Cultural aspects of the Russian students' historical memory

Historical memory is considered as the projection of the cultural memory, which is beyond experience of the certain individual and embodies in various texts of culture. Cultural literacy of Russian students is investigated from this point of view. The contents, channels and forms of cultural literacy are changing in a transitive society. Preservation of historical memory gives the students chance to fit into the world of the common for Russians valuable preferences, ideals, standards of behavior and communication, which is an important factor of stabilization of a social order. These theoretical calculations were concretized during the sociological researches of historical and cultural competence of students of higher educational institutions, conducted in the Rostov region in 2012, 2014, 2015. The authors mark in particular a number of contradictions, which indicate deficiencies in the education and training of students.