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Regular version of the site

Programme Overview

Quick facts about the programme:

  • Full-time
  • 2 years
  • 120 ECTS
  • English-taught
  • State-accredited master’s degree
  • European Credit Transfer

Three tracjectories:

  1. Post-Soviet Area Studies
  2. International Politics of Eurasia
  3. Advanced Theory and Methods (pre-PhD)

The Master’s in Comparative Politics of Eurasia at HSE — St. Petersburg is a response to the growing strategic importance of the wider Eurasian space, including the former Soviet Union, as well as the associated need for both national and international expertise in the comparative politics of this vital region. The programme provides for discipline-based professional training in comparative politics complemented with an advanced, specialist understanding of the Eurasian region. The programme curriculum has been developed around a core conceptual training in comparative political science and area studies. Alongside this core learning, the programme offers an exciting range of courses that cover politics and society in contemporary Russia, the social and political transformations of Central Asia and the Caucasus, political economy of post-communist development, and international relations in the region. Courses are taught by professors from HSE — St. Petersburg and by invited scholars from Free University of Brussels (ULB), University of Bremen, American University of Central Asia and other partner universities.

The programme strikes a right balance between lectures and seminars focused on discussions of the state-of-theart in the field. It also involves practical training related to one of the programme tracks. HSE — St. Petersburg hosts a number of interdisciplinary research centres, including the Centre for comparative governance studies, ongoing projects, interdisciplinary seminars and series of guest lectures that offer stimulating research environment within which to develop the Master’s Dissertation under the guidance of recognized experts in the field.

The programme provides all necessary assistance for identifying research, fieldwork and practice-oriented internship placements (with a limited number of meritbased travel grants). Among them are independent research centres, NGOs, international organisations, local governments and federal government structures, and state and private companies. We expect that students’ priorities for internship placement will be in St. Petersburg and other locations in the Russian Federation, though there also exists a number of internship options in Finland, Sweden, Norway and China and fieldwork opportunities in countries of the post-Soviet space.

The programme assists students in finding and securing study abroad opportunities within the broad network of HSE partner universities in Europe, the United States and Asia. Among these are University College of London, Beijing Normal University, University of Oslo, OSCE Academy in Bishkek, American University of Central Asia and many more.

The rigorous conceptual and methodological design of the programme means that it is accessible to good students from all academic backgrounds and with different professional experiences. Through the programme, students will attain the subject and disciplinary knowledge, the methodological expertise and the professional sophistication to successfully pursue careers in the public or private sector; including in academia, think tanks, risk and business consultancies, political consultancy, the government and international organisations, NGOs, the media and journalism, and diplomacy.

Programme presentation