Academic Exchange Officer - Russia

ST ANTONY’S COLLEGE

OXFORD OX2 6JF

Telephone +44 (0)1865 284700

Fax +44 (0)1865 274526

From Karen Hewitt,                                                                 

Academic Exchange Officer, Russian and Eurasian Studies Centre

Direct line: +44 (0)1865-515635

Email: karen.hewitt@conted.ox.ac.uk                                                               November 2008

In my capacity as Academic Exchange Officer for St Antony's Russian and Eurasian Studies Centre I can offer help and advice in the following  ways:

1. Contacts in Russia. I am in contact with people from about sixty Russian universities and other Institutes of Higher Education from the Russian Federation. Since you will have other sources of information in Moscow and St Petersburg I normally concentrate on using my connections in the major towns of the oblasts and autonomous republics to

(a) find placements for students who want to work/study in a provincial city;

(b) find professional contacts for those who are doing research in these cities or regions;

(c) provide information and contacts for those who want to do voluntary work, for example on ecological projects or with children.

I can't promise to put you directly in touch with the people you need, but I can usually start you on an effective route.

2. Research and other study in Perm. Perm, a provincial capital (population about one million) in the Urals, 900 miles east of Moscow, is twinned with Oxford; a special agreement between Perm State University and Oxford University was recently updated. This link has been operating for nearly twenty years, with exchanges in the academic, political, social and artistic spheres. Consequently anyone who wants to work in Perm will find that access to specialist knowledge, local political figures and the archives of both city and krai, is much easier than elsewhere. I have many academic and civic contacts in Perm.

3. Advice on visas, invitations and other documents. Normally you will be expected to make your own arrangements. I am sending out another document on how to get a visa. If you have further problems I may be able to help.

4. Accommodation in Oxford  I have a panel of hosts who are prepared to provide friendly bed-and-breakfast accommodation for Russian academics in Oxford, most of them close to the centre. The panel is not huge, and since these are people with their own lives and commitments, I need to know details of 'who, when and why' as far in advance as possible.

5. Entertaining Russian Visitors  I am responsible for Russian university teachers, many of whom appreciate meeting post-graduates. If you would like to be put on a list of 'helpful people' for this purpose, please let me know.

If you want to consult me, send an email to karen.hewitt@conted.ox.ac.uk  Please do your basic homework first, so that you can ask me specific questions rather than vague ones.

Karen Hewitt