Within the walls of Moscow State University, they began to study the cultures and languages of the East from the second half of the eighteenth century. ISAA MSU, created already in the twentieth, when the world map was actively changing, and a huge number of African and Asian countries freed from colonization appeared on it, was able to rely, therefore, on the tradition of two hundred years ago to study eastern civilizations.
Value
Today, ISAA MSU has become a leading center in the training of orientalists, from where highly qualified specialists come from in absolutely all regions and countries of the Afro-Asian world. The distinctive style of education received at Moscow State University has not changed. Still deeply penetrating into the culture and language of the region or country that is being studied. All the same, thorough knowledge of the Afro-Asian realities and emerging trends in the development of the cultural, socio-political and economic life of the societies of the countries studied.
And, of course, the same fundamental nature of education at the best university in the country. For students of ISAA MSU, the East ceases to be a mystery and some kind of exotic world, as it was before entering a university. All non-specialists see it like this. Here, the East becomes professional knowledge for students. The largest Asian powers and countries of the Middle East are developing dynamically, and accordingly the demand for ISAA MSU graduates is growing, the formation of which allows Russia to strengthen international ties with its eastern neighbors.
Specialization
Students at ISA MSU specialize in one of three departments - historical, philological or socio-economic. Four years later, they become bachelors and receive an appropriate diploma, which indicates the direction of specialization - oriental studies, African studies. Then they have the opportunity to continue their education in a two-year master's program.
ISAA MSU graduates from those who show interest in postgraduate education can continue it here for a number of additional programs. Obtaining any specialization, all students without exception study the same volume in one, and often two, Oriental languages and one West European. Today the choice is great: more than forty languages of the peoples of Africa and Asia are studied at the institute, and a number of languages of the Caucasus and Central Asia have recently been introduced into the training.
Structure
The institute has eighteen departments. Historical: countries of the Middle and Middle East, Southeast Asia and the Far East, South Asia, China, history and culture of Japan. History, language, literature and culture are studied together by the Department of Africanism and the Department of Jewish Studies of ISAA MSU.
Purely philological departments - Arabic, Iranian, Turkic, Indian, Chinese, Japanese philology, as well as the philology department of the countries of Southeast Asia, Mongolia and Korea. There is a department and Western European languages. In addition, students receive the absolutely necessary knowledge in the departments of international relations, economic geography and economics of Africa and Asia, and in the department of political science in the East.
Courses
To deepen and consolidate knowledge, laboratories of technical teaching aids, ecology and culture of the East, and experimental phonetics work. To successfully enter this institute, it is best to be puzzled by this in advance. Moreover, there are preparatory courses at the ISAA MSU at the Center for the Examination, so that the dream of any student comes true.
Not far from the Kremlin, on Mokhovaya street, house number 11 hosts classes in all the necessary humanitarian disciplines. This is the building of ISAA MSU. An open day also takes place there. Among the 205 teachers of the institute there are 40 professors and 75 associate professors, as well as selected courses are taught by invited best specialists from the most famous universities and organizations.
International activity
Connections and cooperation with the best foreign scientific centers and universities at the institute are developing very intensively, research projects are being implemented, highly qualified personnel are being trained. For these purposes, numerous scientific and research centers are successfully operating:
- Center for Islamic Studies and Arab Studies.
- Center for Buddhist and Indological Research.
- International Center for Korean Studies.
- Religion Center.
- Center for Comparative Social and Economic Research.
- Vietnamese center.
- Center for teaching Oriental languages at school.
- Society of Good Hope (African Studies).
- Interuniversity faculty of the Chinese language.
- Scientific Center "Central Asia and the Caucasus".
- Society for the Study of Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines "Nusantara."
Types of cooperation
In international activities, the Institute uses all kinds of work: it includes scientific and methodological developments together with foreign colleagues, and international conferences, seminars of interest to Orientalists from different countries, educational and scientific cooperation through exchange programs that benefit both parties. Any capable student, after testing in specialized departments, can intern from any partner foreign university from five to ten months.
The benefits of such internships are enormous, because together with the language practice, the student solves the problems of the scientific plan formulated in his native department. A student who has completed practical training will return from the country of the studied language as a ready-made professional. ISAA MSU also annually accepts foreign students for free tuition, supporting such a mutually beneficial cooperation plan.
Historians and Philologists
The student, in the future a specialist historian, must study not only the history of the countries of Africa and Asia, but also the universal, as well as the history of the Fatherland, ethnology, archeology and the history of religions. And in a particular country he is studying, he will listen to fundamental lectures in the learning process. In addition, it provides extensive courses in economics, culture, the political system, historiography and source studies.
Future philologists study the basics of literary criticism and linguistics, general linguistics and the history of literature. Special disciplines consist of theoretical phonetics and grammar, lexicology, dialectology, the history of the corresponding language of the East, history, literature, the foundations of the political system and geography of the studied region or country. Not a single university in Russia provides knowledge in such a volume as ISAA MSU, reviews of graduates of this institute say that education here is beyond praise.
Economists and sociologists
The socio-economic department provides training for students in the following subjects: economic statistics, higher mathematics, financial and credit system, general economic theory, economic geography and the economies of Africa and Asia (both Russian and developed Western economies are studied), international economic relations, history of economic thought. The greatest attention is paid, of course, to the economy of the country under study.
In addition to the required subjects, numerous optional courses are offered for students. This also applies to other branches of ISAA MSU. The schedule is extremely tight. They study optionally: the history of art and social thought, computer science in theory and practice, demography, sociology and conflictology, mathematical methods of historical research, Russian oriental studies, the economies of Central Asian countries, the world economy, and much more.
Pre-university and continuing education
The Moscow State University generally pays great attention to the pre-university training of students who are interested in oriental disciplines. Under ISAA, the School of Young Orientalist has been working for many years, teaching high school students. Close ties are maintained with the Oriental Lyceum and many other schools specializing in teaching Oriental languages.
On the basis of ISAA MSU, there are continuing education and continuing education programs. Higher school workers also study here. There are programs for those who wish to undergo professional retraining. In addition, there are courses for absolutely any category of students at the ISAA MSU training center, and school teachers are trained here.
Employment
ISAA graduates of Moscow State University apply their knowledge in foreign policy and foreign trade structures, in Russian government and state bodies, the media, in analytical and research centers, in publishing houses, as well as in the university education system.
A lot of highly qualified specialists with ISAA MSU diplomas are employed both in Russian and foreign private and state companies. Knowledge of oriental languages will always find application in a modern dynamically developing society.