About the Department

In today’s world, issues of ethnicity, interethnic and interreligious contact and conflict, and the preservation of ethnic and cultural heritage are more relevant than ever before. Modern challenges require professionals with fundamental knowledge of anthropology and ethnology.

The RAS Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (the Kunstkamera) is the oldest public museum in Russia, and boasts a long history of scientific and ethnographic contributions. The Kunstkamera’s historic mission combines theory and practice, basic research and public museum activities, and the development of museum studies and educational programmes for visitors. Over its 300-year history, this unique museum complex has charted Russia’s experience as a multinational entity in the global context, making it one of the world’s leading research centres in ethnocultural heritage and diversity.

The joint department was founded on the basis of existing cooperation and the shared development trajectories of the RAS Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography and HSE University St Petersburg.