About Program

The biennial Master program "Migration Studies" offers a set of basic disciplines, as well as extra courses.

The structure and the educational content of the program

The profile of the program is determined by the content of the basic educational disciplines of the main curriculum (modules): “Population Migration: Theory and Processes”, “Methods and Tools of Migration Studies”, compulsory disciplines of the elective courses: “Research Seminar”, “Migration and Policies”, and also a large choice of extra courses: “Theory and Practice of Expert Activities in the Migration Field”, “Management and Project Activities in the Migration Field”, “Migration Processes in Countries and Regions of the World (Eurasian Migration system/Post soviet area or European Migration System) etc., “Transnational Migration” and “Global Migration Governance” in English.

One of the main points of the program is a high-quality language training of students (such courses as: "English for Migration Studies", "Languages and culture of Central Asia and China").

The result of students' training is the preparation and defense of the final master's thesis on a relevant scientific and practically significant topic of the main educational program profile.

Educational methods used in the learning process

Lectures, seminars, practices, individual work

Assessment methods

Seminars, essays, exams, presentations

Program purpose

The main purpose (mission) of the master program is to prepare specialists with fundamental knowledge and special competences in the field of migration processes, migration policies and the integration of migrants. They also must know modern methods of data collection and analysis, apply them in practice and correctly interpret the results.

Learning outcomes

The program is aimed at comprehensive, practice-oriented training of highly qualified specialists in the migration field (including transnational migration), who are in demand on both the Russian and international labor markets.

Specialist on migration - who is it?

Oleg Korneev

Senior scientist researcher - project coordinator of The Center of Local Initiatives Researches, Faculty of Law, Political and Social Sciences, University Paris-13 (France)

Dyatlov Victor Innokentevich

Doctor of Sciences (History), Professor, Department of World History and International Relations, Irkutsk State University, Professor, Department of Anthropology and Ethnology, TSU

Ryazantsev Sergey Vasilyevich

Doctor of Economics, Corresponding Member of Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor “Probably, there is no such specialty in the country, although it is needed ... And I think that an independent department is needed in this way, which will be responsible for managing migration. And if this idea is embodied it must be embodied sooner or later, because there are objective prerequisites for this. This is a special aspect, a special phenomenon that a specialist who understands this process needs to be engaged in, not a policeman, not some labor resources specialist, because this is a more multidimensional phenomenon. Therefore, from my point of view, a migration specialist is an expert who understands this phenomenon, its principles, structure, trends, can offer solutions on how to improve it, manage the flows of interests for both regions, population, and migrants themselves, i.e. it should be a complex specialist, owning different sciences, different knowledge fields corresponding to migration field.”

Klyuchevská Carolina

Researcher at the CERAL Center, Faculty of Law, Political and Social Sciences, University Paris-13 (France)

“At the end, we should get a person, yes, the profession is not the right word, but a specialist who will undoubtedly understand migration from various sides. Such kind of studying in one form or another, which was, in particular, in the Soviet Union, what we talked about, when people studied migration, was mainly studied by demographers, economists (population economics) and there was such a positivist bias: numbers, graphics, quantity, migration flows, dynamics. Migration was not formulated as a separate field of study in all these courses, it always existed but as a secondary field of study. And we had the task to plunge our students as high as possible, to see both the demographic component and the economic and social, i.e. it was multifaceted study.

“Migration studies at TSU are very necessary. Such studies are at the junction with practical activities. I am convinced that the person, who graduated from “Migration Studies” program is also a specialist in humanities. Migration studies is a complex issue. Such specialist has a broad outlook; he can find a job for himself that will be useful to society.”

“Probably, there is no such specialty in the country, although it is needed ... And I think that an independent department is needed in this way, which will be responsible for managing migration. And if this idea is embodied it must be embodied sooner or later, because there are objective prerequisites for this. This is a special aspect, a special phenomenon that a specialist who understands this process needs to be engaged in, not a policeman, not some labor resources specialist, because this is a more multidimensional phenomenon. Therefore, from my point of view, a migration specialist is an expert who understands this phenomenon, its principles, structure, trends, can offer solutions on how to improve it, manage the flows of interests for both regions, population, and migrants themselves, i.e. it should be a complex specialist, owning different sciences, different knowledge fields corresponding to migration field.”