Central & East European, Russian & Eurasian Studies (Erasmus Mundus International Master)

This is an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree double degree programme. Students will emerge with two degrees:

• International Masters (IntM) in Central and East European, Russian and Eurasian Studies: University of Glasgow, UK/University of Tartu, Estonia

And one of the following degrees (depending on where the student spends their third mobility period): 

• Master of Arts (MA) International Studies: Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania
• Master of Caucasus Studies (MCS) in Political Science (Central and East European, Russian and Eurasian Studies): Ilia State University, Georgia
• Magister (mgr) of European Studies (Central and East European, Russian and Eurasian Studies): Jagiellonian University, Poland
  
• Master (M) of International Relations (Central and East European Studies): KIMEP University, Kazakhstan
• Master of Arts (MA) in International Relations and Diplomacy (Central and East European, Russian and Eurasian Studies): University of Sarajevo: Bosnia & Herzegovina

Year 1, Semester 1 - University of Tartu - you will take the core courses listed below:

• Introduction to Central and East European, Russian and Eurasian Studies
• Research Design and Methods for Area Studies
• Regional Languages: Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian, Estonian, Georgian, Hungarian, Kazakh, Polish, Romanian, or Russian (not all language options are available every year)

*Estonian can be studied at Tartu as an optional module in year 1, semester 1, but must be taken alongside one of the core language options that can be continued at Glasgow.

Year 1, Semester 2 - University of Glasgow - you will select a specialist pathway

You will spend your second semester at the University of Glasgow, United Kingdom. This semester provides you with an opportunity to immerse into more specialised knowledge that spans both thematic and country/regional foci, as well as the chance to continue with two languages tuition. You will also choose two optional courses to deepen your knowledge of a particular subject matter or region. This semester also provides a non-credited semester-long professional skills development programme that concludes with an employability-focused Summer School.

Optional courses may include:

• Crime and Corruption in the Former Soviet Union
• De Facto States in the Post-Soviet Space
• Decolonisation Agenda and CEERES
• Energy, Politics and Society in Eurasia
• Europe-Russia Relations since the Collapse of the USSR
• Media and Democratisation in Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union
• Post-Soviet Russia: Renegotiating Global and Local Identities
• Rethinking Central Asian Security
• Russia, China and International Politics of Eurasia
• Russian Foreign Policy
• Russian Politics and Society
• Statehood and Nationality in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe
• War-making and Peace-making in the Former Soviet Union
• Yugoslavia and after: Themes and Controversies

You will also have the opportunity to meet representatives of the consortium to discuss your research interests. By the end of Year 1 you will have formulated your basic dissertation proposal and been allocated supervisors at Glasgow/Tartu and your allocated degree partner.

Year 2

You will spend the second year of study at your allocated degree partner university where you will follow a study track in your specialised geo-political areas in semester 1, followed by your dissertation.

Year 2, Semester 1 - Partner University

You study abroad at one on the degree awarding partner universities .

Year 2, Semester 2 - Partner University

• Dissertation
• 3rd mobility*

* During all 3rd mobility periods, students will have a chance to complete a placement.  This placement will form part of your academic programme at the partner university and will be credit bearing.

Placements will be with a variety of non-governmental, think-tank and charitable organisations and will enable students to develop important professional skills within their region of specialisation.  

Aims

The IMCEERES double degree programme aims to provide students with thorough knowledge and understanding of historical and contemporary developments in the society, politics, economics and culture of Russia and the countries of the Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia.

To this end, the programme is structured to offer a wide variety of options for advanced study of the region's shared Communist past and the ways in which this has shaped - and continues to shape - the dynamics of post-Communist and post-Cold War transformation.  The geographical area to be treated by this programme spans therefore across the wider post-Communist world, in a region that encompasses Central & Eastern Europe, Russia, and the newly independent states of the Caucasus and Central Asia.

The programme's specific components and its mobility patterns will facilitate participation in the achievement of its core aim by:

• Presenting fresh and innovative approaches to the study of the East European and Eurasian region, based on the specialised knowledge of departmental staff;
• Increasing the students' familiarity with a range of relevant disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches derived from the Social Sciences and Humanities;
• Providing a knowledge of a regional language sufficient to conduct research using written sources in that language;
• Supervising the students' independent specialised research in a topic of their choice, which will be selected within the overall parameters of the programme's partner institutions; and
• Utilising mobility experiences to develop, appreciate the importance of, and articulate intercultural awareness

Intended Learning Outcomes and Skills

The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, skills, qualities and other attributes designed to prepare them for future academic and/or professional careers. 

Knowledge and Understanding

By the end of the programme, students should be able to:

• Critically evaluate how developments across a range of disciplines have shaped - and continued to shape - the distinctive character of Russian, Central & East European, and Eurasian Studies;
• Apply consistent and integrated approaches to theories, principles, and concepts drawn from relevant contributory disciplines and inter-disciplinary formations within an Area Studies framework; and
• Critically evaluate relevant scholarship originating from both within and outside the region.

Skills and other attributes 

By the end of the programme, students should be able to:

• Critically identify, conceptualise, define and formulate creative responses to new research problems;
• Synthesise, critically evaluate, and offer professional level insights, interpretations, and solutions to data drawn from a range of primary and secondary sources, including those in their original language; and
• Engage with complex ethical issues in the conduct of independent research involving human subjects and, where relevant, the ability to tackle these in line with University of Glasgow guidelines

Subject Specific Skills

By the end of the programme, students should be able to:

• Combine a critical range of relevant disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches, drawing on an awareness of the latest developments in the field;
• Critically evaluate Russia, Central & Eastern Europe, and Eurasia within a broader global context whilst retaining an appreciation of the regions internal diversity in a variety of spheres (cultural, economic, ethnic, political, social);
• Integrate a diverse range of appropriate primary and secondary materials such as literary and historical texts, oral interviews, sound recordings, visual screenings and Internet sites;
• Show originality and creativity in the application of a range of research techniques and methodologies appropriate to the cultural context of the region and its peoples;
• Critically interrogate sources in one of the region's languages.

Transferable/key skills

By the end of the programme, students should be able to:

• Exercise autonomous learning capacity, including the ability to review literature, set and solve problems, process research data by reading critically and analytically;
• Present materials coherently in written form, with clear use of language, professional referencing and use of tables, diagrams and graphics where appropriate;
• Successfully time-manage, to meet deadlines and to plan and execute a significant research project using a range of materials and relevant methodological approaches;
• Communicate effectively with audiences at different levels (peer group, academic staff) and present materials orally in a clear manner, using audio-visual aids where appropriate.

Year 1, Semester 1 - University of Tartu - 30 ECTS (60 UofG Credits)

Compulsory core courses

• Introduction to Central and East European, Russian and Eurasian Studies
• Social Sciences Methodology
• Language - Polish, Hungarian, Estonian* OR Russian

Optional courses 

• History of Russia and Europe since 1848
• The EU in International Politics
• Globalization
• E-Democracy and E-Government
• Civil Society
• Russian Economy
• Contemporary Economic and Social History
• Political Culture
• History of the Baltic Sea Region
• EU Enlargement, Transition & Neighbourhood Policy
• Comparaitve Ethno-Politics
• Conflict Management and Resolution
• Foreign Policy Analysis
• International Relations

This course list is indicative only.  Some courses might not be available every year and new courses may be added.

Year 1, Semester 2 - University of Glasgow - 30 CTS (60 UofG Credits)

Students select a specialist pathway

Central and East European Studies Pathway

• Geopolitics of Central and Eastern Europe OR Statehood and Nationality in Central and Eastern Europe
• Language: Hungarian OR Polish
• 1 Optional course

Russian Studies Pathway

• Russian Foreign Policy OR Post-Soviet Russia: Renegotiating Global and Local Identities
• Language: Russian
• 1 Optional course

Eurasian Studies Pathway

• Contested States: The Caucasus after 1991 OR Rethinking Central Asian Security
• Language: Russian
• 1 Optional course

Western Balkans Pathway

• Yugoslavia and After: Themes and Controversies  
• Language: Russian
• 1 Optional course

Optional courses may include

• Contested States: The Caucasus after 1991
• De-facto States in the Post-Soviet Space
• Media and Democratisation in CEE and the Former Soviet Union
• Rethinking Central Asian Security
• Statehood and Nationality in Central and Eastern Europe
• The Geopolitics of Central and Eastern Europe
• Cultural History of Communism
• Yugoslavia and After: Themes and Controversies  
• Russia, China and the International Politics of Eurasia

You will also have the opportunity to meet representatives of the consortium to discuss your research interests. By the end of Year 1 you will have formulated your basic dissertation proposal and been allocated supervisors at Glasgow/Tartu and your allocated degree partner.

The second year of study will be spent at the allocated degree partner university.  Students will follow a study track in a specialised geo-political area in semester 1.  Followed by the dissertation.

Year 2, Semester 1 - Partner University - 30 ECTS (60 UofG Credits)

Information on courses available at partner universities listed below

Year 2, Semester 2

• Dissertation/Thesis
• 4th Mobility (if applicable)

Students will be jointly supervised in the writing of the dissertation by academic staff at the partner university and the University of Glasgow.

International Development and Central and Eastern Europe – Babeș-Bolyai University

This study track, hosted by Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, focuses on international development, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe.

Core courses:

• Human Development and Climate Change
• International Political Economy and Development
• Migration, Development, and Transnationalism: Forced Migration, IDPs, and Refugees

Optional courses may include:

• Local Development
• Conflict Ridden Societies and Development
• any MA level 5 ECTS course within the university taught in English

Central and East European Studies – Jagiellonian University

This study track, hosted by Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland, focuses on EU studies, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe and regional integration processes.

Core courses:

• European Civilisation
• Thesis Pro-Seminar

Optional courses may include:

• Challenges to the European Identity: The Rebirth of Nationalisms in Europe
• Culture and Society in Central Europe: Dilemmas of Identity and Pluralism
• Economy of Central Europe: From Transition to EU Membership
• EU Foreign and Security Policy: Europe and Global Challenges
• EU Foreign and Security Policy: Europe, NATO, and Transatlantic Security
• Europe as Normative Power: Central European Perspectives
• European Integration Theory and Practice
• Foreign and International Relations in CEE – Theories Revisited
• Gender, Democracy and Citizenship in CEE
• Political and Social History of CEE in the 20th Century: From the Turn of Centuries to the End of World War II
• Political and Social History of CEE in the 20th Century: from World War II to the Collapse of the Communist System
• Religion, Diversity, and Toleration in Central and Eastern Europe
• Security and Democracy in Europe after 1989: a Central European Perspective

South Caucasus History, Politics, and Society – Ilia State University

This study track, hosted by Ilia State University in Tbilisi, Georgia, focuses on politics, societal developments, and international relations in the South Caucasus region.

Optional courses may include:

• Attitudes to “Others” in Georgia
• Citizenship from Below in Post-Soviet Societies
• Democratisation and Political Development in the South Caucasus
• Energy and Economics of Transition in the South Caucasus
• Ethnic Conflicts in Comparative Perspective: Caucasus and Central Asia
• Foreign Policies of the States of the South Caucasus: Comparative Perspective
• Forms and Consequences of Europeanisation in the Caucasus: Introduction to the Concept and its Application
• Gender in the South Caucasus
• Introduction to Mountain Cultures of the Caucasus
• Political History of the Caucasus
• Religion in the South Caucasus
• Remembering the Soviet Past in Georgia: Between Memory and History. An Introduction into Interdisciplinary Memory Studies
• Research Seminar on Stalin and Stalinism
• Security and Geopolitics of the Caucasus
• The History of Soviet Georgia

Greater Central Asia Studies – KIMEP University

This study track, hosted by KIMEP University in Almaty, Kazakhstan, focuses on politics, societal developments, and international relations in Greater Central Asia.

Optional courses may include:

• Asian Security: Theory and Practice
• Central Asia – Russia Relations
• Central Asia – United States Relations
• Central Asia in Global Politics
• Computational Social Science
• Domestic Politics and Foreign Policy in the Post-Communist World
• Emerging Powers and Markets
• Environmental Politics, Development and Global Governance
• European Union: Politics and Foreign Policy
• Genesis of the Modern Concepts of International Relations
• Government and Politics in Central Asia
• Petro Politics
• Political Communication in International Affairs
• Russian Foreign Policy
• Selected Topics in International Relations

Western Balkans and Southeast Europe: Political Science, International Relations, and Diplomacy – University of Sarajevo

This study track, hosted by the University of Sarajevo in Bosnia & Herzegovina, focuses on politics, societal developments, and international relations in the Western Balkans and Southeast Europe. Optional courses may include:

• Comparative Democratisation and Authoritarianism
• Contemporary Debates in International Relations
• Development Studies
• Economic Diplomacy
• International Conflict Management
• International Negotiation
• International Security
• Nations and Conflicts in the Process of Globalisation
• Religion and Conflicts
• Theories of International Relations
• Theory of Democracy and Human Rights

Students will undertake regional language tuition in two languages at the University of Tartu, which they will continue in their second semester at the University of Glasgow. One language will be credit bearing (6 ECTS), and the other non-credit bearing.

In semester three, students will continue learning one of these languages to develop their skills further.

This language training will assist students in developing their expertise in the particular region on which they choose to focus their studies. It will also allow them to add language skills to their employability and onward opportunities skillset.

Mobility refers to periods of study or research undertaken during the two years of the programme, and can be broken down as follows:

1st Mobility 

Year 1, Semester 1 - University of Tartu

2nd Mobility

Year 1, Semester 2 - University of Glasgow

3rd Mobility

Year 2 - At the allocated degree partner university.  In semester 1 students undertake taught courses, in semester 2 students work on their dissertation
During all third mobility periods, students will complete a placement.  This placement will form part of the academic programme at the degree awarding partner university and will be credit bearing.

Additional

Students may choose to attend summer schools or find internship opportunities in the summer periods between Year 1 and Year 2. This will not count as official degree mobility but may be recorded on students' transcripts as an activity undertaken during the programme.

The Consortium Management Board will have overall responsibility for safeguarding the common standards and mechanisms for the examination of students (European and Third Country).

Each of the course components of the International Masters programme has its own form of assessment. These are outlined in the individual course handbooks. In order to calculate the final mark achieved the marks for each component are weighted according to their credit rating.

In Year 1 a candidate will be permitted to progress to Dissertation only if s/he has obtained an average aggregation score of 12 (equivalent to Grade C3) or above in the taught courses described above, with at least 75% of the credits at a score of 9 or better (Grade D3 or better) and all credits at a score of 3 or above (Grade F or above).  Moreover, a Grade D or better in the Language component must also be obtained.

Each degree awarding partner university will take responsibility for marking according to its own criteria and IMCEERES students will be assessed in the same manner as local students.  Each degree partner university will provide assessment marks as they stand to the Consortium’s Board of Examiners, along with detailed additional descriptors, for the Board of Examiners to translate to University of Glasgow, the given partner university and the ECTS grading systems to facilitate the production of the degree transcripts and Diploma Supplement issued by the Consortium.

All examination results will be discussed and finalised by the Board of Examiners and formally approved by the Consortium Management Board. The marking systems for each partner university and how these relate the University of Glasgow and ECTS systems will be made clear to students in advance.

Grade Conversion Table 

An example of the IMCEERES student calendar.  Dates are provisional but provide a guideline of keys dates over the 2 year programme

Year 1, semester 1 at the University of Tartu