BA Students Join a Field Trip to Germany

Students of the BA programme in History at the Higher School of Economics in St. Petersburg together with the professors of the Department of History went on a field trip to Germany. Students together with Alexander Semyonov, Anton Kotenko and Dietmar Wulff visited Bonn University, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, and University of Leipzig. The field trip was supported by the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service). The theme of the trip was 'The Empire in a Global History'.

Students of our educational programme can get a unique experience of living and learning in another country and open new horizons of possible employment abroad. Along with the studies in the framework of the international exchange, one can also improve their foreign language skills (e.g. English, German or Polish), gain experience of cooperation in an international academic environment, get familiar with the educational systems of other countries, and develop intercultural communication skills.

HSE St. Petersburg cooperates with universities in Germany, Poland, Finland, and USA, which helps to expand the scope of research interests and practical results of students and lecturers of the Department of History. Additionally, this allows preparing international-level experts (BA and MA) who understand global culture well.

Students of the BA programme in History have regular opportunities to take part in such international summer schools, conferences, internships, and archival tours.

July 3, 2017, the summer school was launched and held in the format of a field seminar in Germany. This type of summer school included lectures and seminars with professors from Bonn University, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, and Leipzig University, as well as meetings with representatives of MA programmes and representatives of scholarship centers that support international student exchanges.

DAAD is one of the partners of HSE St. Petersburg in Germany. It provides HSE St. Petersburg students a possibility to receive a scholarship for pursuing research and MA programme at German universities.

The field trip lasted two weeks. The main theme of the programme was the study of the Empire in a Global History. During the seminars, students of the first, second and third years attended lectures by Martin Aust (Bonn University), Catherine Machhotina (Bonn University), Yvonne Kleinmann (Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg) and Alexander Semenov (HSE St. Petersburg).

During the trip students visited memorable places in Berlin, Aachen, Bonn, Koblintse, Leipzig, Cologne, Galle. The participants had a chance not only to gain new knowledge, but also to visit a fairly large number of German cities.

For example, the group visited the Pergamon Museum, the Old National Gallery, the Documentation Center of the National Socialism Period in Cologne, the Cologne Cathedral, the Aachen Cathedral, the Kifheuser and the Friedrich Barbarossa Monument, the Panorama of the Peasants' War in Bad Frankenhausen, the Battle of the Nations monument and many other important historical places in Germany.

Such experience gave the students an excellent opportunity to get acquainted with the universities, their rules and development prospects. HSE St Petersburg plans to continue organizing regular summer schools and building partnerships with many other universities not only in Germany, but also in other countries.