The HSE Institute of Social Sciences's Autumn School was held at the Voronovo Training Center.
From September 11th to 15th, the Voronovo Educational Center hosted the International Laboratory for Social Integration Studies' autumn school, entitled "Women as Agents of Change in Turbulent Times: Reducing Risks and Expanding Opportunities." Students from HSE, MGIMO, and other higher education institutions. Participants listened to lectures by sociologists, anthropologists, economists, and philosophers on topics related to women's agency.
The Autumn School was opened by Olga Borisovna Savinskaya , a leading research fellow at the International Laboratory for Social Integration Research (ILSIR) at the National Research University Higher School of Economics and a candidate of sociological sciences:
"I once participated in a similar Autumn School. I remember it was a difficult time. But when women get together and start discussing what to do next, it gives them a lot of strength."
Later, Olga Borisovna gave a lecture on "Diversification of Gender Contracts in the Transforming Social Sphere in the Russian Context," based on the research of the project group "Social Order in the Transforming Social Sphere: Macro- and Micro-Analysis."
Elena Yuryevna Rozhdestvenskaya, a professor at the National Research University Higher School of Economics and a doctor of sociological sciences, delivered lectures on "The Biographical Method in Sociology: Gender Differences in Individual and Collective Memory" and "Biographical Analytics. Interpretive Principles and Techniques of Biographical Material." Elvira Lvovna Gepting, a candidate of philological sciences and a leading researcher at the Novgorod State University's Humanitarian Urban Studies Research Center, conducted a master class on "The Interview Situation: Difficulties in Obtaining High-Quality Descriptions of the Lifeworld of Elderly Respondents, Taking into Account the Interpretation of Their Meanings and Identifying Attitudes Legitimizing Inequality in Various Social Spheres." Participants role-played as interviewers and respondents. Elvira Lvovna then shared her experience conducting in-depth narrative interviews with older respondents and screened her original film "Poozery" about residents of the Novgorod Region.
Philosopher Sofia Igorevna Porfiryeva gave a lecture on the topic "Conceptualization and Phenomenological Analysis of Female Corporeality," and medical anthropologist Tatyana Leonidovna Kuksa conducted a seminar on the analytical reading of sociologist Mary Douglas.
Sofia Mikhailovna Rebrey , Associate Professor of the Department of World Economy at MGIMO and PhD in Economics, spoke about the statistical measurement of reproductive labor. Yulia Evgenyevna Ostrovskaya, Research Fellow at the Institute of Sociology at the Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, discussed the statistics of economic inequality and anti-discrimination mechanisms for protecting women's labor rights. Valeria Vladimirovna Utkina , Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Social Sciences at HSE, and Natalya Vasilyevna Bulchenko, Research Intern at the Moscow Literary Institute of Social Sciences at HSE, gave lectures on the statistical measurement of women's agency and international gender indices, also based on the research of the "Social Order in the Transforming Social Sphere: Macro- and Micro-Analysis" project group.
Participants of the school conducted semi-structured narrative interviews with older women, aimed at further exploring the feminization of aging.
Elvira Lvovna Gepting, author of the film "Poozery" and lecturer at the Autumn School:
"The most wonderful thing was that the program was put together so carefully that we were able to stroll, enjoying the sun, the Voronovo estate, and the forest. We even brought back a bag of chanterelles and honey mushrooms to Moscow."