International dialogue and novel approaches: the wrap-up of Fudan University’s Summer School

The Summer School was hosted by the School of International Relations and Public Affairs, SIRPA, of Fudan University (PRC). Every year this training programme brings together students of the world’s top universities, attracting future researchers, diplomats and international relations experts from dozens of countries.

The topic of the 2026 edition of the Summer School was “Toward a Non-Hegemonic World: Communitas, Governance, and the De-dependency Development of the Global South”. It integrated four thematic blocks: Methods and Paths for Rethinking Global Order; A Holistic View of Security in the Era of Great Change; Comparative Politics through the Lens of New Development; the Purpose, Theory, and Practice of Development.

SIRPA had allocated ten grants to HSE WEIA students, which covered the tuition fees as well as on-campus accommodation costs. WEIA students also received the summer school stipend, subsidizing living expenses, and five students of the HSE International BA Programme “International Relations and Global Studies” were provided with travel grants for plane tickets. Bachelor students from the HSE Programme “International Relations”, as well as Mater students from such Programmes as “Modern Asian and MENA studies” and “International Relations: European and Asian Studies” also participated in the Summer School.

Among the lecturers and speakers of the Summer School were leading scholars from China, Europe, Africa and North America. This year Oleg Korneev, the academic supervisor of the HSE International BA Programme “International Relations and Global Studies”, also took part in the work of the Summer School as an invited expert. His course focused on the relations between the EU and Central Asia, a region of continuously rising significance in world politics and economy.

HSE WEIA students expressed high esteem for the curriculum of the Summer School and shared their impressions.

Alexa Te, 3rd year BA student, International Programme “International Relations and Global Studies”

“The Summer School on international relations and global governance presented a unique opportunity for me to experience first-hand the globality we talk about within the framework of our study programme.

Owing to comprehensive administrative as well as financial support (in the form of travel grants allocated by the Programme “International Relations and Global Studies”), we, the five 3^rd year BA students of the programme, had got the opportunity not only to listen to the lectures, but to take part in live discussions with the world’s top experts in international relations, economics, sociology, and even architecture. The 22-lecture cycle was commenced by Professor Yin Zhiguang, who called for developing alternative world order models. The critical perspectives offered by Radhika Desai, Alan Freeman and Ben Norton focused on conceptualizing the existing crisis in world order and identifying new principles of global justice. I was especially impressed by the research of Emily Wilcox (College of William & Mary, USA) on cultural diplomacy through dance exchanges, and the lecture of Professor Wei Ran (Tsinghua University) on reconceptualizing world literature from the perspective of the Global South. These lectures allowed me to adopt a new lens to familiar issues.

The informal part of the Summer School had proved to be just as substantial. Throughout the two weeks, we had been constantly exchanging academic, professional and cultural experiences with participants from China, India, Latin American, Middle Eastern, South-East Asian and Central Asian countries. Not only did such communication give me the opportunity to encounter lifestyles and traditions of different countries, but also to realize that without knowing a given language, national culture and history remain to a large extent inaccessible. To me, the most valuable were conversations in Chinese with native speakers and discussions in Russian with international participants, who study and are genuinely interested in our country.”

Alina Malysh, 2nd year MA student, “Modern Asian and MENA studies” Programme

“Participation in the Summer School of Fudan University became a valuable and fulfilling experience for me. One of the chief distinctions of the Summer School for me was the top-tier level of the invited lecturers.

Of the lectures I had the occasion to listen to, I was especially impressed by those dedicated to digital governance, sanctions policy, and international cooperation on development. Professor Zheng Lei of the School of International Relations and Public Affairs of Fudan University presented real-life examples of application of artificial intelligence, data governance and digital public services in modern-day Shanghai. Farwa Sial, researcher at the Economics Department within the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London, examined the impact of sanctions on the development of countries in the Global South and the international financial system. Professor José Alejandro Sebastian Barrios Díaz of the International Relations Institute at the University of Brasilia devoted his lecture to approaches to quantitative analysis of South-South Cooperation, with the Brazilian COBRADI system (Cooperação Brasileira para o Desenvolvimento Internacional) as a case study.

Aside from the lectures, the expansive thematic range of the Summer School proved to be valuable. Though I mostly gravitate towards issues of contemporary international relations and global politics, the historical and theoretical classes, including ones on imperialism and Marxist political economy, allowed me to better understand various research approaches to analyzing contemporary international processes.

Fudan University itself, as well as Shanghai, also made a lasting impression on me. Cutting-edge infrastructure, the scale of the University, the high level of organizational management of the study process, and extensive opportunities for learning, research and international interaction create a singular academic environment. Participation in the Summer School was not only an opportunity to attain new knowledge, but served as a further incentive for professional and academic development”.

Maria Bakhareva, 3rd year BA student, “International Relations” Programme

“The Summer School stood out to me primarily because of its substantive density and the diversity of participants. We listened to lectures on China, global governance, international development, and interacted a lot outside the classroom.

For me, the opportunity to adopt different lenses to familiar issues of international relations proved to be the most valuable, since at the Summer School there were lecturers both from the Chinese academic environment and from other countries. Besides, I was particularly glad about the chance to talk to the professor from Brazil whose articles and papers I had frequently referred to in writing my term paper this year. It was tantamount to a barrier breakdown, when the international academic environment in the field I am interested in had started to feel a lot closer. The trip was also a good reminder of just how important direct inter-cultural communication is in our field: the opportunity to engage in live dialogue with people with very different life experiences was crucial.

Among the lecturers and speakers of the Summer School were leading scholars from China, Europe, Africa and North America. This year Oleg Korneev, the academic supervisor of the HSE International BA Programme “International Relations and Global Studies”, also took part in the work of the Summer School as an invited expert. In his lectures, he closely examined the narratives and practices of the development policy of the European Union in relation to Central Asian states, the particularities of their perception and adaptation in the region, as well as issues of production of knowledge on the Global South. The classes brought together theoretical analysis and discussions of existing processes in international relations and politics. Students learned about contemporary approaches to the interplay of global and local actors in the region”.