Programme Overview

Globalization has created a need for highly skilled professionals capable of working in a global environment. This Master’s programme explores state-society relations and economic development in modern Asia, predominantly South Asia and the Middle East, through comparative and international political economy, economic development theory, and comparative anthropological sociology. Its approach is grounded in the context of retrospective genesis methodology of Asian Studies.

The programme provides students with a range of skills required to understand the processes that are taking place in contemporary Asia. The programme is distinguished by its inter-disciplinary approach, which enables students to supplement area studies with courses on international trade, investment and business, thus providing them with necessary tools to analyze economic, political and cultural issues relevant to Asian countries. A number of courses will focus specifically on relations between the Russian Federation and countries in the region. The programme's academic content is complemented by research projects and opportunities for language training.

For students without prior academic or professional exposure to Oriental Studies, the programme will provide extensive training in the field. Students who come with a background in Oriental Studies will be able to advance their knowledge further and become specialists in the economic and socio-political development of Asian countries.

What will I study?

• the political development of contemporary East Asia and the Middle East: international relations, political history, government structure and institutions, political culture and heritage, state-society relations, political parties, as well as leadership in Asia and Russia
• the economic development of contemporary East Asia and the Middle East: concepts of economic development in Asia in the global economic system, Asian financial institutions, the conjuncture of international trade and the global commodity market, the role of Asian countries in international investments, international economic integration and international economic organizations in modern Asia, and national business in Asia
• the social development of contemporary East Asia and the Middle East: state, society and ethnicity in Asia; migration and diasporas in Asia; religious and cultural identity in Asia; and the arts in Asia

What are the benefits of the programme?

1. An interdisciplinary approach that combines methods from Oriental Studies and Economics, thereby providing students extensive knowledge of economic, political and cultural issues affecting Asia

2. A variety of opportunities for students to engage in research work under the supervision of experienced mentors.

3. Language training opportunities

4. The ability to develop an individual study plan

5. A combination of theoretical courses and field experience

Where will I work?

We designed this innovative Master’s programme to train professionals who will be able to pursue careers in both the public and private sectors, including but not limited to government agencies, multinational corporations, private business, consulting firms, academia, think tanks, the media, and NGOs.

The aim of our programme is to train highly skilled specialists to succeed in non-academic positions that demand excellence and expertise or to pursuit academic careers in business and political environments related to development of modern Asia. Program objectives include fundamental and applied training with an essential knowledge of global, comparative and transnational politics and economics as well as the specific expertise and skills related to Asian studies in business and political science.

Our professors train students in using modern IT and software in order to help them develop skills in the following fields:

- Political development of contemporary East Asia and the Middle East: international relations, political history, government structure and institutions, political culture and heritage, state-society relations, political parties, as well as leadership studies in Asia and Russia;

- Economic development of contemporary East Asia and the Middle East: concepts of economic development in Asia in the global economic system, Asian financial institutions, the conjuncture of international trade and the global commodity market, the role of Asian countries in international investments, international economic integration and international economic organizations in modern Asia, and national business in Asia;

- Social development of contemporary East Asia and the Middle East: state, society and ethnicity in Asia; migration and diasporas in Asia and Africa; religious and cultural identity in Asia; and the arts in Asia.

Program teaching staff introduces into the learning process a variety of active learning methods – case studies, project and teamwork, master classes and internships. The program aims at combining academic studies and research through organizing monthly scientific seminars and involving students in the projects currently conducted by the HSE Centers for research in political science and oriental studies.

Students can benefit from the several program distinctions, among which are the following: unique combination of academic and practical business oriented training; interdisciplinary approaches: political science and international relations, anthropology, economics, law, ecology, business culture studies; focus on qualitative and quantitative methods; several professors native (English, Chinese) speakers with international PhDs.

Major approaches, which the program lays the ground for the teaching and learning process, are the following:

-         Student-focused approach which emphasizes the learner's critical role in constructing meaning from new information and prior experience and focuses on skills and practices that enable lifelong learning and independent problem-solving in the field of Business and Politics in modern Asia.

-         Active Learning which encourages to engage students in two aspects – doing things and thinking about the things they are doing. Active learning requires appropriate learning environment which promotes research based and interdisciplinary learning; encourages leadership skills of the students through self-development activities; stimulates collaborative learning for building knowledgeable learning communities; cultivates task based performance by giving student's a realistic practical sense of the subject matter learnt in the classroom.

Broad aims of the assessment system in HSE University St. Petersburg and MA programme are related to the monitoring of students’ progress in compliance with learning outcomes, students’ motivation to further studies, providing students and teachers with the feedback on the quality of learning. The assessment is made at the course level, the overall progress is evaluated via the defence of master’s dissertation. 

The Programme team is committed to providing assessment that is timely, fair and corresponds to the learning outcomes attached to the module/unit. The assessment is aligned with the Programme’s learning objectives and the LO of each course and provides the reflection of ILO consistency for all the courses.

At the course level the overall assessment is a combination of two types of grades:

·        Grades for different types of activities, including home assignments, projects, classwork, midterms that provide the cumulative grade for students’ progress (up to 80% of the final grade)

·        Grade for the course examination, that commonly is at least 20% of the final grade.

HSE University uses the 10-points scale of assessment. The consistency of grades to the European Regulation Framework and Russian traditional grading systems is presented in the table below.

We welcome undergraduate students with a Bachelor degree. Given that English is the language of instruction, all applicants should have a high level of English, both oral and written. We strongly encourage applications from international students. We designed this innovative Master’s programme to train professionals who will be able to pursue careers in both the public and private sectors, including but not limited to government agencies, Asian multinational corporations, private business, consulting firms, academia, think tanks, the media, and NGOs. Please see full Application and Admissions Guideline on the website.