Physicists about Lyricists: work of the House of Culture of IAE named after I. V. Kurchatov in the materials of the newspaper "Soviet Physicist"

The article analyzes materials from the mass newspaper of the I. V. Kurchatov Institute, "Soviet Physicist," dedicated to the work of the main cultural and recreational venue of the institute – the club (later the House of Culture of the Kurchatov Institute, currently the House of Scientists named after Academician A. P. Alexandrov of the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute"). The aim of the study is to analyze the repertoire of events at the House of Culture, identify the most popular activities among staff and administration at different periods, assess the relationship with ideological and political-educational work, determine the age composition of visitors and the main formats of work with each age group, and trace the connection between the institute's cultural venue and the labor union organization. The chronological framework of the study is determined by the period of newspaper publication and covers the years 1968–1991 of the House of Culture's activities. The study utilized the MAXQDA program for computerized analysis of newspaper materials, and for visualizing the results, UCINET and NETDRAW programs were used. The analysis results demonstrated a relatively stable diversity of themes throughout the studied period. The most requested activities were related to literature, holidays, musical concerts, film screenings, and meetings with figures from cinema and television, while dance events turned out to be the least popular. The House of Culture was a significant cultural venue for employees, with mentions of its activities appearing in almost every second issue of the mass newspaper. The privileged status of physicists in Soviet society, especially those involved in the atomic project, influenced the organization and variety of cultural leisure for the institute's staff. The Kurchatov Club is an example of a unique cultural space that became a place for dialogue between "physicists and poets," a platform where both renowned artists performed and representatives of new creative directions began their journeys. The main audience of the House of Culture consisted of middle-aged people – institute employees, but some events were designed for their families (children) as well as the veteran community. Lectures were the main tool of ideological and political-educational work, with youth as their primary audience. The findings allow for the enrichment of the history of the Kurchatov Club as the main cultural and recreational venue of the Kurchatov Institute, tracing the main trends in cultural and recreational and cultural-educational work during the period from 1968 to 1991.

content analysis, newspaper, MAXQDA, IAE, Kurchatov Institute, Soviet culture, house of culture, Soviet Periodicals, Soviet atomic project, historical source