News

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.

HSE University strives to be part of the international academic community, follow world educational standards, and provide students with ample opportunities. Students of HSE University-St Petersburg have well-developed cross-cultural communication skills thanks to international educational programmes, participation in international academic mobility and double-degree programmes, and daily interaction with students from all over the world. The International Office reports on the results of international activity 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.

International Students Network HSE is back to you with the events that help Russian and international students learn more about cultures around the world. In November and December 2022, we ran two events where Mohammad Mahdi Mohammadnejad Neshely (or just Misha), our volunteer from Iran, told us about his country and its culture.

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.

Traditionally, humans have imagined monsters as the exact opposite of themselves: huge, violent, or invisible and soulless beasts. This is apparent in many examples in cinema. However, the image of monsters on the screen transforms with time. A group of Critical Media Studies master’s students organised an event covering the topic of how this transformation takes place at the ‘Playing with Fear: New Image of Monsters in Horror Films’ round table on December 10th.

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.

Yohei Shiiba from Japan, Eunsong Gu from the Republic of Korea, together with Luca Volponi and Nicola Bressan from Italy shared their impressions of living in Moscow and studying on the English-taught Master of International Business (MIB) programme, which is open to students from all over the world.

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.