About the School
The School of Asian Studies is one of Russia’s leading centers of East Asian and Middle Eastern studies. The school promotes a comprehensive approach to the study of Eastern countries, and its most important mission is to provide initial training in the fundamental principles of East Asian and Middle Eastern studies, followed by specialisation in the historical, cultural, religious, socio-economic, and political development of the traditional and modern East, as well as Russia’s interaction with Eastern countries. The school offers an intensive programme of both classical and modern Eastern languages, combining the teaching of the academic fundamentals of Eastern studies with practical skills for working with countries in East Asia and the Middle East.
Project of the School of Asian Studies
The Mediterranean Region in the Context of Political Processes in the Middle East and North Africa →
Administration
Larisa Zeltyn
Deputy Head of the School
Alexandra Sizova
Deputy Head of the School
Publications
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Book
The Russian Koreans in the 1920s and 1930s. An Ethnic Community in the Face of Soviet Power
This book offers the first comprehensive exploration of the history of Soviet Koreans (1920s-1930s), focusing into their experiences in the USSR. It examines the impact of Stalin's foreign and domestic policies on
Soviet Koreans, their role in the socio-economic development of the Far East, and their contributions to the Red Army, as well as the cultural and educational aspects of their lives. Key themes include the political repression of Soviet Koreans during Stalin’s era and their subsequent rehabilitation in the Russian Federation.Brill, 2025.
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Article
The Specific Features of Interactions between Russian Consulates in Mongolia and Local Authorities in the Context of Relations between the Russian and Qing Empires (from the Second Half of the 19th to the Early 20th Century)
The article examines Russian imperial consular interaction with Mongolian and Manchu authorities in Mongolia from 1861 to 1911. It argues that Russian consulates operated as institutions of “border diplomacy” in the Russian-Qing frontier, combining protocol communication, legal protection, trade regulation, and political mediation. The study traces the evolution of these relations from the struggle for recognition of consular status to institutional bargaining over the expansion of the consular network. It shows that consulates defended Russian interests, supported relations with the Qing Empire, contributed to the preservation of Mongolian identity, and acted as agents of frontier governability.
Herald of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 2026. Vol. 96. No. 2.
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Book chapter
The Partition of 1947 and the Phenomenology of Violence
Phenomenology as a method allows the person to understand the historical facts along with an emotive structure. History as a fact does not hold meaning of it can’t be related to the time period which it describes. Human emotion feelings are on of the best guides for a comprehensive structure to understand the events as important as the partition of India in 1947. It was not just political or geographical movement to be scaled it was a human tragedy which can’t be completely captured by the facts, it needs essence of the entire event to be understood in terms of violence and displacement and the feelings associated with all these factors. The political, cultural shift that was witnessed in the 20th century in India was a water shed event as it led to the creation of the two separate trends of cultural and sociological interpretations which viewed the event in terms of its effects and causes. The paper tries to view the historical event from the prism of phenomenology and locate all variables from the phenomenological perspective to have better grasp of the facts and the emotions.
In bk.: Война и мир: вооруженные конфликты в Южной Азии и пути их разрешения. M.: 2026. P. 180-196.
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Working paper
Extended Family Structures Exert a Causal Influence on Fertility
Research of the impact of kin alloparenting on reproduction mainly focuses on mother’s parents and parents-in-law. The impact on fertility of extended families and the alloparental help with childcare they can provide has received much less attention. Moreover, there is an important lacuna in the existing studies of this problem, as it is mostly approached through correlational studies, while the presence of a causal link remains unclear. Using an instrumental variables approach, we demonstrate that prevalence of extended family structures exert a causal influence on fertility. A one standard-deviation increase in prevalence of extended families is associated with approximately 1.07 additional children per woman. These results highlight that family structure is not only statistically significant but also demographically consequential in shaping fertility outcomes.SocArXiv. Soc. SocArXiv, 2025