About the Department

Goals and main activities

The Department of History at the Higher School of Economics in St. Petersburg was founded in 2012. The overarching goals of the Department are to systematically develop the fields of global, comparative, and transnational history as a potent tool for overcoming the limitations of national history canon, to foster interdisciplinary dialogue in the fields of social sciences and humanities, and to bring new public relevance to historical knowledge. The Department mission includes the development of new types of historical undergraduate and graduate education in Russia as well as pioneering research in Russian historiography in dialogue with the global historical scholarship. The Department was founded together with the Center for Historical Research.

The Departement offers courses in the Undergraduate program of History, the MA programm "Global and Regional History" and the Doctoral school of History.

The Department’s areas of research include: global history of empire, nationalism, and colonialism; environmental and technological history, urban history; early modern social and cultural history; intellectual history and history of science; history of Islam in Russia; history of Cold War; history of medicine; digital humanities and GIS.

Center for Historical Research

Center for Historical Research was founded in 2012 and has been an organizational platform for a wide range of fundamental research projects on Russian and world history, supported by leading international organizations and specialists. The Center conducts a number of research projects in cooperation with leading international universities and Russian research centers.

The Center's strategic partners include major research institutions in Russia, Europe and the United States. Since July 2017 the Center for Historical Research has been an institutional partner of the European Information and Research Network on Parliament History, being the only member of the Association representing Russia.

The Center has a program for International Associate Research Fellows. In the period from 2012-2020, the Center has hosted more than 20 researchers, giving them access to research resources and the opportunity to participate in research seminars and conferences of the Center.

Since 2014 the Center for Historical Research has been participating in the HSE Postdoctoral Fellowship program (you can find out about international postdoctoral fellowships accepted under the program here) and in the program for Russian postdocs.

In 2016 the Center for Historical Research opened a new division – the Laboratory of Environmental and Technological History, which aims to conduct research in the rapidly developing areas of historical knowledge – environmental and technological history.

Find out more about the Center here.

Students Research Society the Department of History

In 2018, on the basis of the Department of History, the Student Research Society (hereinafter - SRS) was created. The goal of the SRS is to involve students in the scientific and cultural life of the Department and the university, as well as help in the implementation of research projects and initiatives. The main activity of the SRS is to organize and conduct thematic events for students of the HSE and other universities, including the annual Usable Pasts conference, summer schools and public seminars.