Becoming a historian and remaining one: practices of the professional path of a Cossack researcher (interview with Dmitry Sen’)

In an interview with Dmitry Senʼ, a well-known researcher of the history of the South of Russia, Doctor of Historical Sciences, professor of the Southern Federal University, timed to coincide with his 50th anniversary, the main stages of his professional biography and the formation, development of his scientific worldview are reflected. The interviewee’s extensive scientific and pedagogical experience allowed him to give an expert assessment of a wide range of issues considered in the space of research reflection. Professor Senʼ analyzes the factors that influenced his future professional choice since his school years, recalls the years of study at the Kuban State University, and characterizes the galaxy of his mentors - talented teachers and researchers devoted to science. The interviewee’s first steps in science are described, and the gradual expansion of the subject field of his research is shown: from the study of the Nekrasov Cossacks (Don Cossacks who fled to Kuban after the defeat of Kondraty Bulavin’s uprising in the early 18th century) to the analysis of the relations of the Don and Northwestern Caucasus Cossacks with the Muslim states of the Black Sea region in the second half of the 17th - early 19th centuries and the historically complex system of Russian-Crimean-Ottoman relations, etc. One of the leitmotifs of the conversation was the importance of the researcher’s direct work with historical sources; both the potential heuristic inexhaustibility of the historical source and the possibility of unlimited knowledge of any problem related to understanding the past are emphasized. The interlocutors point to the growing relevance of using high technologies in a historian’s scientific work. Considerable attention is paid to various aspects of the social functions of historical knowledge at the present stage. The advantages of using the historical-comparative approach in studying the history of the Cossack troops are repeatedly noted in the interview. The value of the researcher’s professional reflection as one of the foundations of the evolution of historical knowledge and improvement of the culture of scientific dialogue is emphasized. The expert attitude of Professor Senʼ to modern trends in the development of Cossack studies is reflected; the historiographical situation that has developed at present in this field is characterized; the existing achievements and problems are analyzed. It is concluded that the development of Cossack studies lies in the plane of establishing an academic dialogue at a new level, using new platforms based on the creative application of the same historical-comparative method and expanding the subject field of promising Cossack studies.