Our Work

One thing that we haven’t spent much time explaining, and that some of you have asked about, is our work in Russia. Here’s that story, in brief.

Paul is a first year tenure-track professor at the New Economic School (NES) in Moscow, which offers graduate degrees in economics and finance. Some of his research is also conducted in conjunction with the Center for Economic and Financial Research (CEFiR). He specializes in the areas of development and law & economics. He is currently working on a number of projects, including a study of local governance in rural Russia. Paul’s position includes both teaching and research obligations, with an emphasis on the latter. This works out particularly well this academic year, with the baby coming, since he only teaches for 4 months total and will not have teaching responsibilities between March and September.

I am working as a consultant for another university in Moscow, the Higher School of Economics (HSE), which offers undergraduate and graduate programs in the social sciences. My current project entails a comparative study of student services in higher education across countries in various states of development and educational modernization (e.g. China, Russia and the United States). Additionally, I’m working to provide HSE with a detailed portrait of its own services, from the perspective of its students, faculty and staff, and attempting to help the administration situate its programs in terms of comparative strengths and weaknesses.

Some of you have also asked how we get by in our work, given that we’re just in the early stages of learning the Russian language. If you've read some of our previous blog entries, you know that the language barrier has brought about some amusing mistakes in our every day life here. Luckily, when it comes to our work, it has been fairly manageable so far. Paul teaches and does his research in English, and all of the students and faculty members at his school are fluent in English. As for me, I have an assistant who provides interpretation and translation. Most of the students and faculty at my school are also fluent in English, but (to encourage full participation in my study) most of the surveys, interviews and informational documents I produce are translated into Russian, and all respondents have the option to answer in whichever language they prefer.