About the Faculty

The Faculty of Humanities was formed in 2012 and currently offers two Bachelor’s degrees along with one Master’s programme.

The Bachelor’s programme in Fundamental and Applied Linguistics trains specialists in the development of computer programmes, electronic dictionaries, and automatic translation systems. Furthermore, they obtain detailed knowledge about the creation of search engines, networking, databases and all types of modern software. There are two tracks: ‘Theoretical Russian Studies’ (research of Russian language) and ‘Computational Linguistics’ (with a focus on computer design in linguistics). The programme’s graduates are usually able to find work in firms and companies that actively use linguistic technologies (e.g., Yandex, Abbyy, Mail.ru, Facebook, etc.,).

The Bachelor's programme in ‘Philology’ trains specialists capable of applying various methods of philological analysis and interpretation of literary works. Furthermore, they can work with complex texts in Russian and foreign languages, master literary editing and copywriting, and compile electronic databases, digital libraries, book websites and web archives.

The Master's programme in ‘Political Linguistics’ teaches analysts about information and expert structures in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, as well as various government and business institutions. The programme’s graduates are capable of working with large volumes of text in both Russian and English, conduct media and social media monitoring projects, and apply effective linguistic expertise and speechwriting techniques. Furthermore, the programme focuses on developing competencies in the creation, analysis and expertise of text materials for effective political communication.

The faculty brings together educational programmes in applied linguistics and applied sociology with further engagement in philology, applied political science, and applied psychology. Furthermore, the Faculty of Humanities aims to connect the humanities with mathematical, socio-economic and language training in Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes offered by all faculties at HSE Nizhny Novgorod.

The faculty’s team is outstanding: there are three Doctors of Philological Sciences, Doctors of Political and Social Sciences, and young lecturers with degrees, including Dionys Neubacher, a lecturer at the ‘Austrian Library’.

The faculty’s major areas of study include issues regarding applied linguistics, intercultural communication theory, linguistic political science, comparative linguistics, and literature. Moreover, its special research interests include a new area of humanities - comparative conceptology. In this respect, HSE lecturers and students, in cooperation with academics from Austria and Germany, are implementing the ‘Linguocultural Concept Sphere of Austria: Constants and Concepts’ project, which is based on the unique collections of the ‘Austrian Library’ at the HSE Nizhny Novgorod.

Furthermore, the faculty’s modern instruction in humanities combines fundamental and applied approaches, which form a necessary basis for a successful career in any area. This training is already offered at leading European and American universities within the framework of applied humanities. And now, the applied aspects of the humanities are available for learners at HSE Nizhny Novgorod.

Faculty of Humanities – Main Principles

• We focus on the applied aspects of the humanities, which, until now, have been ignored in traditional models of humanitarian teaching in regards to fundamental nature.
• Our courses are interdisciplinary: the humanities are taught in parallel with other reference fields.
• Furthermore, we support a systematic approach as to how the humanities are taught.
• We focus on foreign languages. For instance, students can learn a second foreign language from their first year and even choose a third foreign language (Eastern or Slavic), starting from their third year. In addition, at the end of the second year, students take the IELTS exam.