‘I Am Really Thankful for This Opportunity to Expand My Knowledge’
Friederike Augustin is a second year Master’s student in Comparative Social Research double degree programme with Free University of Berlin. After reading European Studies for her Bachelor’s she enrolled in an Eastern European Studies programme to have the opportunity to spend some time in Russia.
Why Russia?
I was not so interested in Russia before because I thought that it is so big—a super power—and I was more interested in smaller countries, so I spent several months in Ukraine and Kazakhstan. I got interested in post-soviet societies and mentality and at some point I thought that after seeing some countries around Russia it was probably time to finally go TO Russia.
New Focus
What I did in my Bachelor was much more Political Science-focused. The programme here is more Sociology-oriented and even more specific. This was all new to me. I had to take some crash courses in Statistics, which was a bit challenging. But I see that it’s extremely useful and I am very thankful for this opportunity because I know that my institute back in Berlin does not have the capacity to teach quantitative methods and statistics in the way HSE does. I didn’t know that but it’s been a useful surprise.
I was a bit surprised by the actual content of the study programme because I didn’t know that it would be so specific. I thought it would be a broad sociology programme. In my programme in Berlin we can choose a specific track—I chose Sociology. But unlike here, where sociology is the core and it’s about learning methods and theory, in Berlin it’s much more applied. We are studying social movements and civil society. So, before coming here I lacked some basic theoretical knowledge of sociology. I am really thankful for this opportunity to expand my knowledge. The courses here complement our courses in Berlin, although the focus is slightly different here.
I didn’t have many methods seminars in my Bachelor’s so I feel that everything that I do here is very useful. I’m focusing most on different research methods, qualitative and quantitative. I can choose courses that are most useful for me. In the first module I took, for instance, Contemporary Sociological Theory course.
I’ll end my Master’s with at least the basics of every aspect of sociological research and what I need to know. For instance, one thing I’m glad about is that when I write my CV in the future, I’ll be able to write that I have experience working with ‘R’ statistical package, which is amazing. In the first module, we started working with R and in the second module we learnt more specific techniques. It was not something very sophisticated but for somebody from a non-statistical background it was still kind of mind-blowing.
Research Project
I’m most interested in sociology – in terms of understanding society. For my master’s thesis, which I will be writing under the supervision of HSE Assistant Professor Lili di Puppo, I’m going to research feminism and anti-feminism in Russia. I am still in the early stages of planning my research but I know that I’m going to use a qualitative method – do interviews. I was really lucky because I got a one year visa which means that I will probably come back in spring to do the interviews during the period of 2-3 weeks. I think I will do about 10 interviews. I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to focus on feminist activists or on the opposite side, which is a more conservative group. I am not sure I will be able to do the interviews in Russian so I will probably have to rely on sources who speak English.
I’ll be defending my Master’s dissertation in October, via a Skype conference—it’s good that Berlin students have the option of deferring their defense till autumn.
Career Prospects
What I would like to do most in the future is to work in a think tank—a small research institute that works on a project basis. I had a student job in this kind of institute before I came here and I’m also going to return there so this is really nice because they are doing a lot of research on EU – Russia relations, which is political science focused. There are also other projects. For instance, they are helping social sector in Ukraine to implement EU association agreement. It’s a mixture of giving workshops or working practically but also working with content that’s very interesting for me. In the long term I might do a PhD but first I need to write my Master’s thesis and see how that goes.
Living in Moscow
My expectations regarding the city were quite precise—I was not overly surprised. That is probably because I have lived in post-soviet context before so I was familiar with different aspects of daily life, so there was no culture shock. I could get around speaking Russian and I didn’t seem very lost in the city, although Moscow is very big. In Berlin I also move around a lot, so I was prepared for long distances but there I often go by bike everywhere while in Moscow I have to rely on public transport. I was really happy to see that the infrastructure works really well. I expected something more chaotic and was pleasantly surprised. All the apps work well and you can get informed online about everything—metro, bus system, taxis.
Big plus is the amount of support international students have at HSE University—I can always email the programme manager and she will take care of all the issues. She is always approachable, which is great. All the procedures are very well organized at HSE Unviersity – everyone who works with international students speaks English well and you are not lost. It’s very helpful for international students.
Russian or English?
I spend a lot of time with international students, but I communicate with Russian students as well. In Comparative Social Research we have about 1/5 international students and the rest are Russians—it’s a good mix. We have a Telegram group, which is really great because even though we might not have so much time for talking and going out for a coffee, chatting on Telegram still gives a feeling of belonging to one group, a nice group vibe.
Our programme is taught in English so we communicate in English as well, but I also get to use my Russian, which I have been studying Russian for quite a while now—I started in my Bachelor’s programme. I read a lot of posts on social media in Russian, for example, several Russian Telegram channels on feminism. I also have Russian language classes here at HSE—about 5 classes every week. My teacher of Russian is the best teacher I have ever had. Her approach to teaching is very good. We have about 10-15 people in our group and we are at B1/B2 level at the moment. In my daily life I always speak Russian—I communicate with the landlord in Russia, do the shopping in Russian, etc. I only switch to English if I am really interested in the topic and want to have an in-depth conversation, for which my Russian might not be enough.
Admissions to HSE’s Master’s programmes are now open. International students can apply online. To learn more about HSE University, its admission process, or life in Moscow, please visit International Admissions website, or contact the Education & Training Advisory Centre at: inter@hse.ru, or via WhatsApp at: +7 (916) 311 8521.
See also:
HSE Researchers Study Emerging Adulthood in Russia
Sociology today distinguishes more developmental stages of growing up than just childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, as commemorated in Leo Tolstoy’s trilogy Childhood, Boyhood, Youth. For the past two decades, sociologists have been exploring the concept of emerging adulthood, a transitional stage that occurs between adolescence and early adulthood. Researchers at the HSE Institute of Education have discovered that in Russia, one out of every two young respondents, with females more frequently than males, falls within the emerging adult category. The study findings have been published in Emerging Adulthood.
News Finds You: HSE Researchers Study Media Consumption of People Who Avoid News
News avoidance is a global phenomenon that affects millions of people around the world. Despite their conscious refusal to consume media content, many argue that the most important news still finds them. Researchers at the HSE Laboratory for Studies in Economic Sociology have studied how people perceive the ‘news-finds-me’ effect. The results of the study were published in the Bulletin of Moscow University.
Good Deeds Bring Moral Satisfaction to Russians
Researchers from HSE University have analysed why people feel happier when they help others. It turns out that joy is caused by different reasons, depending on who we help — relatives or strangers. In both cases, happiness brings moral satisfaction from doing a good deed, but helping loved ones is also associated with satisfying the need for belonging and acceptance, while helping strangers provides a sense of autonomy. The results of the research were published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
Alcohol Consumption Patterns Vary Across Social Groups in Russia, According to HSE Research
Although there is a larger percentage of drinkers among high-status professionals and executives compared to low-status workers, the former consume less alcohol. This is one of the findings of a study carried out by researchers of the HSE Faculty of Economic Sciences and published in Voprosy Statistiki.
‘Studying at HSE Was a Chance for Me to Get to Know Some Supportive Seniors, Knowledgeable Professors, and Wonderful Friends’
On August 4, 2023, a pre-defence of the thesis on ‘Refugee-Host Community Conflict over Assimilation, Integration, and State Legitimacy: The Case of Rohingyas in Bangladesh’ by Md. Reza Habib will be held at HSE University. The preliminary defence will take place at a joint meeting of the HSE School of Sociology and the International Laboratory for Social Integration Research. Md. Reza Habib shared his experience of studying and preparing his PhD with the HSE News Service.
Factors Affecting Alcohol Consumption Are Shaped in Childhood
Economists and sociologists who study alcohol consumption patterns often link them to people's living conditions and human capital such as education, work experience, and knowledge. Researchers of the HSE Laboratory for Labour Market Studies and the HSE Laboratory for Studies in Economic Sociology have found that non-cognitive skills developed in childhood and adolescence can have a major effect on the likelihood of alcohol abuse later in life and can diminish the role of education in this respect. The paper has been published in the Journal of Comparative Economics.
Capabilities as an Indicator of Poverty
Using a multidimensional approach, sociologists from HSE University have identified some vulnerable categories of the population that have rarely been the focus of research on poverty. According to their calculations, pensioners and people with disabilities also fall into the ‘poor’ category. The study was published in the Russian Journal of Economics.
People Spend 1/6th of their Lifetime on Enhancing Their Appearance
An international team including HSE researchers has conducted the largest ever cross-cultural study of appearance-enhancing behaviours. They have found that people worldwide spend an average of four hours a day on enhancing their beauty. Caring for one's appearance does not depend on gender, and older people worry as much about looking their best as the young do. The strongest predictor of attractiveness-enhancing behaviours appears to be social media usage. The study findings have been published in Evolution and Human Behaviour.
Alcohol Consumption by Young Russians Drops by Half, Study Says
Sociologist Valeria Kondratenko used data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey-HSE (RLMS-HSE) to demonstrate that the percentage of young Russians aged 14 to 22 who consume alcohol decreased by 2.3 times from 62.1% to 26.9% between 2006 and 2019. This paper also explores the correlation between the alcohol consumption habits of children and those of their parents. A paper with the findings of this study has been published in the Bulletin of RLMS–HSE.
Obesity in Men Associated with Individualism, Study Finds
Researchers of the HSE Laboratory for Comparative Social Research (LCSR), jointly with colleagues from research centres in Germany, Australia and China, examined the relationship between national variations in obesity rates and cultural dimensions. The associations they found were tested empirically through analyses conducted across 51 countries worldwide. Individualism appears to be associated with a higher prevalence of obesity, but only in the male population. The study findings have been published in Social Science & Medicine.