Olga Bessmertnaya
- Associate Professor, Senior Research Fellow: Faculty of Humanities / Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies
- Programme Academic Supervisor: Muslim Worlds in Russia (History and Culture)
- Olga Bessmertnaya has been at HSE University since 2012.
Education and Degrees
Russian State University for the Humanities
Lomonosov Moscow State University
According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 2011, Candidate of Sciences belongs to ISCED level 8 - "doctoral or equivalent", together with PhD, DPhil, D.Lit, D.Sc, LL.D, Doctorate or similar. Candidate of Sciences allows its holders to reach the level of the Associate Professor.
Awards and Accomplishments
Best Academic Supervisor in the category ‘Student Engagement with External Customers’ — 2023
Courses (2024/2025)
- Muslims, society, and authority in Russian Empire and USSR (Mago-Lego; 1-4 module)Rus
- Muslims, society, and authority in Russian Empire and USSR (Master’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 1 year, 1-4 module)Rus
- Research Seminar "Muslim history in Russian Empire and USSR: debate topics" (Master’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 1 year, 1, 2 module)Rus
- Research Seminar Approaches and methods in studies of the Muslim communities in contemporary Russia (Master’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 2 year, 3, 4 module)Rus
- Past Courses
Courses (2023/2024)
- Muslims, society, and authority in Russian Empire and USSR (Mago-Lego; 1-4 module)Rus
- Muslims, society, and authority in Russian Empire and USSR (Master’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 1 year, 1-4 module)Rus
- Research Seminar "Muslim history in Russian Empire and USSR: debate topics" (Master’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 1 year, 2, 3 module)Rus
- Research Seminar Approaches and methods in studies of the Muslim communities in contemporary Russia (Master’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 2 year, 3, 4 module)Rus
- The Critique of Orientalism in Contemporary Humanities (Master’s programme; Faculty of Humanities field of study Asian and African Studies, field of study Asian and African Studies, field of study Asian and African Studies; 1 year, 1, 2 module)Rus
- The Critique of Orientalism in Contemporary Humanities (Mago-Lego; 1, 2 module)Rus
Courses (2022/2023)
- Muslims, society, and authority in Russian Empire and USSR (Mago-Lego; 1-4 module)Rus
- Muslims, society, and authority in Russian Empire and USSR (Master’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 1 year, 1-4 module)Rus
- Research Seminar (Master’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 2 year, 4 module)Rus
- Research Seminar "Muslim history in Russian Empire and USSR: debate topics" (Master’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 1 year, 1, 2 module)Rus
- Research Seminar Approaches and methods in studies of the Muslim communities in contemporary Russia (Master’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 2 year, 3, 4 module)Rus
Courses (2021/2022)
- Muslims, society, and authority in Russian Empire and USSR (Master’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 1 year, 1-4 module)Rus
- Research Seminar "Muslim history in Russian Empire and USSR: debate topics" (Master’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 1 year, 1, 2 module)Rus
- Research Seminar Approaches and methods in studies of the Muslim communities in contemporary Russia (Master’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 2 year, 3, 4 module)Rus
Courses (2020/2021)
- Islamic Сivilization (Bachelor’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 4 year, 1 module)Rus
- Muslims, society, and authority in Russian Empire and USSR (Master’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 1 year, 1-4 module)Rus
- Research Seminar "Muslim history in Russian Empire and USSR: debate topics" (Master’s programme; Faculty of Humanities; 1 year, 1, 2 module)Rus
Conferences
- 2019
2019 ASEEES Summer Convention (Загреб). Presentation: Culture Lies: “Solving” the Muslim Question in Late Imperial Russia through Double-dealing (the Case of M.-B. Hadjetlaché)
антропология страха (Санкт-Петербург). Presentation: Мотивы страха в мемуарах двух советских медиевистов–противников и образы советского прошлого (Е.В. Гутнова и А.Я. Гуревич)
Вторые романовские чтения (Москва). Presentation: Письмо как капля воды: конспирология в повседневности Бобруйска в первые годы 20 в. (не без восточных мотивов)
- 2018
X Мелетинские чтения (Москва). Presentation: Литература и жизнь: конструирование автобиографического нарратива самозванцем (случай Хаджетлаше)
50th Annual Convention of the Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies (Boston). Presentation: Trickster Live: Political Double-Dealing and Identity Performance in Late Imperial Russia (Maghomet-Bek Hadjetlaché)
Employment history
27.07.1994 - 11.09. 2017: |
Senior Researcher: Centre for Comparative Studies of the Cultures of East and West,Institute for Oriental Cultures and Antiquity (before 2005 – Institute for Oriental Cultures), Russian State University for the Humanities; |
2012 –August 2015 |
Assistant Professor: National Research University – Higher School of Economics, Dept. of History (part-time); |
2001-2003: |
Senior Researcher (part-time): Centre for the History of Everyday Life, Institute of Universal History, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) |
1990-94: |
Researcher: Dept. of Comparative Cultural Studies, Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences. |
1990-93: |
Research Fellow & Lecturer in African Language Literatures: Dept. of African Studies, Institute of Asian and African Studies, Moscow State University. |
1988-90 |
Editor: Dept.of Oriental Literatures and Cultures,"Nauka Publishers", Moscow. |
1983-88 |
Assistant: Dept. of African studies, Institute of Asian and African Studies, Moscow State University. |
1979-83 |
Assistant professor in Hausa language and culture: Dept. of African studies, Institute of Asian and African Studies, Moscow State University. |
1978-79 |
Editor: Dept. of World History, "Soviet Encyclopedia Publishers", Moscow. |
‘We Pay Special Attention to Postcolonial Studies and Problems of Decolonisation’
The Master's Programme 'Muslim Worlds in Russia (History and Culture)' trains specialists in the history and culture of the Muslim peoples of Russia, as well as their relations with the state and other peoples at home and abroad. Admissions are open until July 25, 2024. Below, Olga Bessmertnaya, Academic Supervisor of the programme, speaks about the admission process, the courses, and the career prospects for the programme graduates.