The European University at Saint PetersburgEuropean University at Saint Petersburg (Official website) (), sometimes referred to as EUSP, is a non-state graduate university located in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was founded in 1994.
The main language of instruction at the university is Russian. However, the Department of Political Science and Sociology (ranked top three in Eastern Europe and the best in Russia in 2002European Political Science - Spring 2004, issue no. 3.2, by Simon Hix European Political Science Spring 2004) in 1998 launched a programme in Russian and Eurasian studies IMARESIMARES http://eu.spb.ru/en/international-programs/imares for graduates of Western universities, which is delivered in English. A similar program though more concentrated on Russian cultural history and arts, MARCA, existed until 2017.MARCA http://eu.spb.ru/en/international-programs/marca The third MA program with English training, Energy Politics in Eurasia or ENERPO, started in Fall 2012.ENERPO http://eu.spb.ru/en/international-programs/enerpo
Programme and fellowship
As a graduate university EUSP primarily trains PhD candidates and those pursuing an MA degree. The university runs two curricula - one is targeted at Russian-speaking students, while the other one is taught in English. The MA programme taught in Russian covers studies in economics, ethnology, history, history of arts, and political science and sociology.
The International Programs run by the university and taught in English include:
IMARES - International MA in Russian and Eurasian Studies ENERPO - International MA in Energy Politics in Eurasia Certificate of study, one or two semesters, not leading to a degree; offering the same choice of credit courses as on IMARES or ENERPO but without a requirement to complete an MA thesis
Campus
Since its foundation the university has occupied the 18th century Small Marble Palace also known as the Mansion of Count A.G.Kushelev-Bezborodko, a senator during the reign of Russian Emperor Nicholas I. The building is situated in the centre of Saint Petersburg at 3 Gagarinskaya street.
History The idea of a university breaking the mold of the usual state higher educational system in Russia was born at the end of the 1980s. That was a period of democratic revival and romantic inspiration in the country, when the Soviet Union was already in the twilight. Such a university was also deemed to reverse the brain drain, a phenomenon that hit hard the Russian academia in the late Soviet - early post-Soviet period.
The suggestion of the name "European" belongs to Leo Klejn, professor of Archeology at Saint Petersburg State University, and a member of the group of enthusiasts who prompted the foundation of EUSP. At the end of the 1980s Russian and American politicians, statesmen and academicians would moot a foundation of the American University in Moscow that would receive support from American companies and private individuals. Leo Klejn thought that as soon as American funds had already been tapped into by Moscow, its historical rival Saint Petersburg, popularly known as Russia's "window on Europe",See «Lettere sulla Russia» by Francesco Algarotti (1759). The expression gained a special popularity after Alexander Pushkin referred to it in the introduction to his poem The Bronze Horseman (1833). Pushkin, however, remarked in an endnote to the poem that "Algarotti said somewhere that "Petersbourg est la fenêtre par laquelle la Russie regarde en Europe."" should establish a "European University".
At the beginning of the 1990s the concept of European University had taken a concrete form with active participation of Anatoly Sobchak, the first Mayor of Saint Petersburg, Boris Firsov, then the President of the Saint Petersburg Branch of the Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences, and other intellectuals. Since then the major events in the history of EUSP have been as follows.
On 28 November 1994, the university was registered with state authorities in Saint Petersburg.
In spring 1995 an agreement was reached between the university and the municipal authorities on allocation of funds from the city budget towards rental costs of the university building on 3 Gagarinskaya street (then Furmanova St.) and its maintenance.
In January 1996, the governing bodies of HESP, the Ford Foundation, and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation decided to grant funds to EUSP towards opening the main academic programme. It started later that year, in September, when four departments - Economics, Ethnology, History, Political Science and Sociology - were licensed to admit students on the main academic course for the first time. In September 1997, the new Department of History of Arts started its programme of open graduate courses. The Department of Political Science and Sociology admitted first students on the international programme in Russian studies (IMARS) taught in English.
In September 2000, the first admission of students to the main academic programme at the Department of History of Arts took place. In July 2004, the university was officially accredited by the Russian Federal Body for Control over the Higher Professional Education. In July 2006, EUSP obtained a state license to confer doctorate degrees.
May 2007: the European University became the first institution of higher education in Saint Petersburg and the second in Russia to set up an endowment fund. In winter-spring 2008, the university was living through the tumultuous "case of fire safety rules violation", which was deemed to be an example of political pressure exerted on academic freedom in Russia.
In 2016, the university lost its accreditation after the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science conducted an audit and revealed several violations in a series of documents accompanying the academic process. It is unclear whether the accreditation has been returned, but the university has said they expect it to be done later in the year.https://eu.spb.ru/en/news/16495-comment COMMENTS ON THE SUSPENSION OF ACCREDITATION. EUSP.http://en.news-4-u.ru/european-university-of-st-petersburg-has-promised-to-eliminate-the-violations-after-the-suspension-of-the-state-accreditation.html European University of St. Petersburg has promised to eliminate the violations after the suspension of the state accreditation. Last news from Russia.
Political pressure and temporary closure in February/March 2008
In 2007 the university received a €700,000 grant from the European Commission towards a project aimed at improvement of the monitoring of elections in Russia. That provoked a harsh criticism of the activities of the university by the Russian government. After a reported threat from a government official, the EC-funded project was closed by the University on 31 January 2008.
Shortly after, however, following a fire safety inspection, the European University was closed down by a ruling of a Saint Petersburg courtRussian Court Shuts Down University That Offered Politically Sensitive Courses, by Anna Nemtsova Chronicle of Higher Education Tuesday, February 12, 2008Russian university that advised on election monitoring closed as fire risk, by Luke Harding The Guardian Monday, February 11, 2008 for the six-week period from 7 February 2008 until 21 March 2008,Helsingin Sanomat 22.03.2008 drawing protests by students, staff as well as the wider Russian and international academic community. Finally, compliance with fire regulations was deemed sufficient by the court, and the university resumed classes on 24 March 2008. Since then the university has remained open and has continued its academic work.
Spring events of 2008 were covered in the film Pugovka (a button in Russian) produced by Iliya Utekhin, a professor of anthropology at EUSP. The film has been shown in Saint Petersburg and then in Berlin in 2011, during a third European meeting of EUSP alumni.
Today, EUSP maintains a good relationship with different levels of government and administration, as evidenced among other things by a visit and meeting of the Russian Minister for Education and Science Andrei Fursenko4 June 2009: Minister for Education and Science of the Russian Federation Andrei Fursenko visits EUSP EUSP Official Website with the faculty and students at EUSP on 4 June 2009 and by the address by deputy governor of Saint Petersburg Mikhail Oseevsky7 September 2009: Opening ceremony of the new academic year EUSP Official WebsiteSaint Petersburg City Administration Wikipedia at the opening of the academic year ceremony on 7 September 2009.
Administration and organisation One hundred and eighty student studied under a faculty of 50 professors and lecturers during the academic year 2007–2008.
Organisations
Governing bodies The European University is effectively governed by three boards: the University Administration, headed by the Rector (presiding officer); the Academic Council; and the board of trustees. The Rector of European University is the day-to-day administrator of the institution, elected for a three-year term by the Academic Council, subject to the Board of Trustees' approval.
Three men have served as Rector since the foundation of the university:
1995 – 2003: Dr. Boris Firsov, a well-known sociologist and the central figure in the foundation of EUSP 2003 – 2009: Dr. Nikolai Vakhtin, professor in sociolinguistics, a co-author of the initial "Concept of EUSP", held two terms as Rector June 2009 – June 2017: Dr. Oleg Kharkhordin, the first Rector with a Western PhD (Political Science, University of California, Berkeley), and a former Vice-Rector for Development under whose auspices the university started setting up its endowment. June 2017 – August 2018: Dr. Nikolai Vakhtin took the position again as an interim rector. September 2018 – present time: Dr. Vadim Volkov, a well-known sociologist and Head of the Research Institute for the Rule of Law.
Departments European University has six departments:
Department of Anthropology (before 2008 - Department of Ethnology) Department of History Department of Art History Department of Political Science Department of Sociology Department of Economics
International programs European University at Saint Petersburg offers programs in English: For undergraduates Undergraduate Study Semester in Russia - 1 semester and up to 5 courses in Russian politics, economy, society, arts and history For postgraduates IMARES - 1-year MA degree program in Russian and Eurasian studies IMARES PLUS - 2-year MA degree program in Russian and Eurasian studies with options in Russian culture, mandatory Russian (or English) language courses, and a workshop series ENERPO - 1-year MA degree program in Energy Politics in Eurasia ENERPO PLUS - 2-year MA degree program in Energy Politics in Eurasia with practical experience and mandatory Russian (or English) language courses MARCA - 1-year MA degree program in Russian cultural history and arts (from September 2016, MARCA was combined with IMARES) PhD research affiliation
Research and training centers Archival Training Centre Center for Environmental and Technological History Center for European Studies
Center for Field Ethnological Research Computing Centre Gender Studies Institute for the Rule of Law Interdepartmental Center «Res publica» Interdepartmental Center «Petersburg Judaica» Language Centre Oral History Center The program "Executive Master of Philosophy" The program "Promoting Social Studies of Education in Russia" Science and Technology Studies (STS) Center
International relations