Celebrating Diversity
HSE University is home to many student associations, including cultural clubs, where students find a home away from home, learn about each other’s cultures, celebrate holidays, and meet new friends. Read on to learn about the Greek Club, the Serbian Club, the Moldovan Club, and the HSE Chamber of Nationalities.
HSE Chamber of Nationalities
The HSE Chamber of Nationalities is led by Bella Shadieva, a fourth-year student in the ‘Media Communications’ programme at HSE University, who comes from the Republic of Ingushetia.
Bella Shadieva
‘The Chamber of Nationalities is a student organisation that has been working in various cultural, charitable, scientific, and sports activities for 14 years. Our main goal is to establish intercultural dialogue in the university's multinational environment. The friendly family of the organisation already includes 36 national clubs representing the cultures and traditions of people around the world. We hold club meetings and integrate into the activities of the national clubs.
As we say, the Chamber of Nationalities is a place that unites. To achieve this goal, we organise numerous events: lectures with guest speakers, cultural days for different nations, movie screenings, workshops, and one of the university's most significant events, HSE Unity Fest, which we aim to make an annual tradition.’
Follow the HSE Chamber of Nationalities on VK.
HSE Greek Club
Diana Tatarova, the chair of the HSE Greek Club, is 20 years old and a third-year student in the ‘Law’ programme.
Diana is ethnically Greek, with her family historically from Georgia, where they settled in the mid-19th century due to Turkish persecution. Diana's family has long lived in Russia, and she herself was born in the southern city of Stavropol.
Diana Tatarova
‘Our club has more than 25 members, but we continue to grow every month. Of course, our club includes students directly from Greece (for example, Nikos Dimitriou), but many of us grew up in Russia, which is connected to our people's history.
We are always pleased when students who are not ethnically Greek show interest in our club and admire their enthusiasm for our language and culture
Our club's goal is to unite the Greek community at HSE University and familiarise its members with Greek culture.
To make our community's activities more fruitful, we strive to collaborate with organisations beyond our university. For example, our regular partner in organising events is the Moscow Society of Greeks. We have successfully participated in major events such as HSE Unity Fest and the Balkanika Festival, and we have even more plans to provide you with entertainment!
On Greek Independence Day, March 25th—a significant holiday for us—representatives of the Greek clubs from RUDN and HSE Universities laid flowers and lit candles at the Greek burial site in the Donskoy Cemetery.’
Join our VK community to stay updated about the upcoming events! Τα λέμε σύντομα, φίλοι!
HSE Serbian Club
One of the two chairpersons of the HSE Serbian Club is Katarina Obradovic, from Serbia. She is a third-year student of Media Communications at the Faculty of Creative Industries, specialising in Storytelling. At the club, she is responsible for social media and design.
Katarina Obradovic
‘Currently, there are ten members in our club. They are Serbian students and students from Russia: we welcome everyone who is interested in Serbian culture and traditions.
The club has many goals, but the most important ones are:
- Demonstrating the Serbian culture and traditions among students and teachers.
- Creating a platform for exchange of cultural and academic knowledge between different countries and Serbia.
- Organising events that strengthen friendship and mutual understanding between different countries and Serbian students.
- Providing opportunities to study Serbian culture, history, traditions, literature, and language.
In November 2023, the Serbian club took part in HSE Unity Fest: unity of cultures and new friendships at HSE University. In March 2024, we organised the Balkanika Festival together with other Balkan clubs (Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, and Moldova), where we showed how the Balkans celebrate spring and demonstrated our common culture. In the future, we are planning to organise many events, such as the Day of Serbian Culture.
Promoting Serbian culture in Russia makes me feel proud of my national identity. I am also very grateful for this opportunity and happy to share my culture with others.
I believe that this can contribute to cultural exchange and mutual understanding.
Serbs and Russians belong to the Orthodox Church. They observe many common religious holidays and traditions, including Easter, Christmas, and Epiphany. In my opinion, the Serbian tradition of celebrating Slava—a family holiday dedicated to a mythical ancestor, the founder of the family, who is considered the patron of all living descendants and ensures their well-being—could become popular in Russia as well.’
Follow the HSE Serbian Club on VK.
HSE Moldovan Club
Andrei Velicorodnov, fourth-year student of International Relations, is the Chairman of the Moldovan Club at the HSE.
Andrei Velicorodnov
‘Originally, I'm from the Republic of Moldova. I was born on the right bank of Moldova, but as a teenager, I moved to Bender on the left bank. Now I'm studying at HSE University, majoring in International Relations.
Currently, 47 people are members of the HSE Moldovan Club, but this isn't a precise number. All Moldovans from HSE University can find a home away from their homeland at our club. I came up with the idea to create a club when the war broke out: many Moldovans were cut off from Moldova due to high travel expenses or inconvenient travel conditions. For example, 300€ for one-way ticket or 150€ for 60-hour bus journey through the entire Eastern Europe. As a result, they can't visit their families and friends, and immerse in their native culture. I decided to bring back memories of Moldova for them.
When we have time, we gather at the university or at a Moldovan restaurant. It's really fun because we eat, chat, and dance
As a chairman of the Moldovan Club, I wouldn't say that it's necessary to include people from other countries in our club: that isn't the purpose of our club, at least under my management. Perhaps, the next chairperson will think differently. We try to make people aware of our club and culture through official events such as Balkanika and HSE Unity.
Balkanika was the first event in which the Moldovan Club took the role of co-organiser, not just a participant. This year, we are planning to arrange some events that are connected to Moldova, its culture and cuisine. I’m graduating this year, and soon, the management of the club will change, but I intend to help my friends from the Club.
I'm glad that many people at the HSE University are familiar not only with Moldovan culture and cuisine, but also with our cities, traditions, etc. Balkanika showed the interest of people in dancing like a Moldovan, eating Moldovan food, making Moldovan national accessories. I really appreciate this. Also, not all students know that we have the tradition of attaching a red-white snowdrop symbol to our chest called Mărțişor (martzishor). The tradition still exists even among young people.’
If you are interested in joining the club, please contact Andrei Velicorodnov via Telegram.
See also:
Talking Chinese, Writing Articles, and Drinking Tea: What Chinese Club Students Did this Year
The HSE Chinese Student Club at the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs School of Asian Studies has completed its 2021/22 season. Its participants and organisers talked to the HSE News Service about how they discuss China’s socio-economic, political, and cultural development as part of the club’s events.