and political transformation in the former Soviet Union, there is no typical Russian school. Open-type schools generally emphasize student self-development. Students' intellectual, personal, and spiritual upbringing depends on a school's socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental context. Teaching practices must be…