International Summer School ICE-SMART 2014
On July 7-13 the Laboratory of Cultural Economics will hold an international summer school on ‘Impacts of Cultural Events on Small and Medium-size Art-oriented Towns’. Maria Dedova, Junior Research Fellow of the laboratory asked Valery Gordin, Head of the summer school to tell us about it.
― Researchers at the Laboratory of Cultural Economics have been studying the role of culture in modern society for several years. Does it make sense to describe this summer school as a continuation and interpretation of the research work?
― We definitely accumulated some research material, gathered during our studies of how culture influences tourism, enhances creative activity in different areas, and has an effect on the development and attractiveness of territories. We think that researching these areas is really important, because on the one hand everyone acknowledges the positive influence of cultural development on different areas of social life, but on the other hand these impacts are insufficiently classified and quantified. There is a broad field for research, which we look forward to discussing with our young colleagues.
― What makes your summer school international?
― Two lecturers from NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences (the Netherlands), Margo Rooijackers and Gert-Jan Remmers are coming to the school. They are experienced professionals in studying how cultural events (particularly festivals) create added value for a city. Moreover, case studies chosen for the school programme concern finished and planned research projects of festivals in Pori, Tikhvin, and Kotka, as well as the comparative international study - Stratford-upon-Avon - Weimar - Yasnaya Polyana. We are also expecting a lot of foreign students and young lecturers at the school.
― Is that why English will be the working language?
― Yes, it is. We want our foreign participants to feel as comfortable as possible and to prepare our students for participation in similar summer schools abroad and other communication with academics globally.
― Who else will be there?
― Evgeny Yasin, the HSE Academic Supervisor, will deliver a lecture on the role of culture in the development of small towns. Tatyana Abankina, Director of the Center for Applied Economic Research, will speak about the international research project I mentioned. Irina Kizilova, Leading Research Fellow of our laboratory will share her experience of studying different cultural festivals, and Leonid Limonov, Head of the Laboratory for Urban Studies in St. Petersburg, will analyze the experience of rejuvenating single-industry towns.
By Maria Dedova
See also:
Exploring Sublime Imperfections: How the Non-perfected is Framed as Beneficial
In September, the Research Centre for Contemporary Culture, an interdisciplinary unit inside the HSE Poletayev Institute for Theoretical and Historical Studies in the Humanities, held a seminar on ‘Analysing “informal” practices in (digital) cultural economies’. Delivered by Dr Ellen Rutten, Professor of Literature at the University of Amsterdam, the seminar focused on terms that allow us to more consciously talk about modern cultural economies. In an interview with the HSE News Service following her seminar, Dr Rutten spoke about Sublime Imperfections project, her other current research work, and ongoing collaboration with HSE.
St. Petersburg’s Gastronomic Brand Goes International
Scholars at HSE St. Petersburg have published their research in a new monograph for international tourism professionals. Dr. Valery Gordin, Deputy Director of HSE St. Petersburg and Head of the Laboratory of Cultural Economics, together with Dr. Julia Trabskaya, Leading Research Fellow at Laboratory of Cultural Economics, authored a chapter for a book entitled ‘Tourism Management, Marketing, and Development. Performance, Strategies, and Sustainability’. Palgrave Macmillan, a leading global publisher, issued this volume in December 2015.
Hostels Create A New Hospitality Culture
A hostel is not just a cheap hotel with shared facilities, but a specific business model supporting an emerging new culture in the tourism industry, one which mainly targets the 'creative class' and the members of modern urban subcultures, according to the recent report 'Hostels: A New Culture of Hospitality. St. Petersburg's Experience' by Senior Research Fellow of the HSE's Laboratory of Cultural Economics (St. Petersburg) Irina Borovskaya.