Ilya Smirnov

The new centre will operate as part of the Institute of Oriental and Classical Studies (IOCS) at the HSE Faculty of Humanities, and its flagship project will focus on the study of the language and oral folklore of Socotra Island. The centre is a trilateral international partnership between HSE University, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and a consortium of leading universities in the UAE. Read on to find out about what South Arabian studies involves and what research HSE scholars do in this field.

Russian society demonstrates a growing interest in Asia and North Africa, with economic, social, political and cultural expectations associated with the macro-region. What is more, demand for educational programmes and competencies related to Asian and African studies is projected to grow in Russian universities. HSE Vice Rector Sergey Roshchin and the heads of relevant HSE departments explain the university’s past and current efforts to respond to these challenges.

This year’s field season is over, and despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic, archaeologists from the Centre of Classical and Oriental Archaeology at the Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies (IOCS) were able to undertake their scheduled expeditions to Italy, Turkey, and Abkhazia. The Centre is the only Russian institution that conducts regular archaeological research in the Mediterranean region—the heart of ancient civilization, where neither Soviet nor Russian classical archaeologists have ever worked before.

Galin Tihanov, Chief Research Fellow of Poletayev Institute for Theoretical and Historical Studies in the Humanities and Professor of Queen Mary University of London, and Sergey Ivanov, Professor of the HSE Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies (IOCS) have been elected fellows of the British Academy. In an interview with the HSE News Service, Sergey Ivanov speaks about this important event, his new responsibilities as a fellow of the Academy, and his short-term research plans.

HSE has been offering courses in Asian Studies for 10 years now with numerous departments and programmes producing research in the field and offering in-depth courses. In December 2019, the HSE Academic Council approved the opening of a Joint Department with the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IOS RAS). How will the IOS RAS transfer its vast experience and resource to its new home at HSE? And what traditions in the study and teaching of Asian studies already exist at HSE?

The Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies of the Faculty of Humanities has launched a Center of Iranian Studies and the Persian Language. On December 6, representatives of HSE University and the Cultural Representative of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Moscow signed the cooperation agreement.

First-year students can select a minor in their personal accounts beginning at 18.00, March 26. HSE is offering a variety of interesting minors this year, so that students can choose the right minor for themselves.