Community

The diverse HSE University community includes people from different countries and continents who can share their cultural experiences and generate novel ideas with their never-ending creativity and love for art. The Master's programme 'Arts and Culture Management' welcomed several students from Nigeria last year. Today, they are happy to share their sources of inspiration and their expectations of the programme and their future life.

Yesuigen Tsogjavkhlan, from Mongolia, reflects on her experience as an international student majoring in ‘Public Policy and Analytics’ at HSE University-St Petersburg and shares her story of coming to Russia.

In February 2023, the HSE University Cultural Centre hosted the festival ‘Colour of Asia: From Riyadh to Tokyo’ coordinated by the university’s Korean Club. A total of 24 student organisations took part in arranging the festival, including national, environmental, and charity clubs.

How to cope with the new culture? What activities and events does HSE University offer its international students? How to deal with rules and paperwork? Students from different countries and educational programmes at HSE University-St Petersburg shared their memories about life at the university in 2022.

On December 23, students of the HSE Preparatory Year got together for a festive Russian speaking club. They expanded their vocabulary and cultural outlook by immersing themselves in Russian winter holiday traditions and even played the role of Ded Moroz—the Russian Santa.

HSE University is home to international students from all over the world, many of whom will be celebrating the New Year in Russia for the first time. They shared their plans for the festive season with the HSE News Service and spoke about holiday traditions and dishes in their home countries of China, Ecuador, Pakistan, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Guatemala, and India.

In December, HSE Preparatory Year students travelled to Tula to attend an international student festival. They got to know the ancient Russian city, presented their cultures at the festival, and participated in a student concert. Students from Macedonia, Syria and China shared their impressions about the event with the HSE News Service, while Russian teacher Anastasiya Zinchenko spoke about how such trips broaden the students’ outlook on the country and make them a better team.

The first semester will come to an end soon. The students have already met their groupmates and lecturers, faced their first exams, and received their first grades. Some international first-year students of the HSE campus in St Petersburg share their impressions of the university and its educational programmes.

Faiz Arsyad from Indonesia is a first-year master’s student of Agrarian Economics at the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences. In his interview, he talks about his first months of studies at the university, which include meeting top governmental officials, attending agricultural conventions, and participating in the HSE Career Marathon.