PAST EVENTS

2019

4th International Summer School for Russian and Eurasian Studies in Orilampi, Finland on August 26-30, 2019.

With national, ethnic, and cultural certainties thrown into flux after 1991, Russia and the countries in Central Eastern Europe and Central Asia, faced a period of political unrest and economic and social marginalization. In search for stability and a new geopolitical role as a Eurasian power, Russia’s leadership began to promote the idea of Russia’s civilizational distinctiveness. Today, Russia’s cultural policies aim to co-opt national identity as a monolith and incorporate it into the state’s security matrix. Similar policies are apparent also elsewhere in the region. Meanwhile, the global flows of capital, resources, and digital information have integrated the citizens of the region into transnational communities beyond the boundaries of the nation-state.

The 4th International FRRESH Summer School gathered scholars and students of the region to discuss questions of identities and identity politics, subjectivities and subject positions, in a regional and global context, in the past and present.

The FRRESH Summer School promotes interaction between doctoral students of Russian and East European Studies in Finnish universities, the European University at St. Petersburg (EUSP), and the Research Centre for East European Studies at Bremen University.

The speakers of the Summer School 2019:

  • Heiko Pleines, University of Bremen
  • Vladimir Gel’man, EUSP / University of Helsinki (director of FRRESH)
  • Sanna Turoma, University of Helsinki (co-director of FRRESH)
  • Susanne Schattenberg, University of Bremen
  • Dirk Uffelmann, Justus Liebig University Giessen
  • Ivan Kurilla, EUSP
  • Mariëlle Wijermars, University of Helsinki
  • Rustam Urinboev, University of Helsinki
  • Anna Tarasenko, Higher School of Economics

The Summer School is organized together with the Finnish MA program for Russian and East European studies, and it offers an opportunity for PhD students to participate in the supervision of MA students.

Here is a nice blog post from one of our participants, Rashid Gabdulhakov.

 2019

FRRESH Spring Seminar / FIRST Intensive Course at the Higher School of Economics St. Petersburg, March 18-24, 2019

This spring the FRRESH network participated in the FIRST Intensive course which was held in St. Petersburg in March 2019. The course was conducted in collaboration between the University of Helsinki and Higher School of Economics and the European University at St. Petersburg. Among the 20 PhD students coming from Finland, Russia, China, the UK and the US, there were 6 members from the FRRESH network.

Lecturers of the FRRESH Spring Seminar 2019:

Olga Malinova, Professor, National Research University Higher School of Economics Moscow
Vladimir Gel’man, Professor, University of Helsinki / EUSP (director of FRRESH)
Irina Busygina, Professor, National Research University Higher School of Economics St. Petersburg
Andrey Starodubtsev, Associate Professor, University of Helsinki / National Research University Higher School of Economics St. Petersburg
Sari Autio-Sarasmo, Adjunct Professor, University of Helsinki (director of MA programme in Russian Studies)
Kaarina Aitamurto, Senior Researcher, University of Helsinki

2018

FRRESH Autumn Seminar at the University of Helsinki, November 23, 2018

The seminar concentrated on PhD students’ practical skills. It was divided into two sessions with one focusing on supervision and the other on teaching.

In the morning panel supervision was discussed both from the supervisor’s and the graduate students’ viewpoint and in the afternoon workshop were shared best practices in assessment of the undergraduate students. The participants were able to share their own experiences of teaching, discuss difficulties, and discover best practices with Senior Lecturerin University Pedagogy, Marjo Vesalainen from the Department of Education Centre for University Teaching and Learning.

Panellists of the FRRESH Autumn Seminar 2018:

Vladimir Gel’man, EUSP / University of Helsinki (director of FRRESH)
Sanna Turoma, University of Helsinki (co-director of FRRESH)
Sari Autio-Sarasmo, University of Helsinki
Cai Weaver, University of Helsinki
Birgit Beumers, University of Helsinki
Karoliina Hurri, University of Helsinki

FRRESH Summer School “Migration” in Orilampi, Finland, August  21-25, 2018

The FRRESH Summer School promotes interaction between doctoral students of Russian and East European Studies in Finnish universities, the European University at St. Petersburg (EUSP), and the Research Centre for East European Studies at Bremen University.

The third FRRESH Summer School focused on the topic of migration. The talks and discussions addressed current social and political phenomena and explored theoretical perspectives on the many contemporary and historical forms of displacement and migration.

In addition to lectures, the Summer School offered an opportunity for graduate students to present their on-going research. The work was conducted in workshops with specialists’ instruction. The workshops addressed thematic and methodological questions as well as discussed more practical matters, such as turning research into academic writing (peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, monographs, research proposals); preparing conference and seminar presentations; networking and building a career in global academia and beyond.

However, the Summer school wasn’t just lectures and workshops. Here, students enjoy the views of Repovesi national park.

Lecturers and specialists of the FRRESH Summer School 2018:

Vladimir Gel’man, EUSP / University of Helsinki (director of FRRESH)
Ira Jänis-Isokangas, University of Helsinki (coordinator of FRRESH)
Katalin Miklossy, University of Helsinki
Heiko Pleines, University of Bremen
Katri Pynnöniemi, University of Helsinki / National Defence University
Sanna Turoma, University of Helsinki (co-director of FRRESH)
Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen, University of Helsinki
Rustam Urinboyev, University of Helsinki / Marie-Skłodowska Curie Fellow
Joni Virkkunen, University of Eastern Finland
Mariëlle Wijermars, University of Helsinki

FRRESH Spring Seminar in St. Petersburg, March 14-16, 2018

The seminar brought together 34 students and researchers from the FRRESH network universities. Invited speakers were:

Jane Burbank, Collegiate Professor and Professor of History and Russian and Slavic Studies, New York University
Tatiana Borisova, Associate Professor, National Research University Higher School of Economics St. Petersburg
Ulla Pape, Researcher & university lecturer in European Studies, University of Bremen
Ilya Utekhin, Professor, Anthropology Department of the European University, St.Petersburg

Aleksanteri Institute: Cooperation with the European University at St. Petersburg continues (in Finnish)

2017

FRRESH Autumn seminar at the Aleksanteri Institute, November 23-24, 2017

The two-day autumn seminar included a lecture Russian and Serbian nationalism after Communism by Professor Veljko Vujačić from the European University at St. Petersburg, and a research training workshop where the papers of the PhD students were discussed.

Participants of the workshop were:

Kristiina Silvan: Preserving the Best of Traditions: Komsomol Legacy in the Belarusian Republican Youth Union
Eine Alt: Performing ethnicity, locality and citizenship in extracurricular school activities in Russia 
Teemu Oivo: Fear & Concerns in Public Discourses of North Karelia
Mark Teramae: Subnational political regimes in eastern Ukraine

Commentators were Aleksanteri Institute Visiting Fellow Dr. Yuriy Matsievsky, and Senior Researcher Dr. Kaarina Aitamurto.

In addition to lecture and workshop, the autumn seminar included an introduction to the academic mentoring programme for MA and PhD students, and a CV clinic.

FRRESH Summer School “Governance” in Orilampi, Finland, August 26-30, 2017

The second FRRESH Summer School focused on the topic “Governance”. The FRRESH Summer School promoted interaction between doctoral students of Russian and East European Studies in Finnish universities, the European University at St. Petersburg, and the Research Centre for East European Studies at Bremen University.

The speakers of the FRRESH Summer School 2017 were:

Susanne Schattenberg, University of Bremen
Vladimir Gel’man, European University at St. Petersburg/ University of Helsinki
Sanna Turoma, University of Helsinki
Luca Anceschi, University of Glasgow
Sirke Mäkinen, University of Tampere
Marina Khmelnitskaya, University of Helsinki
Andrey Starodubtsev, University of Helsinki
Saara Ratilainen, University of Helsinki

In addition to the lectures, the FRRESH Summer School offers an opportunity for graduate students to present their on-going research. The work is conducted in workshops with specialists’ instruction. The workshops address thematic and methodological matters and, moreover, discuss more practical matters such as turning research into academic writing (peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, monographs, research proposals); preparing conference and seminar presentations; networking and building a career in global academia and beyond.

FRRESH Spring seminar at the European University at St. Petersburg, March 13-15, 2017 

The seminar included six lectures:

Russia as Empire: Cultural Configurations (Sanna Turoma, University of Helsinki)
What Makes a Country Great Power: International Relations’s perspective? (Hanna Smith, University of Helsinki))
Historical politics and historical memory in contemporary Russia (Ivan Kurilla, EUSP)
New Dimensions of the East-West Interaction during the Cold War (Sari Autio-Sarasmo, University of Helsinki)
Easy tips to improve your information retrieval practices and evaluation of publications (Emilia Pyykönen, University of Helsinki)
EUSP Library resources (Ona Lapenaite, EUSP)

In addition, during the seminar was held a two-day workshop. Participants of the workshops were:

Mark Teramae, Roosa Rytkönen, Hilma Salonen, Jussi Huotari, Teemu Oivo, Kristiina Silvan, Mila Oiva, Larisa Kangaspuro, Eine Alt and Sari Eriksson (Finland)

Maria Uhvatova, Dmitry Asinovsky, Roman Gilmintinov (Russia)

2016

FRRESH Autumn seminar “From Discussion to Publication” at the Aleksanteri Institute, November 3, 2016

The seminar consisted of two lectures:

Representations of Islam in Russia (Kaarina Aitamurto, University of Helsinki)
Studying the Russian education reforms: from discussion to publication… to another one… and to last one (Andrei Starodubtsev, University of Helsinki)

In addition, during the seminar there was held a workshop, where were discussed the following papers of the PhD students and the postdocs:

Kristiina Silvan: The echo of Komsomol: Changes and continuities in the sphere of Belarusian government-organised youth associations
Hilma Salonen: Pulp Fiction – Public Justification of the Russian Bioindustry Development in the National Policy-making Documents
Ivan Bakalov: An Audit of Russian Soft Power in Ukraine
Sigrid Kaasik-Krogerus: Whose heritage? Banal construction of us in European Heritage Label site videos

FRRESH Summer School “Conflicts” in Orilampi, Finland, August 26-31, 2016

The first FRRESH Summer School concentrated on the study of conflicts. As we live in an increasingly conflict-ridden world, the study of conflicts is in the heart of much of academic research, ranging from historic studies of class struggle to current analyses of the consequences of globalization. How to pursue research of conflicts in politics, governance, international relations, social and cultural affairs, and/or everyday life? How to conceptualize different conflicts and their management? What are the major theoretical frameworks for scholarly investigation of these phenomena in various local and global contexts? Which methodologies are suitable for the diverse research agendas that conflicts may engender? And what kind of evidence should we use in our empirical analyses? The first  Summer School discussed these topics from interdisciplinary and international perspectives in a form of lectures, workshops, roundtables and discussions.

Nine PhD students from the European University at St. Petersburg (EUSP) and nine doctoral students from Finland (University of Helsinki, University of Lappland, and University of Eastern Finland) were instructed by the professors and the senior researchers from the MGIMO, EUSP, UH, and UEF. Besides addressing thematic and methodological questions, the work at the Summer School focused also on more practical matters such as turning research into academic writing, i.e. a peer-reviewed article, book chapter, dissertation, research proposal; presenting a paper in a seminar or conference; networking and building a career in global academia and beyond.

FRRESH Summer School 2016 lecturers were:

Irina Busygina, MGIMO University
Jeremy Smith, University of Eastern Finland
Vladimir Gel’man, European University at St. Petersburg
Sanna Turoma, University of Helsinki
Sari Autio-Sarasmo, University of Helsinki
Meri Kulmala, University of Helsinki
Daria Gritsenko, University of Helsinki
Margarita Zavadskaya. European University at St. Petersburg

The summer school was organised together with the Finnish MA programme for Russian and East European studies, and it offered also an opportunity for PhD students to participate in the supervision of MA students.

FRRESH info for the Russian students at the European University of St Petersburg, April 15, 2016

Introduction of the FRRESH network at the Aleksanteri Institute, January 13, 2016