The proposed textbook is created on the basis of a course of lectures on cultural studies, which for many years has been read to students of St. Petersburg ITMO University, and corresponds to the State Educational Standard of Higher Professional Education .. The manual is addressed to students of day and evening departments of technical universities . The purpose of the discipline is to develop students' skills of cultural dialogue, tolerance, develop the independence of their thinking, taking into account the acquisition of new knowledge and give them the opportunity to develop and demonstrate skills in the field of theory and history of culture in general and culture of Russia in particular.