The conference "16th and 17th centuries in the history of Russia: the gathering of peoples, lands and times (Minin Readings - 2016)" opened at Lobachevsky University on September 29. Evgeny Chuprunov, UNN Rector, Mikhail Rykhtik, Director of the Institute of International Relations and World History and Sergei Gorin, Minister of Culture of the Nizhni Novgorod region, welcomed conference participants and made their opening remarks.  During the conference, scholars representing Russian and foreign universities and  academic institutions examined various problems in the study of the systemic crisis of the Russian state during the Time of Troubles, analyzed the correlation between the processes of territorial growth and transformation of governance structures, and discussed the practices of Russian historiography of the 16th – 17th centuries in connection with the political and socio-cultural challenges of the era. Special attention was given to the "European echo" of the Time of Troubles, and the role and significance of this period’s events in the cultural memory of the following centuries. In the framework of the conference, Dr. Dmitry Liseytsev, Leading Research Fellow of the RAS Institute of Russian History, gave an open lecture entitled "Nizhni Novgorod in the Time of Troubles".

"Minin Readings" is a series of scientific and practical conferences started in 1991 in Nizhni Novgorod on the initiative of Lobachevsky University historians. The organizer of "Minin Readings - 2016" is the Institute of International Relations and World History of Lobachevsky University.