Exchange Students from Europe and Asia at HSE Perm: First Impressions
In 2019 HSE Perm launched two international mobility programmes for hosting students from foreign universities. Exchange students from Tajikistan and the UK will spend the spring semester in Perm.
The Higher School of Economics has signed student exchange agreements with the Tajik State University of Finance and Economics and Durham University. Students of these universities will attend classes alongside HSE students and become a part of the Perm community.
Hailing from Tajikistan, Mukhammad Niyozov, Nasimdjon Islomov and Zufar Kholmirzoev enrolled in the Bachelor’s educational programme 'Economics'. They joined the Foreign Student Club of HSE Perm and enjoy participating in extracurricular activities: the students participated in the trivia game 'Bitva Umov' ('Battle of the Minds'), in which Zufar helped lead his team to victory.
Four students from Durham University also came to study as exchange students. Phoebe, Eleanor, Madeleine and Athena are all majors in Russian Studies, so they came to study in Perm Term, a programme developed by HSE in partnership with the Durham University. Perm Term includes the bachelor's programme 'History', in which students study Russian language and history and get to know the cultural environment of Perm. During the semester they increase their level of proficiency in Russian and put their skills into practice.
For both sets of students from Tajikistan and the UK, this is their first visit to Russia. The Tajik students have never been in a cold climate before, and the British students are enjoying the opportunity to explore more winter sports: they have already managed to experience the Gubakha ski center activities and discover what the Ural winter is like.
Though the students came to Russia to study, they are also very interested to learn about local life, culture and customs as much as possible. On March 3, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities Ekaterina N. Shestakova organized a trip for students to the architectural and ethnographic museum Khokhlovka. The students spent the whole day in the open-air museum, where they explored traditional Russian crafts and customs, celebrated Maslenitsa, the Russian holiday dedicated to the start of spring, and participated in traditional outdoor activities.
Zufar: 'We are very grateful to the Higher School of Economics for inviting us to spend this day out of Perm. Living in the city, we spend most of our time in the classrooms or doing homework. This trip was an excellent opportunity to see the Perm region. Students from the UK traveled to Khokhlovka with us. We live in the same dormitory and sometimes communicate, but during the excursion while exploring a lot of things for the first time together, we became even better friends.'
Eleanor: 'It was a lot of fun! We are very happy to be in Russia and at HSE! This is an indescribable experience that will definitely be one of the most memorable in my life. We are very interested in what is next to come.'
Stay tuned for news about the life of exchange students and how incoming mobility will develop in HSE Perm.
About HSE programmes for international students
Perm Term is a 16-week educational programme for international students. Basically, it was designed for students who study Russian language, Russian history and culture, Russian studies and Slavic studies. If you have any questions about this programme please contact Elena V. Shadrina (evshadrina@hse.ru).
In addition, foreign students who know Russian can study at any Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes of the Higher School of Economics in Perm. Admissions for both stated-funded and fee-paying places will last until August 20, 2019. Read more about entering the HSE here. If you have questions about applying to or studying at HSE Perm, please contact Dmitriy V. Kashin (dvkashin@hse.ru).