Anna Merkulova, third-year student of the Bachelor’s programme ‘Sociology and Social Informatics,’ decided to go on the Himalayan expedition to test herself under extreme conditions and master new work methods—for instance, conducting interviews with the help of interpreters or communicating with people whose lifestyles are radically different from her own.
She was struck Photo courtesy by the contrast
between a megalopolis and traditional life in Himalayan villages, where people don’t seek success or material consumption in the ‘conventional’ sense. While carrying out the research, she also saw that climate change was not an abstract problem ivory coast phone number library but a reality that the locals had to face every day.
Anna Merkulova
Student of the Bachelor’s programme ‘Sociology and Social Informatics’
Perhaps the main lesson of the expedition is not to be afraid. We had to face a lot of unknown and extraordinary things there, from the using sms marketing campaigns to build community around your brand nuances of daily life to completely different behavioural patterns. The expedition taught me to do my job under any circumstances—whether it be an interview in the cold in a potato field or trying to understand the problems of local farmers, even though they are extremely far from my daily experience.
According to Anna, the trip significantly influenced her academic interests: after coming back, she engaged in deeper studies of climate change problems and chose the topic for her term paper. Anna is planning to continue these studies while writing her thesis.
Alexander Sorokin underscored
the interdisciplinary nature of the school: ‘Students majoring in social sciences, humanities, or economics will be able to get a better understanding of the environmental, geographical, and technological contexts of changes in the Himalayas. Students majoring clean email in science will dive into socio-cultural factors and their role. The aim of the school is not to prepare a research paper in two weeks, for example, but theory, concepts, methods, and real contexts can be useful both in the academic sphere and other professional trajectories.’
The main requirements of candidates are English language proficiency (at least B1 level), good physical training, no chronic illnesses, and teamwork skills. To participate in the competition, candidates must submit a resume, a motivation letter (up to 1,000 words), and documents confirming eligibility for the selection criteria.
