Lecture as a Means of Translating Cultural Capital and Reproducing of Intellectual Elite

Abstract

The present paper is to study the meaning and functions of classical (full-time, “face-to-face”) lectures in the modern educational process. The essence of the lecture is revealed in the light of the social concept of Randall Collins' creativity and his sociology of intellectual networks. The study`s approach allows for interpreting lecture as an archetypal version of intellectual interactive ritual that provides reliable transmission of cultural capital from one generation of intellectuals to another. During the interaction successful participants of the described process acquire a high emotional potential necessary for intellectual creativity, which is determined by personal contacts of intellectuals “face to face”, as well as their positions in the intellectual network. The results of the study enable the authors to state that the lecture has such characteristics that make it a unique and irreplaceable way to gain intellectual experience for both the lecturer and the audience, and as a consequence, acts as the basis for the reproduction of the intellectual elite. Therefore, an online lecture can only be an addition to a classical lecture, without which this reproduction would become impossible, and stagnation would occur in science. Of course, only a small part of students and postgraduates will become outstanding scientists, but they will shape the science. The above considerations are followed by a number of illustrative examples from the history of education and personal long-term pedagogical practice of the authors. The paper concludes with the answers to standard reproaches against classical lectures as a form of education. The research has not only theoretical, but also practical significance, orienting young teachers to master the art of lecturing.