The famous American scientist-anthropologist L. White suggested calling a new science, which appeared in the complex of humanities - "culturology". In the foreign classification, it is not distinguished as a separate discipline. They consider anthropology as the main science, since culture is understood more in the ethnographic and social sense. The situation is somewhat different in Russia. In our country, cultural science as a science is an integral sphere of knowledge that has absorbed information from history, philosophy, anthropology, psychology, ethnography, linguistics, art criticism, religion, sociology and other sciences.
One of the tasks of this new discipline is to educate a person at the level that a person has achieved. Culturology as a science explores the historical social experience of people, which finds its embodiment in special norms, laws, the uniqueness of their actions, is transmitted from generation to generation in the form of values and ideals, is interpreted in religious texts, philosophy, law, art.
Scientists share this scientific field of knowledge into fundamental and applied. The first explores the phenomena related to this field of knowledge at a theoretical and philosophical level, develops the conceptual apparatus and its own research methods. The second, applied cultural studies, explores its individual areas (political, economic, artistic, religious) in order to design, predict and regulate the relevant processes. The applied research area, as a rule, has access to the practical sphere of human activity.
Culturology as a science has its own research methods. One of the main methodological methods is the principle of the correspondence of logical and historical approaches to the studied problems of various ethnic groups. The logical method must precede the historical one. The researcher analyzes this culture, compares it with others, finds similarities and differences. The historical method is focused on studying the process of its occurrence, considering the stages of evolution and the results achieved during the period of the most intensive development. These are the main and most famous methods of cultural studies.
There are many schools in this scientific discipline: socio-historical, racial-anthropological, sociological, symbolic, and others.
Culturology as a science was developed in Russia, thanks to the works of E.S. Markaryan in the second half of the 20th century and his first scientific research in the 60-70s. In the 1980-1990s, it was officially recognized as a field of science and higher education.
In recent years, new schools and trends in this science have appeared in Russia: philosophy, history, theory, sociology, semiotics of culture, and others. Scientific institutions began to appear, studying the fundamental and applied aspects of this field. In 1992, the Russian Research Institute of Cultural Studies was established. In the new century, representatives of the new profession began to unite. So, in 2006, the Scientific and Educational Culturological Society began its work, which brought together many Russian experts who are actively working in their ranks. In higher educational institutions of Russia, cultural experts are now being trained, dissertation councils are awarded academic degrees in relevant specialties. Today there is an intensive development of this scientific branch. Culturology as a science is now on the rise. This is due to certain reasons. So, for example, the importance of such social processes as the culture-centric tendencies of the possible evolution of the modern world, globalization and others is growing.