What Awaits Participants of HSE St-Petersburg Summer School 2023

From July 3 to August 11, HSE University-St Petersburg will hold a traditional event—HSE St-Petersburg Summer School 2023 which offers the participants various courses in four fields of studies. International and Russian students will get a chance not only to gain new knowledge and ECTS credits but also to feel the unforgettable atmosphere of summer St Petersburg. The classes will be held both in Russian and English. Find out about the peculiarities and surprises of the Summer School in the article.

HSE University—Saint Petersburg

This year, the Summer School has prepared four main areas of training:

• Russian Language and Literature;
• Political Science and International Relations;
• Economics and Finance;
• Media Communications and Design.

HSE St-Petersburg Summer School 2023 offers courses lasting from one to four weeks. Registration is open for the students of Russian and worldwide universities. They can take part in two formats: online and offline. The curriculum of the Summer School allows the participants to combine courses in different fields of study and gain ECTS credits.

This year, the feature of the Summer School is the cultural programme which will help the attendees to learn more about the cultural capital of Russia and dive into the unforgettable atmosphere of the summer city on the Neva River. The participants will go on a boat trip along St Petersburg's river and canals and will be able to see unique works of art in the city museums.

Such a wide variety of courses helps the attendees to deepen their knowledge in their sphere of research interests and gain fundamentally new skills by choosing a field which is not related to their concentration.

The course 'Modern Russia: Language and Culture' will be taught by Alevtina Iagodova and Natalia Novak. It will help the students to dive into the world of the language of Alexander Pushkin, Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky. The course covers all the aspects of language studies and includes constant communication with native speakers, which helps to improve the language skills of both students who have just started studying it and more advanced learners. Groups will be formed according to the level of the attendees' language proficiency: the students will participate in lively discussions and do creative tasks in Russian. It is an amazing opportunity to expand your knowledge of Russian grammar and vocabulary and boost your communication skills in professional and social spheres. The first course session will take place on July 3-14, and the second one—on July 17-28. Students will earn 3 ECTS per session.

Alevtina Iagodova, Tutor, Department of Foreign Languages

It is said that the most effective and attractive way to master a language is not just learning it, but immersing in its world, in the country where it is a state language—Russia. By choosing to study Russian in St Petersburg, you become a hero of Pushkin's poetry and Dostoevsky's novels walking down Nevsky Prospekt and feeling the unique spirit of the city on the Neva River which is full of mystery and adventure.

Apart from studying Russian, the Summer School offers the participants three different courses which cover various aspects of Political Science. The courses will help the students to build a comprehensive picture of the Internet as a political sphere, get to know key models and theories that are implemented in the public sector and learn more about political processes in the Post-Soviet space. The course sessions start on July 3 and will give students from 3 to 4 ECTS.

Yury Kabanov, Academic Supervisor of the Bachelor's programme 'Political Science and World Politics'

Both courses that I will deliver during the Summer School are focused on the interconnection of the Internet and politics. The first one—'Introduction to Digital Politics'—is more 'politological'. It covers those changes which are happening in politics and society under the influence of digital technologies in different countries. Mostly, we will focus on the Eurasian region. The second course—'Challenges of Digital Governance'—is more 'managerial'. We will discuss digital transformation in the public sector and the challenges which follow it. The emphasis will be put not on the technologies of digital governance itself, but on managerial and social aspects of their implementation. Both courses will be useful not just for researchers whose scientific interests are related to this topic. As we all almost live 'online', knowing how the Internet changes societies and states is a very significant practical skill.

Andrey Starodubtsev, Academic Supervisor of the Master's programme 'Comparative Politics of Eurasia'

The course 'Public Administration in the Post-Soviet Space' is devoted to the general characteristics and peculiarities of public administration in Post-Soviet countries. It focuses on the reasons and outcomes of common features and differences in the governance models. The discussions will be based on the political analysis of the specific spheres of a public policy which allows, on the one hand, to see the diversity of its manifestations but, on the other hand, we will be able to come back to the peculiarities of the political development of individual countries and the whole region under study in general.

During the course, the attendees will study the basic concepts of the political courses research, management and public administration, and will be able to apply them to describe and explain the government processes in the Post-Soviet countries. Besides, another important part of the course is that the students will be able to try writing texts about public administration in Post-Soviet countries for a wide audience.

The next course which is worth paying attention to is 'Finance, Corporations and Sustainability'. During the course, the attendees will study the up-to-date trends in the field of corporate finance, risk management and financial analysis. The classes will be based on case studies, which makes the course not only interesting, but practice-oriented. The course will help students to deepen their knowledge in the field of finance and start developing their future careers. The classes will take place from July 31 to August 11. Each participant will gain 4 ECTS.

Varvara Nazarova, Academic Supervisor of the Master's programme 'Finance'

How to check a company's effectiveness? What are the growth drivers of a company's value? How to build an effective strategy of risk management and which risks should one consider? Why do we need dashboards, and why do most companies use this form for presenting their results? What are experimental models in finance and how to build them? These and many other 'financial' topics will be covered in the framework of the Summer School. Based on the cases of real business and their own business experience, the professors-practitioners will introduce the attendees to the top topics in corporate finance.

At the end of the course, they will have a chance to participate in the business simulation 'Points of Transformation', a flagship game in the field of building a business career!

The fourth direction of the Summer School unites two up-to-date courses in media communications and design. The course 'Media Communications' offers students of different concentrations to dive into the sphere of media and take over the experience of the professors-practitioners from this field. The course session will be held from July 31 to August 11 and will give the students 4 ECTS.

Yegor Korolev, Academic Supervisor of the Bachelor's programme 'Media Communications'

Our course will be helpful to those who have already been running their social network accounts or are only planning to start a blog. How to create an effective content plan, which promotion tools to use, and what the texts should be like—we will talk about all these things not just theoretically, but practically. The students will be able to add a new media project to their portfolio—we will create, model and learn how to promote this project within this course.

The course 'Design Daily Diary' will develop the attendees' design thinking, and in the end, each student will prepare their own creative project which will be designed with the materials at hand: tickets, magazines, bills, photos and notes. During the course, the students will boost their creative skills and master new ones—making a page layout, creating collages, and working with tools for vector and bitmap graphics. The course session will take place on July 31-August 10. Each attendee will earn 3 ECTS.

Mitya Kharshak, Director of HSE University-St Petersburg School of Art and Design

The key peculiarity of the course is the balance between creative, technical and, strange as it may sound, entertaining components. 'Design Daily Diary' is a course in which the tasks are as personalised as possible. Every attendee will work on their own content. We also included some film exhibitions in the programme which will enhance the students' awareness of the profession. The course is designed in a way that does not require the participants to have professional training in the field of design. The learners will fully immerse in the creative way of thinking and project process.

Register for HSE St-Petersburg Summer School 2023