Neal Kumar (IMARS 2004): «You will not find a better education...»

International programs

October 23, 2011

First, I should make it very clear that you will not find a better education with regards to Russian Studies anywhere else in the world, nor will you find professors more qualified in any American or European university. Although I do not possess first hand knowledge of the nature or capabilities of similar programs in the United States, I will say that I cannot imagine them to be better.

Sure, the professors may be well known at say, Harvard or Yale or even the most horrible place on earth (i.e. Northwestern), but I guarantee that they are not better teachers or even more influential than the professors at the EUSPB. Professors Kharkhordin, Lomagin, Ponarin, Volkov, McAuley, etc. are first class professors and experts in the their fields of study. They are held in high regard and are widely published. If you have any doubts as to the level of education you will receive please remove those doubts immediately. Having said that, there are a few caveats that you must take into account.

First, you will get out of the program what you put into it. If you wish to arrive late to class, hardly study, go out partying very often, and generally do not treat the program as an MA program, then you will not enjoy the same intellectual benefits as someone who puts serious effort into the program. In my view, the IMARS program should raise its expectations of the students, but it does not simply because it regards the students as adults who are able to make their own decisions about their behavior. Basically, the only weak link of the program is that the students sometimes do not take classes seriously, although I should note that it is generally the case that American students are less serious than their European counterparts, which is probably a reflection of our university system and its tendency to burn out any intellectual curiosity by the age of 22. However, the program is intellectually rigorous. I don’t know about you, but I like to be able to actively participate in a discussion about Foucault, Kant, Dostoevsky, and Weber rather than sit on the sidelines and feel inadequate, and in order to do this it is necessary to complete all the assigned reading and think about it before entering the classroom. In general, there was a high level of intellectual discourse, and the students were generally prepared for the 2 hour discussions. The professors, having already taught in England, America, and other parts of Europe, know how to structure classes in order to facilitate discussion, and anyone who’s had a new teacher knows how awful discussions can be with teachers who have no idea what they’re doing.

Another caveat that must be taken into account is that you’ll be living in Russia. If you’ve never lived abroad or in Russia, then the change will be exciting at first and then hard for a little while. I lived in Moscow for 2 months a year before I moved to St. Petersburg so I knew what to expect and could speak enough Russian, but it was still difficult for a while. I should note that working through this difficulty was the best thing I’ve ever done in my life from a mental standpoint, and that overcoming culture shock and living in another culture should be a requisite requirement for all Americans in order to overcome our sometimes-limitednarrow-minded worldview. America in its entire efficient splendor is almost too easy a place to live now that I’ve lived in Russia for an extended period of time. It’s also much more boring than St. Petersburg. Maybe it’s just that I live in Washington, DC now, and am jaded by the sheer conformity and lack of uniqueness of 95% of the population here. I do like Russia a great deal (and if you move to St. Petersburg try to live near Sennaya Ploschad so that you’ll be near the Paterson’s supermarket that saved my life by having Tabasco sauce) but it can sometimes be hard, especially during the winter. But if you’re not tough enough to live in Russia, then you might end up with a distorted view of Russia, which is another thing to take into account. If you want to be a Russian scholar or simply be knowledgeable about Russia, then I don’t understand how you could not live in Russia for an extended period of time. I just don’t. It’s sort of like how people think that they understand New Jersey and have all these idiotic preconceptions about it even thought they’ve never lived there. Yes, I’m from Jersey, and yes, I hate it when people mock my state.

I’ve written this to alleviate any concerns someone may have about the EUSP based on the concerns I had before I left to go over to Russia. I figured that even if the university turned out to have bad teachers and be insufferably boring, that at the very least I would have the time to conduct my own research and write a thesis that would satisfy my intellectual curiosity about the relationship between the Russian state and economic development following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised and was able to write the dissertation I wanted and be helped by professors who are first-class experts in the field I wished to study. Not only are the teachers helpful, but they’re friendly and always willing to help.

Coming from Northwestern University, which is supposedly one of the preeminent academic institutions in the United States, I was surprised to find that there are universities that don’t simply treat students as commodities meant to finance the north shore homes of its professors, but actually seek to help students above and beyond what they’re legally obligated to do. As such, I highly recommend going to school at the European University in St. Petersburg. I learned more in the last year than I did in my four years of undergraduate work and feel that it was well worth attending school in St. Petersburg. As a final note, if you are worried about the Russian winter, well, you should be. It’s not fun, but not too bad. Just stick around for the White Nights and graduation, then you’ll realize why Russians suffer through the winter.

Neal Kumar,
MA in Russian Studies, 2004, with distinction