The Summer School of the Francophone Organisation on European Studies and Education in Social Sciences (OFFRES - Organisation francophone pour la formation et la recherche européennes en sciences humaines) was held at the beginning of July 2019 in St. Petersburg with the support of HSE University. The school brought together 60 researchers from almost 20 countries. Over the course of a week, school participants organised lectures and seminars around the theme, 'Empires: Centre and Periphery' in 5 areas: cinema, literature, philosophy, history, and political science.