Why Sociology and Social Informatics?
The upgraded program "Sociology and Social Informatics" has been enrolling students from different cities of Russia and other countries for two years. Every year it is becoming more and more popular. We decided to ask students from the 1st and the 2nd courses what exactly influenced their choice of this program. Let’s have a look at some of their answers!
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“I have chosen Sociology and Social Informatics, because I was attracted by the fact that it was stated in the program - 80% of the education courses will be taught in English. It is, on one hand, a good practice of the language, on the other hand, the opportunity to learn academic English with a highly specialized focus - in our case, these are areas such as sociology, programming, statistics, etc. In addition, the great advantage of "Sociology and Social Informatics" among other educational programs was the provision of knowledge in the field of programming, data analysis - skills in these areas in the nearest future will be in demand on the labor market”. |
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“I came here because sociology is one of the few things that does not annoy me. The more you poke around in it - the more you find. It is abstract and precise at the same time; it gives the possibility to apply imagination in ordinary life. In addition, it is a pleasure that this subject literally pulls me out of the scope of my culture of upbringing. It's interesting - to learn to see and try to accept without prejudice the diversity of society”. |
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“I decided to enter this EP, because, firstly, I considered it to be a perspective area. Having learned about social informatics and having read the courses taught here, I decided that it was the best choice. Also, studying in English gives an advantage - a great impetus to master the language. What is more, having a great interest in social and political sciences and trends, I looked at sociologists who with their concepts and activities produce real, revolutionary things that change the public's views for the better. It fascinates and sometimes awakens the desire to follow them”. |
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“Initially, I was advised to enter this program by my friend, Ira Berdnikova, who is now a 3rd-year student. She told me what sociology is, what do they study. It interested me a lot, I browsed the HSE site and saw that this year, when we enroll, the program will be updated, there will be teaching in English, and besides it will be not just sociology but social informatics, which sounded nice and exciting. Then I watched a video with Daniil Alexandrovich, where he talked about the essence of the program and consolidated everything by visiting the open doors day of our faculty. After that, I was already sure that I wanted to study only here.” |
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“Well, in general, there were 3 main factors that guided my choice of our EP. First of all, Daniil Alexandrovich. When I first came to the open doors day in the HSE when I was in the 10th form, I really liked how he described the whole process of learning and what sociologists do in the modern world. Secondly, I was attracted by how everything in the HSE is arranged. This special atmosphere, unlike in other educational institutions and the approach of professors to teaching, which I learned from my friends who have already studied here. Well, the most important factor was that this field of knowledge was always very close to me. Up to the 9th form, I was seriously fond of journalism and thought of going to journalism at St.-Petersburg State University, but then I realized that sociology in HSE would be closer to me anyway”. |
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“In February, I received an advertising letter on my mail with an open doors day in the HSE, we met with my friend and rushed to St.-Petersburg. That's when I got on the presentation of "Sociology and Social Informatics". I do not know, but something directly pushed me here. I learned everything about the program, talked with students, with teachers and simply internally realized that it is mine, and there is no other way. Parents said that when I returned home and told them: "I will either go there or won’t go anywhere," they realized that I made my choice for sure. And here I am, and I study where I wanted to”. |
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“When I was thinking about my future after school, I definitely wanted to go to the Higher School of Economics, because in our school meetings with our graduates who became students of the HSE were very often arranged, and they told how it's great to study there, how many different possibilities from scientific to extracurricular activities it gives, and all this was reinforced by the words of our principal. When I decided that I will go to St.-Petersburg, and came to file documents, I had to apply for three specialties, I applied for Economics, Management, and I thought where else to file my documents. Then the girl from the admission committee advised me Sociology and social IT. At first, I thought, sociology, what it is all about, after all at the first mention it popped up only one thing - polls. She managed to interest me, and now I clearly knew what I want to do in this life. I realized that this program combines all that I need - communication with a huge number of people, since I'm a very sociable person, and elements of statistical analysis, then it seemed to me that it had something to do with mathematics, which I was crazy about at school. And now I'm on the 2nd year of Sociology and Social Informatics and do not regret that I chose this direction, it gave me an unreal number of interesting people and different ideas for the future.” |
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“After the publication of the green wave lists, it turned out that I was there in both sociology and economics. Having discussed the situation with my friends, I decided to enroll to sociology. Then, in August, I did not yet suspect that I had made a decision that would change expectations of my future. It's been six months already, and I still remember with a smile the day when the guy who accepted my documents sincerely congratulated me. Why did I change my opinion about programs so drastically? Who knows. Maybe it's about the amazing people I'm studying with? Or the curators and undergraduates, who became our older brothers and sisters? Probably the whole thing is in the teachers, because of whom we sometimes do not sleep at night? Hmm, still not clear. However, I am sure that the knowledge and skills that I acquired here had a strong influence on me as a person. I stopped passively looking at what is happening around. At the same time, people around me did not become guinea pigs for me, as some might think. Now I perceive the world differently. Deeper? In another context? It cannot be explained in words. If I were now offered to change my EP, I would not hesitate to refuse. How much has happened in six months here: dating, lectures, examinations, visits, meetings, tears. I'm happy to be where I am. Happy to study conspicuous consumption, do lots of projects, try to understand probability, and write paragraphs in English. English! Here it is, one of the aspects that decided my future! It was fundamentally important that my program provided me with the opportunity to develop language skills. Well, Sociology and social informatics successfully copes with this.” |
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“There were several reasons for choosing this particular EP. I do not presume to prioritize them, they were all equally important to me. Teaching in English, is something that attracted me from the very beginning. English has always been for me the most "native" subject in school, so I immediately desired to learn only in English, to feel what Russian students usually experience while studying abroad. Social informatics in the title interested me as well, combining such a humanitarian sphere as social science and modern technologies could not please me, since I have never seen a researcher-theorist in myself. And here, it is not entirely academic studies, especially since I originally wanted to study at "Business Informatics". So far, I have never regretted my choice”. |
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“For a long time I wanted to enter the Higher School of Economics because my sister was studying there. At first, I thought about the Moscow campus, but then I fell in love with St.-Petersburg and decided to change my initial choice. Then I started to look, what EPs are suitable for my set of USE. They were - Economics, Logistics, Management, Public Administration and Sociology and Social IT. Since the first two were not interesting to me, I submitted documents for the remaining ones. When the Green Wave appeared, I realized that I was there in Sociology and in Public Administration. My mother did not understand what sociology was, she thought that I would go with questionnaires all my life. But when I found the information on the HSE website about our EP, I realized that it is very interesting. But doubts still remained. Maria Sergeyeva, a 4th-year student, who answered all my questions, scattered them. Then I finally understood that sociology is something that I would like to study. " |
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“Most of all our program attracts me with a wide range of related sociology fields that can help in the future implementation. Well, of course, the focus on the digital world, which gives confidence that what you are studying now, will certainly come in handy later. In addition, we have a really well-structured web-site where you can see what students study in each course. All this determined my choice of our program”. |
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“To begin with, I was never a full humanities scholar or a techie - my favorite subjects at school were algebra and literature. I think that many Sociology students have a similar characteristic. I realized that I want to study at the HSE at the beginning of the tenth form, when I first came here for an open doors day. Finally, I realized that I want to enter sociology, during the week of occupations, this is an event on the spring break, when the HSE organizes excursions to various companies for entrants. From sociology, we went to the company "Playcat", which develops games for social networks. It was there that I finally understood in which spheres I could apply the knowledge gained at this department. Until August, I was tormented with the choice of campus: to stay in St.-Petersburg or move to Moscow. The deciding factor was that St.-Petersburg had more interesting program with all sorts of "buns" such as Information Systems. After studying here for six months, I can say with certainty that I did not regret that I chose this program. Also, for these six months I have discovered a lot of new things in myself, I think, it is one of the main goals of higher education.” |
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“Sociology concentrates a large number of directions, which is extremely interesting for me. I could never decide what is more interesting and more suitable for me: technical or humanitarian specialties. I liked almost everything, and there were many ways for further development. But I did not want to lose something, choosing only one sphere. Then, quite accidentally, I discovered the direction of "Sociology and Social Informatics", in which fundamental knowledge about society and applied IT skills interact and complement each other. I decided that here I could get the necessary knowledge and skills for further development. Even with the final choice, I was strongly influenced by the fact that our world is changing every day, now all our lives are inseparable with new technologies. Sociology is a very dynamic and developing science”.
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You can ask any questions about our educational program "Sociology and Social Informatics" in our official VKontakte group:
https://vk.com/hsespb_socinfo
Welcome!
Anna Timofeeva and Adriana Alieva