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Davidson in Moscow 2011

Information Session: Tuesday, November 16 at 4:30 (place TBA). The Davidson in Moscow program is open to all Davidson students, including those with no previous experience with Russian language. The program offers 2 weeks of Russian language study and a survey of Russian history (in English) at our host institute in Moscow, follwed by one-week cultural excursion to St. Petersburg. All courses are taught by MGIMO faculty and the cultural program will be organized by the resident director, Dr. Amanda Ewington, Associate Professor of Russian at Davidson.

Download the application!

Quick facts:

What is MGIMO? MGIMO stands for Moscow State Institute of International Relations (Московский Государственный Институт Международных Отношений). MGIMO is Russia's most prestigious university, serving as a training ground for Russia's political leaders and diplomats. You can get a feel for the institution through the MGIMO website (click on "Eng" in top right corner for English version).

Davidson and MGIMO:

Scholarly exchange:
For the last ten years Davidson has maintained both a scholarly and student exchange with MGIMO. Davidson Professor of History, Dr. Earl Edmondson, Dean of Faculty and Professor of Economics, Dr. Clark Ross, and Dr. Fred Smith of the Davidson Economics department have visited and lectured at MGIMO. Davidson has hosted MGIMO professors Vladimir Pechatnov and Andrei Sidorov, who gave lectures on Russian history and Russian-American Relations and visited a range of Davidson classes.

Student exchange:
Every other fall, including this semester, Davidson welcomes a group of MGIMO students. The students participate in Davidson classes and live near campus. Their visit provides a wonderful opportunity for the Davidson in Moscow participants to meet MGIMO students prior to arrival in Russia! We have been sending our students to MGIMO for summer study since 2003.

Housing: Students share a double room with another Davidson student. The dormitory is located right next door to the main MGIMO building, where classes are held. Each room has a private bathroom, color television with cable, and refrigerator. The dorm also has a kitchen on one of the floors for student use. The room has basic maid service. The dormitory is accessible only with ID and the front-desk is staffed 24/7. A telephone is located on each floor and phone cards may be purchased at the front desk or in metro stations.

Meals: Students are responsible for their own meals. The MGIMO campus has cafeterias and several cafes. Students enjoy ample opportunity to explore the great culinary diversity of Moscow. Everything is at your fingertips, from traditional Russian cuisine on the cheap at the popular chain, Cafe Mu-Mu, to delicious Georgian cuisine at Mama Zoya's, or, if you're in a real bind, the ubiquitous McDonald's , including one just a ten minute walk from your dorm. There are supermarkets within walking distance of the dorm, and when you get a hankering for some fancy European groceries, you can head downtown to the Swedish Stockmann (they take credit cards!) or the Seventh Continent (Седьмой континент). Dr. Ewington will also be sure to acquaint you with the wonderful produce and cultural experience of Moscow's open markets.

Moscow Excursions: MGIMO classes are set up to allow plenty of time to explore Moscow on free days and weekends. There will be at least 4planned excursions around Moscow each week, covered by your program cost. In past years these have included:

• Introductory bus tour
• The Kremlin museums
• Lenin's tomb
• The Tretyakov Gallery (Russian Art)
• The Pushkin Museum of Fine Art (European art)
• The Bolshio opera
• The Novodevichy Monastery cemetery (final resting place for many famous Russian leaders and cultural figures, everyone from Khrushchev to Chekhov )
• Cruise along the Moscow River
• The Moscow Circus
• Christ the Savior Cathedral
• Lenin Hills (now again Sparrow Hills) and Moscow State University
• Red Square, including St. Basil's and the GUM shopping complex
• The Arbat
• Monument cemetery (displaced statues from the Soviet era)
• Victory Park

Day-trips and weekends:

• Extended Weekend trip to the ancient city of Suzdal' in Moscow's Golden Ring: Stay in Russian "bed and breakfast" and enjoy a Russian banya!
• Day trips have included a visit to the Cosmonaut training center, "Star City" and a visit to
• Tolstoy's estate, Yasnaya Polyana

St. Petersburg excursions :

• The Hermitage (the third largest museum in the world, housed in the former palace of the tsars)
• Peterhoff (Peter the Great's response to Versailles, on the Gulf of Finland)
• The Catherine Palace (summer home to the Romanovs) and the famous Amber Room.
• Walking Tours (the Siege of Leningrad, Dostoevsky's St. Petersburg)
• The Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral (First structures built in the city and resting place to all the tsars since Peter the Great)
• Pushkin's apartment-museum
• The Summer Garden
• Church of the Spilled Blood (built on the site where Alexander II was assassinated)
• The Admiralty and St. Isaac's Cathedral (view the city from the top)
• Water cruise along the canals and the Neva river in the "Venice of the North"
• Shopping on Nevsky Prospect
• The Tauride Gardens and Smolnyi Cathedral

Program Cost: TBA

• Shared room in the MGIMO dormitory
• Tuition
• All excursions, including day-trips, weekends, and week in St. Petersburg
• Local travel (metro cards) and R/T train overnight train to St. Petersburg
• Textbooks and academic supplies

• Round-trip airfare between home city and Moscow
• Visa fee ($300+ Express Mail cost)
• Personal Entertainment (movies, clubs, etc.)
• Meals

Medical Insurance: As with all Davidson study abroad programs, all participants are required to have medical coverage, which includes an extension or supplemental insurance with specific overseas coverage and medical evacuation.

Timeline:
Immediately: Apply for a passport if you don't already have one!
January 14: Applications due
January 21: Notification of acceptances
January 21: $500 depost due
April 15: Medical and insurance forms due at Office of Study Abroad
May 1: Full payment due and time to submit visa applications

Please contact Dr. Ewington for more information.

Many thanks to Davidson in Moscow alumnae Alana Calvin ('07) and Amy Freeman ('07) for allowing me to add their photos to this site.