At the Grodno University named after Yanka Kupala is taught a course on the history of Freemasonry in Belarus, according to the website of the Faculty of History and Sociology of the university.
The website of the university published a work program for the 4th year of the full-time department and the curriculum, as well as the topics of practical exercises and questions for credit. The author of the developments is Doctor of Historical Sciences, Head of the Department of Belarusian Culture and Regional Tourism, Professor Vyacheslav Shved.
The work program was drawn up on the basis of the program of the special course of the same name, approved by the Council of the Faculty of History and Sociology on September 17, 2008 (protocol No. 1), reviewed and recommended for approval at a meeting of the Department of History of Belarus on 5.09.2008. (Protocol No. 1Z), approved and recommended for approval by the Methodological Commission of the Faculty of History and Sociology in the specialties: History, History. Foreign language, Historical and archival studies, Sociology. The program was approved at the Faculty of History and Sociology of the university in 2008. The course is taught for the specialty 1-21 03 01 - 01 "History" at the Faculty of History and Sociology of the Grodno State University.
To study the course, the course "Mass on the lands of Belarus (late 18th - early 20th centuries)" (this is the original name of the course in Russian, although the word "Freemasonry" is spelled with one "s" - IA REGNUM) 26 hours are allocated, of which 10 - lectures and 16 - for practical lessons. After that, students will have to pass the test.
The explanatory note to the course program says: “Masons are not accused of anything: the creation of secret political organizations in order to seize world power, the seizure of influential positions in state and public administration, in the field of ideology and culture, in the collapse of the former USSR and today's economic problems. And who are these Masons and what is Freemasonry? As profane (those who do not know the Masonic secrets) we know almost nothing about them."
The note explains who the Masons are: “Freemasonry, as defined by most researchers, is a religious-philosophical, religious-ethical, religious-mystical, or moral-religious movement. Some historians consider Freemasonry to be a secret criminal society, which pursues the goal of achieving world domination on the basis of the Jewish doctrine of the chosen people, and opposes the Church and the Orthodox religion. A freemason is a member of the Masonic movement, a member of a separate organization, society (lodge), the name, structure and traditions of which are borrowed from the medieval workshops of builders-masons”.
“There is practically not a single event important for the Russian Empire (and therefore for Belarus), in which the Freemasons would not play their role. The preparation of government projects (M. M. Speransky, N. Novosiltsev, N. I. Turgenev) was not complete without them. They prepared the first Russian revolution of 1905-1907, the overthrow of the autocracy in the Russian Empire and the establishment of a democratic system in 1917. The white movement had a Masonic character. Freemasonry, having contacts with the West, exerted its influence on the economic and cultural development of the Russian Empire, its international contacts, and the liberation movement, "the author-compiler noted. - The purpose of this special course is to study the history of Freemasonry in the lands of Belarus in connection with the socio-political development of the late 18th - early 20th centuries."
According to the scientists of Grodno University, when studying the special course "Mass on the lands of Belarus (late 18th - early 20th centuries)" students acquire the following basic knowledge, skills and abilities. Basic knowledge: The essence of Masonic ideology; The inner life of the Masonic Order; Three periods in the history of Russian Freemasonry; Distribution of Masonic lodges on the lands of Belarus; Wonderful brothers-masons of Belarus; The participation of masons in the social and political life of Belarus. Basic skills: Understand Masonic concepts and symbols; Understand Masonic systems and degrees; Know the structure of lodges and rituals according to degrees. Basic skills: Write lecture notes; To outline a monograph; Prepare an abstract; To distinguish myths and legends about Freemasonry from its real history.
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The curriculum includes seven topics: Freemasonry as a movement and secret associations; History of World Freemasonry; History of Russian Freemasonry; Masonic lodges on the lands of Belarus (end of the 18th century - the first quarter of the 19th century); Brothers of Masonic Lodges (late 18th century - first quarter of the 19th century); Revival of Freemasonry on the lands of Belarus at the beginning of the 20th century; Brothers of Masonic Lodges at the beginning of the twentieth century. Within the framework of these topics, students study the oath of the Freemasons, the meaning of the pentagram, the legend of Adoniram (Hiram), the highest ideal of the Freemason, the "edge" of Lithuanian Freemasons, biographies of prominent Freemasons of Belarusian lodges (Anton Lutskevich and Ivan Lutskevich, Vaclav Lastovsky, etc.).
In the test, according to documents published by the GrSU, Professor Shved finds out knowledge on such issues as: Operational and speculative Freemasonry; The emergence of Freemasonry in England; USA and Freemasonry; Composition of Masonic lodges; Organizational structure of the Lithuanian-Belarusian Freemasonry; Composition of Belarusian Masons; Biographies of prominent masons of Belarusian lodges; Number of brothers and social composition of Masonic lodges (twice); Biographies of prominent masons of Belarusian lodges (also twice), etc.
Note that Vyacheslav Shved is a member of the professorial meeting of Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno. He is also an expert on "Grodno Studies" - on April 20, 2012, he informed the official website of the Ministry of Education of Belarus with reference to the center of mass communications of Y. Kupala Grodno State University. The Swede is a co-author of the book “Grodnaznasstva. Gistorya eurapeiskaga city ". The official statement says: "The publication contains excerpts from historical documents, didactic material, tasks for practical work, which will allow using it as a textbook for a unique course" Grodno Studies ", which from this year is taught in all schools of the regional center."
Vyacheslav Shved is also a specialist in the history of the Patriotic War of 1812 and is known for denying the legitimacy of the use of the term “Patriotic War of 1812”. So, on November 23 in Minsk, during the international scientific conference "The War of 1812 and Belarus", professor at the Shved State University of Russia declared the inadmissibility of using the term "Patriotic War of 1812" in relation to Belarusian history - he suggested using the term "Franco-Russian war of 1812 …