Maria Safonova

Associate Professor: HSE Campus in St. Petersburg / Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences / Department of Sociology

Maria Safonova has been at HSE University since 2007.

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Education and Degrees

2011

Candidate of Sciences* (PhD) in Social Structure, Social Institutes and Processes
RAS Institute of Sociology

2005

Master's
European University in St Petersburg

2004

Degree
Saint Petersburg State University of Culture and Arts

* Candidate of Sciences
According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 2011, Candidate of Sciences belongs to ISCED level 8 - "doctoral or equivalent", together with PhD, DPhil, D.Lit, D.Sc, LL.D, Doctorate or similar. Candidate of Sciences allows its holders to reach the level of the Associate Professor.

Awards and Accomplishments

Best Teacher — 2020, 2018, 2014–2016
Young Faculty Support Programme (Group of Young Academic Professionals)
Category "Future Professoriate" (2013–2014)

Supervisor of the following Doctoral theses

for a Candidate of Sciences degree

1
N. Sokolova Cultural consumption as practices of social distinction: styles of consumption in Russian big city, 2023

Courses (2023/2024)

General Sociology (Bachelor’s programme; Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences; 1 year, 1-4 module)Eng
Social Network Analysis (Bachelor’s programme; Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences; 2 year, 4 module)Eng
Past Courses

Courses (2022/2023)

Applied Sociological Theory (Bachelor’s programme; Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences; 3 year, 4 module)Eng
General Sociology (Bachelor’s programme; Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences; 1 year, 1-4 module)Eng
Research Seminar “Culture and Inequality” (Bachelor’s programme; Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences; 4 year, 1-3 module)Eng
Research Seminar “Culture and Inequality” (Bachelor’s programme; Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences; 3 year, 1-4 module)Eng
Research Seminar “Culture and Inequality” (Bachelor’s programme; Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences; 2 year, 1-4 module)Eng
Social Studies of Art (Mago-Lego; 2 module)Rus

Courses (2021/2022)

General Sociology (Bachelor’s programme; Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences; 1 year, 1-4 module)Eng
Research Seminar “Culture and Inequality” (Bachelor’s programme; Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences; 4 year, 1-3 module)Eng
Research Seminar “Culture and Inequality” (Bachelor’s programme; Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences; 3 year, 1-4 module)Eng
Research Seminar “Culture and Inequality” (Bachelor’s programme; Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences; 2 year, 1-4 module)Eng
Social Network Analysis (Bachelor’s programme; Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences; 4 year, 1, 2 module)Eng
Social Network Analysis (Bachelor’s programme; Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences; 2 year, 4 module)Eng

Courses (2020/2021)

General Sociology (Bachelor’s programme; Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences; 1 year, 1-4 module)Eng
Research Seminar “Culture and Inequality” (Bachelor’s programme; Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences; 4 year, 1-3 module)Eng
Research Seminar “Culture and Inequality” (Bachelor’s programme; Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences; 3 year, 1-4 module)Eng
Research Seminar “Culture and Inequality” (Bachelor’s programme; Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences; 2 year, 1-4 module)Eng
Social Network Analysis (Bachelor’s programme; Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences; 2 year, 4 module)Eng
Social Studies of Art (Mago-Lego; 3 module)Rus

Timetable for today

Full timetable

Conferences

2014
XVIII ISA World Congress of Sociology: Facing an Unequal World: Challenges for Global Sociology (Йокогама). Presentation: Reproduction of Cultural Capital and Leisure Practices in the Russian Society: Does Bourdieu Work

2013
Annual Conference of the British Sociological Association (London). Presentation: The Academic Empires: Colonial Legacies and International System of Student Migration
BASEES/ICCEES European Congress (Cambridge). Presentation: After the Soviet academic empire: The new (?) geography of academic mobility and research collaboration in post-socialist space
XXXIII Sunbelt Social Networks Conference of the International Network for Social Network Analysis (Hamburg). Presentation: Modelling the Network of International Scholarly Co-authorships
Fifth Conference of the European Survey Research Association (ESRA) ( Ljubljana). Presentation: "The status bias" in social networks research design
ESA 11th Conference: Crisis, Critique and Change (Turin). Presentation: High Culture Consumption and Reproduction of Cultural Capital in the Russian Society: Does Bourdieu Work?

Jul

2024

'It Is Easy for HSE Graduates, Including Sociologists, To Get into IT': Graduate Arina Bykova on Her Work in 'Yandex'

Arina Bykova is a 2020 graduate of the Bachelor's programme 'Sociology and Social Informatics'. For more than two years, she worked for the company 'Selectel' and then moved to 'Yandex 360' in a position in HR marketing. Her interest in marketing aroused in her thanks to her bachelor's studies and volunteering at the Career Centre. Find out why the sociological studies are interesting, which skills turned out to be the most useful and how the graduate changed her career track.

Jul

2023

'I Submitted My Documents to Three Universities: Oxford, Cambridge and the London School of Economics. I was Accepted in All Three'

At HSE University-St Petersburg, except for the main learning trajectory, over two years, the students master an additional one—a minor. It can help to find new optics for research, choose a profession or simply broaden the horizons. A minor helped Tatyana Novotolskaya, a graduate of the Bachelor's programme 'Sociology and Social Informatics', not only find a new area for research but also get enrolled in the Master's programme at Oxford University. Find out more about all these things and some pieces of advice for prospective students in our interview.

Aug

2022

'I Have Never Regretted Entering 'Sociology' Programme'

Alina Kamanina is a graduate of the Bachelor's Programme 'Sociology and Social Informatics' at HSE University – Saint Petersburg. She has been working as a game analyst in 'G5 Entertainment AB' company for two years. We talked to the graduate about how she entered the game industry, what criteria she used to choose a university and why critical thinking is the main university skill, in her opinion.