Maya Liberman

The Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences was the only program I applied for in 2016. Making this decision long before finishing school, I was guided by uniqueness of this program for Russian higher education, the outstanding level of education and a wide choice of trajectories available to students, as well as professional skills of the graduates who had already built their careers in science, culture, journalism or business have.

Besides, as a participant of numerous literature and English contests for schoolchildren, I was really interested in studying current Russian and English literature in the conversation with colleagues from other countries and universities. The Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences was my main hope for obtaining knowledge and such important experience to me.

My hopes were more than justified. I entered the university effortlessly to get a budget-funded position, and from the very first day of my being at the Bobrinsky Palace, I plunged into a fruitful educational process. Our professors, being professionals with outstanding academic experience, treated us with respect and care, did set high standards of work and created opportunities not only for passive perception of new information, but also for active participation in discussions in classe, at conferences, seminars, and even academic journals. The faculty showed us that with the proper level of knowledge and diligence, each student can become a full-fledged participant of the academic process and achieve excellent results.

Thanks to the attention and participation of my supervisor Valery Timofeev and other professors in literary studies, I studied with great curiosity and pleasure, by the time I graduated from the bachelor’s degree, I had made presentations at several international conferences, had a hand in organizing academic events, actively participated in research work, wrote and published literary texts highly appreciated by researchers from leading universities in Russia and the world.

Our faculty is a unique phenomenon in Russian academic life, an example of the highest standards of education, an amazing community of professionals, and belonging to this community is my great joy and luck.