One of the priorities of the French-Russian University (FRU) is the development of the scientific and technological collaboration between Russia and France. Thus, at the moment the negotiations to finalize the research programme are conducted between the historians from the School for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (SASH) of the Institute of Social Sciences at RANEPA (the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration) and their colleagues from the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, France.
Professor Ricardo Gonzalez Villaescusa from the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, specializing in archaeology of the Ancient and Medieval cities in the Mediterranean region, took part in the negotiations.
As part of his visit Dr Gonzalez Villaescusa gave a series of lectures in Spanish to the students of the second, third and fourth year of Bachelor’s programmes on the topic of the “Project “Cities of Europe” (CivEur)” (despite the name of the university, not only French is used there). The issues of the role of archaeology in the modern Urban Studies were the focus of the lectures; the questions such as studying early history of cities using archaeological methods, archaeological heritage within cities and issues of its preservation and influence on the urban environment, methods of museification of archaeological sites and raising attractiveness of cities as tourist destinations, the role of archaeology in urban economy, etc. were considered.
As a result of the negotiations an agreement to hold an international conference co-organized by RANEPA and the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis “Cities of the Ancient and Medieval Europe: Models of Origin and Development” which will take place at RANEPA has been reached. The conference is planned to be held at the end of the calendar year. Additionally, opportunities for researchers and lecturers from SASH to participate in the programmes at the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis within the scope of the EU “Erasmus+” initiative have been negotiated.