Kafedra

Kafedra 

(in Russian). (1) [In English, “rostrum.”] In ancient Greece and Rome, a place where rhetoricians and philosophers made their speeches.

(2)[In English, “pulpit.”] An elevated platform from which sermons are delivered in the Christian church. Many pulpits are richly ornamented with carvings, statues, and reliefs. Examples include the pulpit for the baptistery of Pisa (1260, the work of Nicola Pisano) and the pulpit of St. Peter’s Church in Rome (1657–66, the work of L. Bernini).

(3)[In English, “cathedra.”] The chair used by a bishop (or other member of the higher clergy) during the divine liturgy and, in a figurative sense, a diocese (an episcopal district).

(4)[In English, “rostrum.”] In educational institutions, lecture rooms, and assembly halls, the place where the lecturer or speaker delivers his talk.

(5)A kafedra (subdepartment) at an institution of higher learning (or in a fakul’tet, a “department”) is the basic educational and scholarly subdivision. It carries out the educational, methodological, and scientific research work in one or several related disciplines and the teaching work among the undergraduate students, as well as the training of scientific and teaching personnel and the improvement of the qualifications of specialists. As a rule, kafedras are headed by a professor or a doctor of sciences. A kafedra has professors, dotsents, assistants, senior lecturers, senior and junior research associates, and graduate students. Kafedras also have their own training laboratories and offices. Kafedras are charged with conducting lectures, laboratory work, fieldwork, seminars, and other kinds of classes; directing student teaching and on-the-job training, research studies, and course and diploma projects (theses); and conducting course examinations and tests. A distinction is made between general institute-wide (university-wide) kafedras, which encompass the general scholarly disciplines that are studied in all or most of the departments of a higher educational institution, and departmental kafedras, which encompass the specialized disciplines taught in a given department.