An Academic Approach to Cultural Tourism

The International Summer School, ‘Impacts of Cultural Events on Small and Medium-size Art-oriented Towns,’ has begun.

The International Summer School, ‘Impacts of Cultural Events on Small and Medium-size Art-oriented Towns,’ has begun.

Participants of the School include alumni of the Experience Economy: Hospitality and Tourism Management Master’s Programme, undergraduates and graduate students of HSE’s Moscow campus, as well as students, young lecturers and researchers from various universities in Poland, Slovenia, Kyrgyzstan, South Africa, and Japan.

The School, which was organized as a series of lectures given by Russian and foreign instructors, commenced with an opening speech by HSE Academic Supervisor Evgeny Yasin, who talked about the historical background of the transformation of Russian cities on the basis of cultural processes. This was followed by a lecture given by Pieter Jan Valgaeren, a researcher from the Free University of Brussels (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), who discussed research conducted in Belgium concerning the effects of the international Manifesta Biennial 10.

In addition, a meeting between students and representatives of the Gatchina city administration aroused quite a bit of interest. During the event, Summer School students learned about the many cultural events held in the city and about the strategic plans for developing the tourism potential of the Gatchina District of Leningrad Region.
           
Over the next several days, the Summer School will see presentations by the Director of HSE’s Center for Applied Economic Research, Tatyana Abankina; the Director of the Leontief International Centre for Social and Economic Research, Leonid Limonov; and the Deputy Director of the Institute for Cultural Programmes, Ivan Kizilov. The main researchers to present at the School over the course of a two-day period are Dutch researchers Margo Rooijackers and Gert-Jan Remmers of the NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences. Aside from lectures, the School will hold a number of master classes and workshops conducted by Valery Gordin, Marina Matetskaya, and Maria Dedova of the Laboratory of Cultural Economics.
 
Prepared by Maria Dedova