Peter and Catherine (tsars) encouraged the introduction of European art, literature, and ideas. For example, Peter introduced ballet to Russia because of its grace and athleticism which was originally a French dance but even today, ballet is considered a Russian sport.

The westernization of Russia had a huge affect on education because before Peter, education was based off of the Russian church and the monastic schools were the only form of education and not many people went to them. Peter made a bunch of elementary schools that taught reading, writing, and basic science in 1714 in capitals of the provences of Russia. He later made an academy of sciences that taught the western European style of mathematics, natural sciences, geography, languages, philosophy, history, economics, and law.
Catherine wanted to spread the elementary schools to teach all children excepts for serfs and she opened the first Russian schools for girls. She originally wanted the girls' schools to offer the same curriculum as the boys but since there was such a small percentage of girls attending vs boys she decided that girls should learn homemaking skills. Her education system didn't have a ton of success because there wasn't enough teachers to host all the schools she wanted and the aristocratic class were highly resistance to any child outside of their class getting a formal education.

Catherine looked to the west for philosophy and the introduction of Enlightenment values while Peter looked to the west for technology. She took influence from French philosophers and used them to benefit her realm so for example she, in a demonstration on how great science is to an uneducated group, got a vaccine against smallpox and within 40 years, 2 million Russians had gotten the vaccine.
Russian literature exploded as poet and play writers used the strict language into a self-expressive language. They at first imitated Europeans but soon created a literature that was based off of their society. Catherine liked opinions even when pointed at her (though the writers hide it in metaphors and symbols). Catherine translated some Shakesphere and wrote many plays herself.

This cultural experimentation created a new class of people called the intelligentsia. They had no legal status but had the recognition as an unoffical social caste and had influence on the public opinion and state policy. The way the intelligentsia communicated the latest news in science, philosophy, and the arts in a monthly compilation called "thick journals". It was an amazing selection that created political and cultural debates and was so great that government officials and even the censors (who were suppose to keep certain information out) found them intriguing plus the writers dealt with the issues indirectly.

The French Revolution brought and end to the experimentation because Catherine was worried that more reform could inspire a rebellion but there was still a lot of debates over the question of the relationships between Russian and western European societies.