The Higher School of Economics was established in 1992 at the initiative of Russian economists and members of the Russian Government with the purpose to assist economic reforms in Russia by educating professionals in modern Economics and other Social Sciences, as well as through academic research, consultancy and policy advice in these fields. Students are placed in the School of Russian Studies. Your resident director will provide you with the latest information and a detailed map of the university neighborhood upon arrival. We encourage you to learn more about your host institute through its website at http://www.hse.ru (Russian) or http://www.hse.ru/lingua/en/ (English).

Application Deadlines

• March 15th

2011 Program Costs

$7250

2011 Program Dates

• Summer 2011: June 21 to July 27, 2011

All Contemporary Russia participants attend a pre-departure orientation in Washington, D.C. at the start of their program. Orientation sessions address health and safety, Russian academic culture, host-family life, culture shock, strategies to maximize language gain, and key survival phrases in Russian. Participants have a chance to meet and get to know their resident directors, fellow participants, and Contemporary Russia alumni during the two-day program. Students are housed in three-person rooms in a downtown hotel, a short walk from the American Councils Washington office. Each group departs with its resident director for Moscow, Russia from Washington, D.C. at the end of the program. Lodging and meals are provided.

The academic program features approximately twenty-two hours per week of in-class instruction; roughly ten of which are dedicated to Russian-language study. All area studies classes are conducted in English. Area studies courses are designed to give U.S. students an in-depth understanding of some of the most pressing issues currently affecting Russia, including the problems of organized crime and corruption, the conflict over Yukos oil, the war in Chechnya, the Putin presidency, and the emergence of new political parties. Coursework provides new perspectives on the complex historical and cultural trends that have shaped Russia in the 21st Century.

Russian language classes for students with no prior knowledge of Russian are designed to provide elementary speakers with a strong foundation in Russian grammar and phonetics along with essential conversation skills. Students with prior training in Russian are provided instruction at the appropriate level; the Contemporary Russia Program will be able to accommodate students of all proficiency levels. Russian language classes are conducted in small groups of three to five students.

"The academic program was intense, informative, serious, fast-paced and relevant. Each teacher was excellent ad gave a different perspective on Russia." Suzanne, 2007

Peer Tutoring

Students have the chance to meet for two hours per week with tutors recruited from the Department of Russian as a Foreign Language at their host universities. In addition to valuable academic support, the peer-tutoring program provides an important opportunity for American students to meet their contemporaries in the increasingly fast-paced, cosmopolitan culture of post-Soviet Russia.