How I Spent the Winter: American Students Talk about Their Winter School Experience

In January, Saint Petersburg HSE Winter School hosted a group of students from Smith College, the United States. Besides courses on Russian culture and history, they had an intense programme: weekends in Moscow, going to a theatre and numerous museums, watching a hockey game, and much more. We asked some Winter School participants about their experience in Saint Petersburg and how it affected them.

 Catherine

- Why did you decide to participate at HSE University Winter School?

- When I was in high school I read strictly Russian literature, and it was what tethered me to some kind of ideology. It was very important to me at that time. It kind of got me through the hardest part of my entire life, so I came on this trip because I wanted to reconnect with myself that existed long before I went through this kind of traumas. And yes, that has definitely happened on this trip. So the impetus of my coming here was deeply meaningful.

- What do you study here, at HSE?

- We took a Gender Studies course, a Contemporary Cultural Politics course, and it was called Imperial Russia at the Crossroads, so it was about pre-Bolshevik Revolution.

- Which one is your favourite?

- The Gender Studies course.

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- What activities outside the classes do you like the most?

- We went to a hockey game last night for the Gender Studies course, it was so fun! I felt like it was a really immersive cultural experience. I also felt like I got to connect with what life is like in Russia, outside of museums and tours of the city. It was a very authentic, raw experience. Such a blast! We also went to the Dostoyevsky museum, and that was a very emotional experience for me because, obviously, I am here because of Dostoyevsky. I read The Brothers Karamazov when I was fourteen, it changed the course of my life. So I stood in Dostoyevsky study and I was very overwhelmed, and I was just crying. And everyone was like ‘what’s wrong?’, ‘These are happy tears, don’t worry.’ So that was a great experience. And I’ve just enjoyed being in the city and experiencing cultural life outside of my own. Because this is my first time out of country, too, so I am very clueless and I am totally okay with that.

- How would you describe Russian people?

They are strong in their convictions, they are composed, they are beautiful. And, honestly, so much more friendly than we have been told that they are. Like there is so much propaganda between our countries, and I found that the people that I’ve met have defied my expectations in very overwhelming and positive ways.

- What’s the most interesting thing you learned during your courses? What did impress you?

- Today in our Gender Studies course we were talking about Soviet gay identities and we had a discussion about how perhaps being gay in Russia, post-Soviet and Soviet, is not as criminalized as we are told that it is, so in America what we hear is ‘it’s completely illegal to be gay, it’s absolutely criminalized.’ And we had a discussion about how that’s not true at all. And that got me thinking about how much of what we hear about Russia is just pure propaganda. That was an interesting discussion and realization to have.

- I guess I know the answer: what is your favourite aspect of Russian culture?

- Literature! There’s something about Russian literature that is so deeply humanistic and philosophical, and deterministic, and just… eye-opening. I find that many times the books don’t have happy endings, I always close them with tears falling down my face. And for four years I would just finish a Russian novel and look at my bookshelf thinking which one’s next because I was just obsessed.

- What do you study at your home university?

- I study English and Anthropology, so makes sense.

- Do you speak Russian, a little bit?

- Net (No). Spanish is my other language; I am going to Spain next semester.

- So your favourite word in Russian is 'no'?

- Yes! Or ‘spasibo’.

- Would you come here again?

- Yes, absolutely! I hope to come to Russia again. I’d been reflecting on ideals versus realities. And how I had this love for Russia, ever since I was a small child that I couldn’t quite explain even though I am not Russian, I am Polish and Norwegian mostly, but [how] coming here and actually experiencing the cultural life here has made that love real. And when love is real it’s imperfect but I am obsessed … and just with travel in general. I absolutely hope to come back here.

Daniel

- We are a little bit curious, why do you speak Russian so fluently?

- So both of my parents are from Saint Petersburg, they moved in the 90s to the US, and I was brought up speaking Russian and only Russian until I was about 6 years old. I learned how to read and write. That’s why I speak Russian.

- Is it the first time you have come to Russia?

- Yes, that’s my first time in Russia.

- And how do you like it? I mean considering your connection to the country.

- Evgeniy (the programme coordinator) asked me when we were in Moscow if I felt any connection, and at that time I didn’t really feel a connection. But then I came to Saint Petersburg and the second day here I felt like I belonged here, I felt like I was home.

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- Why did you decide to participate in the Winter School?

- I was talking to Evgeniy about doing a Russian minor at UMass Amherst and he asked me if I had ever been to Russia, and I was like ‘no’. He told me ‘hey, we have a study abroad programme.’ It’s not a semester abroad, it’s just a J-term, so I am not missing any classes. And he was like ‘Would you be interested in going?’. So I talked to my parents and that’s it.

- What do you study here?

- I’m taking Gender Studies class, the one on Imperial Russia at the Crossroads, and I’m taking a Modern Politics class.

- Which one is your favourite?

- The Gender Studies class. It’s very interesting.

- What activities outside the university do you like the most?

- The hockey game was definitely a different experience from the rest of our trip, the rest of the trip was museums. I’m not a huge fan of art, especially on a guided tour because I like to take my time with certain dates and then other things I’d like to… you know… skim. But I was able to talk to a few people at the hockey game, and kind of get a different perspective on the culture here that we do when we just walk on the streets as a group of US students or we are on museum getting a tour.

- How would you describe Russian people?

- Very similar to Americans. I’ve actually had this conversation with probably fifteen people at this point. There is propaganda both ways and what Americans know about Russians and what Russians know about Americans is very different. For me as Russian American, I live in that grey area in between, that’s really the same thing, just different language pretty much.

- What is the most interesting fact you have learned about Russia from your experience here?

- Just how different Moscow and Saint Petersburg are. Moscow is very perfect, very picturesque, for me, at least, it takes away from the experience that’s sort of too perfect. And then which is I think is part of the reason that I don’t feel like I was at home, I felt like was in a dream. And then when I came to Saint Petersburg it’s a lot more like real life, it’s a lot more historic, too, the buildings are still historic, a lot of palaces and stuff like that.

- What is your favourite element of Russian culture?

- The language. Just because this is the first time that I’ve been able to freely use the language here. And learning the language for nineteen years and then get to finally put it to use has been a great experience.

- (Switch to Russian) What is your favourite word in Russian? Or the most frequently used?

- That’s a difficult question. Lubov’ (Love). Love in English has a bit of another meaning compared to the word for ‘love’ in Russian. Although they seem to be the same, in fact, the meaning is slightly different.

- Would you come to Russia again if you had an opportunity?

- Yes. In May. To get the summer version of Russia.

- What do you think about the winter here?

- Well, I expected a little more snow then we have here. From what I heard, when there’s snow on the ground it’s a lot less grey, more pretty. It’s unfortunate that there isn’t. Not much we can do about it.

Kevin

- Why did you decide to participate at HSE University Winter School?

- (Speaks Russian) I have always wanted to travel to Russia and I have been studying the Russian language for two years, and my teacher asked me to come on this trip. So I came with them and it just was an opportunity to finally be able to come to Russia and speak the language I am practising.

- So you have never been here before, right?

- Yes, this is my first time.

- Any other countries?

- I’ve been to France, Germany, Switzerland, and Canada before this. Of course, the United States.

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- What do you study at the university here?

- We have three classes that we all have as a group studying. We have a course on Imperial Russian history, we have a course on the gender in the Soviet Union, and contemporary Russian politics and how the memory of Russian history influences its modern politics.

- And which is your favourite?

- (Laughing) That’s a hard question! I love all my professors! So I would say that the one I find the most interesting personally is the Contemporary Russian Political Thought because it sorts of blends together all the different elements of Imperial Russian history and Soviet Russian history into a modern perspective.

- And what activities outside the university do you like the most?

- So, that’s a hard question too. We’ve been to so many museums and we’ve been to so many historical places, and those have all been really interesting, but my favourite personally has been the opportunity to be in the culture and be able to try to speak Russian and learn my own limitations in that, but also just the experience of when I am understood. That’s a very rewarding experience.

- How would you describe Russian people?

- I have found Russian people are not so different from American people, and I think that it’s something that is not talked about enough, and I think that it’s an important cultural experience to see that all people at our base level are people. Whether they are Russian, American, German, French, I think that at the base level people are people, and that’s have been a very rewarding discovery to have seen first-hand.

- What is the most interesting fact you have learned here in Russia?

- I have to think because there have been a lot of interesting facts. I would say that it’s surprising to me that Russians don’t always drink water with meals and they don’t drink water with ice, that’s been shocking and I am still not over it, because I love ice water and I drink probably a half gallon a day. And the fact that it’s not just a regular thing has been shocking to me.

- What is your favourite element of Russian culture?

- I’d say that there is a very deep appreciation within Russian society for Russian culture. And so the appreciation and the common understanding that Russian people have of their own culture has been interesting to observe. Because I think that it goes deeper in a lot of ways and I feel like in America people appreciate American culture, I think that Russian people have a very in-depth understanding of where they come from and what makes their own culture special to them. So I guess that it’s not something I found interesting but it’s an observation I made about Russian people that I really liked. And also just how willing Russian people are and how much Russian people want to understand, and they try to speak English, and they try to reach a common understanding regardless of the circumstances. I feel like there is a desire to be helpful and to be friendly.

- Since you speak Russian (switch to Russian), we are going to use it a little bit. What is your favourite Russian word?  

- My favourite Russian word… I think it is ‘nastoyaschiy’ (authentic, true, genuine). It is an interesting word in Russian, and I have always wanted to say ’nastoyaschiy’ when I want to say about some authentic or traditional Russian ‘something’.

- What do you study at your home university?

- I study Political Science as well as the minor in History. So there had been very interesting to have history and politics classes here and to get a different perspective on things that I normally do study in the United States and to hear a different perspective on those topics.

- Is HSE University different from your home university?

- I think that there is not a big gap between what I am used to at my university and what I’ve experienced here. I feel like the Russian professors and the structures of the courses are actually very similar to what I’ve been used to. If anything, I come from a pretty big school, so the smaller class sizes have been very new to me, but it’s not been a big shock for any differentiation between teaching styles.

- Would you come to Russia again if you had such a chance?

- I was actually talking to Ksenia (Winter school coordinator) yesterday about maybe coming back this summer because like I said I’ve been studying Russian for two years now, but being here and being immersed in it I feel like I’ve started to understand more in these two weeks than I have in two years of studying. Of course, there were foundations and you  need to get through those, but being here, it’s so immersive, I feel like I had such a great opportunity to progress in my Russian and I want to continue to do that.

- Why did you decide to study Russian?

- Well, because I wanted to come to Russia, I wanted to be able to communicate with people here and even if it’s only basic things, like to be able to ask where things are or to order my own food in Russian. It was like investing time into making this experience all the more memorable.

- Is there anything you would like people going to study in Russia to know?

- I would say that there is a lot of propaganda that we hear in the United States that makes a concept of studying in Russia very scary, and it seems like it’s a big step to come to Russia, it seems like it may be not safe, not going to be as friendly, all these things I feel like we hear a lot, but I felt as though as soon as I started to meet people and as soon as I was in the country for more than 20 minutes. I realized that the reality is that Russia is so unique and so different from anywhere else I’ve ever been. It’s still real, and people are still real, and everything here has just been extremely rewarding and I would highly recommend that if anybody is interested in seeing this country, absolutely do because it has been just unbelievable experience the entire time.

J-Term Courses

Culture of Politics / Politics of Culture: Cultural Wars and Cultural Alliances in Contemporary Russia

Lecturer: Ilya Kalinin

The aim of this course is to explore the cultures and mechanics of modernization, which is commonly understood as a process of transition to a “modern” society. Using the rich material of recent history of Russia we will try to understand not only a specific role that culture played in (post-)socialist societies and spaces but also the workings of culture in today’s societies across the globe. In particular, we will explore how the state administration of cultural production and civil society’s requirements for the cultural sphere as a sphere of social autonomy mediate and reinforce the processes of modernization. Throughout the course we will define culture as a sphere of symbolic values and social practices, as well as a material reality determining communication between human subjects and their cultural environments. 

Imperial Russia at the Crossroads, 1800-1918

Lecturer: Tatiana Borisova

This course examines the fall of the Russian Empire. With Russian literature and first-hand accounts as our guides, we will explore the social and political tensions of the modernizing empire from victory over Napoleon to the Red and White Terror. Our central question will be: how did political leaders and elites coexist and interact with their subject populations, and particularly the educated stratum that often questioned authoritarian rule?

We will encounter the last Romanov tsars as well as peasants and nobles, merchants and usurers, Tatars and Jews, conservatives and revolutionaries. Exploring primary sources and cutting-edge historical scholarship we will seek to understand people’s choices and expectations that have not only witnessed history but have shaped it.

Introduction to Soviet Gender History

Lecturer: Pavel Vasilyev

This course offers an introduction to gender history with a focus on the Soviet period. The students will be introduced to both classic and the more recent texts in Soviet gender history, discussing topics such as the ideological work of gender, politics of the family in the Soviet Union, gender and the welfare state, and sexuality and the body. The course seeks to develop the students’ ability to think critically about the field of gender history, its major genres, themes, and analytical practices, past and present. The students are also expected to become familiar with specific sources, methods, and approaches in the field of Soviet gender history. Meetings in class will be augmented by off-site sessions that make use of the course’s location in St. Petersburg and discuss gender dimensions of historical events such as the 1917 Revolution or the Siege of Leningrad that took place in the city.

Pavel Vasilyev

Department of History: Senior Lecturer

Tatiana Y. Borisova

Department of History: Associate Professor

Ilya Kalinin

Department of Philology: Associate Professor

Irina Shchemeleva

Санкт-Петербургская школа гуманитарных наук и искусств: Декан

January Term 2020 was delivered under the academic supervision of Irina Shchemeleva, the Dean of St Petersburg School of Arts and Humanities, and Evgeny Dengub, a 5 College Lecturer of Russian and co-Director of the 3 College Russian Initiative (Smith College, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Mount Holyoke College) with the support of the International Office of HSE Campus in St Petersburg. The J-Term is co-organised by the programme in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies at Smith College (Associate  Professor Sergey Glebov, the Director of the programme) and the Lewis Global Studies Centre at Smith College.