
Pivot to the East: A Comprehensive Study of the Cultural and Civilisational Centres of the Non-Western World is the Top Priority
China and the Chinese world, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Arab countries, Iran, Turkey, Central Asia and Africa are gaining new significance in Russia’s foreign policy. However, we do not know enough about the Eastern countries. It is necessary to change the priorities in education, starting from grammar school. Prospects for the development of domestic Oriental studies in the context of the new stage in the development of the system of international relations were discussed at a round table at HSE University.

Scientists Shouldn’t Be Afraid to Communicate. It’s Time to Speak Out
Aleksey Maslov, Professor at HSE University’s School of Asian Studies and one of its founders, has become a super-media persona this year. This is due to major interest in China amid the pandemic and Beijing’s strained relationship with Washington. In the column ‘HSE University Scientists’, Aleksey Maslov explains how to keep up with everything (spoiler: Shaolin Monastery!), why Russian science has become a ‘fossil’, what scientists should do for self-promotion and why it’s important to look good at the same time.

A Dossier of Deities: HSE University Scholars Create Electronic Database of Chinese Mythological Characters
The Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies (IOCS) at HSE University is developing an electronic database of Chinese mythological characters and motifs. Because nothing like it has ever been compiled, it meets an enormous demand. Project originators Elizaveta Volchkova, Olga Mazo, Aglaya Starostina and Alevtina Solovyova told IQ what they are attempting to accomplish and why Chinese mythology is both complicated and fascinating.

‘Tough Time Brings All of Us Closer Than Ever’
Thuy Tien Huynh from Vietnam is a second-year student in the Asian and African Studies Bachelor’s programme of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, majoring in Arabic. She enrolled at HSE University after winning an HSE Global Scholarship Competition in 2018. Thuy Tien Huynh has talked to HSE News Service about her choice of major, distance learning, and life in lockdown in Moscow.

HSE Expands Offerings in Asian Studies with Opening of Joint Department with RAS Institute of Oriental Studies
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?

HSE Celebrates Korean New Year
Students of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs celebrated the Lunar New Year. The festivities, which were held at HSE’s Cultural Centre on Pokrovsky Boulevard, included a concert with traditional dance and Korean folklore skits.

HSE School of Asian Studies Celebrates World Arabic Language Day
In honour of the event, the university’s Palmyra Club held an evening of Arabic poetry. The future orientalists read works by their favourite authors, as well as their own translations of the poems. School of Asian Studies graduates, who had won grants to study at a university in Qatar, also shared their recommendations as to who should study Arabic.
‘Developing Asian and Area Studies is a Huge Priority for the Next Decade’
Researchers and diplomats from 35 countries and eight Russian regional universities gathered at HSE University to discuss globalization in Asia and how it differs from what is taking place in Europe.

‘Bashkir Kids Know How to Use a Bow and Arrow, Imams Keep Ancient Books, and Everybody Preserves the Cultural Traditions’
For 12 days, students and teachers of the HSE School of Asian Studies travelled across the Republic of Bashkortostan. The trip was organized as part of the Rediscover Russia project. HSE News Service spoke with participants of the trip about their immersion in Russian Islamic culture.

HSE Lyceum Student Participates in International Chinese Language Competition
HSE Lyceum senior Dmity Shcheglov was the first Lyceum student to participate in the international Chinese studies competition, which was held in Zhengzhou from October 17 to November 3. He placed among the top ten finalists from Europe.
Registration deadline - April 30