New interactive editions of Russian classics—Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol and Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky—have been released in the Live Pages mobile app. They were prepared by students and graduates of the School of Philological Studies at the HSE Faculty of Humanities. The project, which has been developing for more than ten years in collaboration with experts from the School of Linguistics, offers readers not just text but digital books enriched with maps, timelines, and commentary for deeper immersion in the works.

HSE University hosted a presentation of the Centre for South Arabian Studies, established under the Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies at the Faculty of Humanities. The centre’s work aims to enhance the study of languages and cultures while fostering closer collaboration with scholars and universities in the Arabian Peninsula. The presentation was attended by HSE Rector Nikita Anisimov and diplomats from Yemen, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

HSE University has signed a memorandum of understanding with India's leading university, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. All HSE campuses will participate in the collaboration. Under the memorandum, the two universities will share teaching experience, conduct joint research, and organise short-term academic and cultural exchange programmes.

Chaired by Dmitri Bondarenko, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Deputy Director of the RAS Institute of Africa, and Director of theInternational Centre of Anthropology at the HSEFaculty of Humanities, the Dissertation Council comprises prominent Russian Orientalists and Africanists from HSE University and other leading institutions.

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.

Adyghe State University has opened a laboratory of experimental linguistics. Olga Dragoy, Chief Research Fellow at the Center for Language and Brain, will be the laboratory’s academic supervisor and consultant. The laboratory will study the psycho- and neuro-linguistic mechanisms of functioning of the national languages of Russia, both on-site and during scientific expeditions.

Linguatest is available in two versions: academic and business. It can be taken in person at dedicated centres or online in proctored sessions. Registration in now open for the first exam sessions in Moscow in December 2022.

In early August, 30 students from all HSE University campuses set off on a journey as part of the Student Project Contest. Their project was called ‘T-T-T: A TikTok Tour of the Finno-Ugric Republics by Bus’. On their travels, the students learned about the local culture and made short educational and entertaining videos.

The exam has been developed by the HSE School of Foreign Languages in compliance with all relevant international standards. On May 13, the Independent English Language Examination Centre opened in the HSE University building on Staraya Basmannaya Ulitsa, and the first students took the exam on May 16. In the future, the opportunity to take an independent assessment at the Centre is expected to be available not only to HSE students, but also to students from other universities, schoolteachers, and corporate clients.

This summer, the HSE Centre for the History and Sociology of World War II and Its Consequences was reorganized to become the HSE Institute for Advanced Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies. Oleg Budnitskii, Doctor of Historical Sciences, head of the Centre and director of the Institute, talked to the HSE News Service about the new division.

Less than a year ago, the Faculty of Humanities at HSE University launched four large-scale projects, bringing together representatives of different disciplines from different departments and campuses of the University. Their goals, content, staffing and expected results were presented at a meeting of the Rector’s Council. Other departments have been tasked with developing their own large-scale projects, which HSE University will be able to include in its application for the ‘Priority 2030’ programme.

HSE University Rector Yaroslav Kuzminov has welcomed first year students to HSE University. He told the newly enrolled students about the importance of wearing masks on campus, the autumn flu vaccination, as well as important changes in the educational process. The rector also congratulated them on starting their student life at HSE University.

The Russian Ministry of Education and Science has announced the results of a grant competition for big research projects. One of the winners is a project with HSE University participation: the creation of a next generation computational linguistic platform to digitally record the Russian language.

During this summer’s exams, HSE School of Foreign Languages and the Centre for Computational Educational Sciences launched a pilot project for the automated checking of student exams. Ekaterina Kolesnikova, Head of the School of Foreign Languages, Dmitry Abbakumov, Head of the Centre for Computational Educational Sciences, and Daria Kravchenko, Deputy Head of the centre, spoke about the project and its future prospects.

HSE’s new International Laboratory of ‘Russia’s Regions in Historical Perspective’ will study the social and political history of Russia’s regions from the 18^th to the late 20^th century.

A new English-taught master’s programme ‘Linguistic Theory and Language Description’ starts in the new academic year. Ekaterina Rakhilina, Head of the School of Linguistics, told us about some details of the programme, project work and the potential for international cooperation.