East European Studies

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Study Eastern Europe through language, culture, history, and politics, examined together rather than in isolation.

Tallinn University’s East European Studies major is a two-year, English-taught pathway within the MA in Estonian Studies. It is designed for students who want to develop a deeper, academically grounded understanding of Eastern Europe, rather than a broad or purely topical overview of the region.

The programme approaches Eastern Europe from Estonia and the wider Baltic context, where imperial legacies, Soviet and post-Soviet histories, and contemporary European debates intersect in everyday cultural, linguistic, and political life. This vantage point allows students to work comparatively across the region while remaining grounded in a concrete historical and social setting.

Students study language, culture, history, and political developments as connected dimensions of regional life. Teaching is seminar-based and emphasises reading, discussion, and analytical writing. Through compulsory courses, language study, and chosen electives, students shape an individual focus within a clear academic framework, leading to a Master’s thesis aligned with their interests.

Over the course of the programme, students refine how they think about Eastern Europe: learning to work with complexity, to read sources across languages and disciplines, and to develop careful, independent arguments. This way of thinking supports further academic study, as well as professional work that requires informed regional judgement and cultural understanding.

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Who this programme is for?

This programme is for applicants who want to understand Eastern Europe through sustained academic engagement rather than general surveys or short-term commentary. It suits students who are interested in how language, culture, history, and politics shape one another in the region, and who are prepared for the reading, writing, and analytical demands of an academically grounded Master’s programme.

It is particularly suited to students who:

Have a background in the humanities or social sciences and want to continue their studies in a programme that brings multiple perspectives together within a coherent framework.
Are interested in Eastern Europe as both a historical and contemporary region, with attention to identity, memory, language, and political change.
Want to combine language study with cultural, historical, or political analysis as part of their academic work.
May be considering further academic study, or who seek a deeper, humanities-based understanding of the region to inform professional work in international, diplomatic, or regional contexts.
The programme is open to applicants from different academic backgrounds and brings together students who are interested in engaging with its intellectual and analytical approach.

Why study with us?

East European Studies at Tallinn University approaches the region from a Baltic and Estonian vantage point, allowing wider East European developments to be examined in a concrete and situated way.

The major is part of the MA in Estonian Studies and brings together teaching in language, cultural and literary studies, history and memory, and comparative politics. This allows students to study Eastern Europe as a connected space shaped by imperial legacies, socialism, and post-socialist change, while working from a clear regional context rather than a broad or abstract overview.

Teaching is seminar-based, with an emphasis on reading, discussion, and writing. Language, culture, history, and political perspectives are studied together through shared questions, rather than as separate subjects. Within this framework, students shape their own focus through language study and elective courses, with possible emphasis on literature, history, linguistics, or regional politics and related social perspectives.

Tallinn matters for this programme in straightforward ways. It is a multilingual society shaped by Soviet and post-Soviet histories, borderland dynamics, and ongoing debates about identity and democracy. Many of the questions studied in the programme are visible in everyday cultural, linguistic, and political life, supporting analysis without turning the degree into practical training or fieldwork.

For students who want to understand Eastern Europe in depth and from a defined regional perspective, the programme offers a clear academic framework and room to develop an individual focus.

Scholarships and Tuition Fee Reduction

The tuition fee for the MA in Estonian Studies with a major in East European Studies is €1,900 per semester. The programme offers academically grounded Master’s-level study in an international context, while remaining financially accessible compared to many similar programmes in Europe.

To support access to the programme, Tallinn University offers merit-based tuition fee reductions for high-performing students.

For applicants admitted in 2026, up to four students will receive a 50% tuition fee reduction for one academic year. This means that selected students pay €950 per semester during that year.

The tuition fee reductions awarded in 2026 apply to the academic years 2026/2027 and 2027/2028.

How the tuition fee reduction is awarded?

First academic year: The reduction is granted to the four highest-ranked students based on entrance examination results.
Second academic year: Full-time students may apply for continued tuition fee support. Rankings are based on the weighted grade point average. To be eligible, students must not be on academic leave during the relevant semester.

How to apply?

To receive the tuition fee reduction, admitted students must submit an application using the prescribed form no later than 5 September. Applications may be submitted after the admission process.

Additional funding opportunities

The Estonian Ministry of Education and Research offers scholarships for degree and exchange study in Estonia. Further information is available through national scholarship programmes.

Programme Outline

The East European Studies major within the MA in Estonian Studies is structured to provide a shared analytical foundation while allowing students to shape an individual focus through language study, electives, and comparative work. Across the two years, students move from core perspectives on Eastern Europe towards more specialised study and, where relevant, independent research.

Teaching is organised in a cyclical study format, with classes usually held from Thursday to Saturday, allowing participation by both full-time students and those combining study with professional commitments.

Core components

All students complete a compulsory module, Introduction to East European Studies, which establishes shared points of reference for the programme. This module includes courses such as:

Introduction to Estonian Studies and East European Studies
Languages and identities in the East European space
East European literatures and cultures
Current issues in East European studies

These courses introduce key historical, cultural, linguistic, and political questions and provide a common analytical framework for later coursework.

Alongside core courses, students develop academic writing and research skills through the Master’s seminar, where they begin shaping their final thesis or research project over time.

Language study

Language study is an integral part of the programme and supports analytical engagement with the region. Students choose language courses relevant to their interests, with options including Estonian, Russian, Polish, and Ukrainian. Courses are available at different levels, suitable both for beginners and for students continuing previous language study.

Language learning is treated as a way to access sources, contexts, and debates connected to Eastern Europe, rather than as stand-alone training.

Electives and individual focus

Students select elective courses to shape an individual pathway within the programme. Depending on interests and prior background, possible areas of emphasis include literature, history, linguistics, or regional politics and related social perspectives.

Elective options may include courses such as:

East European politics and societies
History and memory
Nationalism and transnational history
Place, space, and identity
Cyber security and the digital world
Russian and slavonic culture linguistics
Russian émigré culture
Paradigms of Russian culture
Estonian language and identity

This structure allows students to develop depth in a chosen area while remaining grounded in the broader regional context.

Study programme 2026/2027

Mobility and international experience

During the two-year programme, students are encouraged to complement their studies through short-term or long-term mobility at partner universities in Eastern Europe and beyond. A study period abroad, particularly during the third semester, supports comparative perspectives and deeper regional engagement but is not mandatory.

Study Support Facilities

Study support and academic environment

Tallinn University provides a range of student support services alongside academic study, supporting students throughout the programme.

All students have access to career counselling, which can help in thinking through further study options, academic pathways, or how to articulate programme-related experience in applications and interviews. Career counselling is available throughout the degree.

Psychological counselling services are also available to students, offering confidential support for study-related or personal challenges. These services are free of charge and can be accessed both on campus and online.

Tallinn University is committed to inclusive study conditions. Students with special needs can receive individual support, including reasonable adjustments to studies and entrance examinations, guidance on scholarships and services, and ongoing counselling during their studies.

International students are supported through the university’s international student services, which provide guidance on practical study-related matters and life in Estonia. Students may also participate in Erasmus exchange programmes and other mobility opportunities during their studies.

Academic resources and intellectual environment

The East European Studies major is based in the School of Humanities and draws on the academic resources of Tallinn University. Students have access to the university’s study library and the main library, as well as the National Library of Estonia, all located within easy reach of the campus.

Students are encouraged to engage with the wider intellectual life of Tallinn, including lectures, seminars, conferences, and cultural events organised by the university and partner institutions. These activities support academic work without being formal programme requirements.

The programme cooperates with academic units and partners such as the Juri Lotman Semiotic Repository and the School of Governance, Law and Society, supporting interdisciplinary perspectives and access to additional scholarly contexts.

Careers and further study

Graduates of the East European Studies major develop strong abilities in analysis, interpretation, and academic writing, alongside region-specific knowledge grounded in language, culture, history, and political context. These capacities support a range of future paths rather than a single professional trajectory.

Some graduates continue to do doctoral studies in humanities and social sciences fields related to Eastern Europe, including cultural studies, history, linguistics, and related disciplines, both in Estonia and internationally. The programme provides a solid academic foundation for this path through sustained coursework, language study, and the completion of a substantial Master’s thesis.

Other graduates apply the analytical and regional understanding developed during the programme in professionally oriented contexts connected to Eastern Europe, such as international relations, diplomacy, policy-related work, cultural institutions, education, research projects, and fields where contextual judgement, writing, and regional literacy are required. For professionals already working in these areas, the programme offers deeper humanities-based understanding that complements existing expertise rather than replacing it.

The programme is not vocational or practice-led, and it does not train students for specific job titles. What it reliably provides is the ability to work carefully with complex regional material, to read and interpret sources across languages and contexts, and to communicate informed analysis in written form.

Guidance on further study options, internships, and professional directions is available on an individual basis, depending on students’ interests and prior experience.

Academic Staff

Kapitolina Fedorova is the Associate Professor of Russian Studies at Tallinn University. She graduated from St. Petersburg State University (PhD 2002) and used to work for 15 years at the Department of Anthropology at European University at St. Petersburg. Before joining Tallinn University she spent two years teaching at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, South Korea.

Her research interests include sociolinguistics, language contacts, border and migration studies, linguistic landscape studies, and interethnic communication. She conducted research projects in different regions, including the Russian-Chinese, Russian-Finnish, and Russian-Estonian border areas, St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Seoul.

Piret Viires is the Professor of Estonian Literature and Literary Theory at Tallinn University. She received her doctorate degree in Estonian Literature in 2006 from Tartu University. She has published books on Estonian Literature and postmodernism. The most recently published is Postmodernism in Estonian Literary Culture (2012, Peter Lang Verlag). In addition, she has published many articles, edited scholarly publications, organised conferences. She is a member of various scholarly organisations and editing boards. Her teaching assignments and research have taken her to the University of Turku (Finland), Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary), Ohio State University (USA). Piret Viires is a member of the board of the Estonian Writers' Union and has published fiction.

Main research interests: Modern Estonian Literature, postmodernism and post-postmodernism, relationships between literature and technology, digital literature.

Ksenia Shmydkaya is a Lecturer of Slavic and Russian studies.

She received her PhD from Tallinn University's School in Humanities in 2022. She is currently working on her first monograph exploring the philosophical foundations and political resonance of women-authored historical fiction in interwar Europe. Among her scholarly interests are women's writing, gender history and history of knowledge in Eastern Europe, epistolarity, historical representation, and the French Revolution.

Since 2019, she has been teaching seminars on literature, cultural theory, history, and basic academic skills.

Anna Verschik is the Professor of General Linguistics at Tallinn University. Her scholarly interests include topics like Estonian-Russian language contacts, multilingualism on the internet, sociolinguistics in the Baltic countries, contacts of Yiddish in the Baltic area and sociolinguistic situation of post-Soviet countries in a comparative perspective. She teaches subjects related to her research field.

Main research interests: contact linguistics and multilingualism.

Kristo Nurmis is a historian and a research fellow at the Tallinn University School of Humanities. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in the field of Russian and Eastern European History (2022). Kristo is currently working on a book project exploring the politics of legitimacy and mass influence in the Soviet and Nazi occupied Baltic States from 1939-1953.

Tõnis Saarts is the Associate Professor of Comparative Politics at Tallinn University. He has a background in both political science and sociology. He has focused on comparative politics, political sociology, and historical sociology. More specifically, his research interests have concentrated primarily on political parties, party systems, social cleavages and the multiple challenges contemporary political parties have in modern democracies (the rise of populism, party system cartelization, etc.). He has also been interested in democratization in Central and Eastern Europe, where he has primarily focused on the Baltic States in a comparative perspective. His great passion has been historical sociology, in which he has studied the formation of modern democracy and statehood from a historical perspective. Saarts has also been active in the public sphere, in which he has written numerous media articles and provided media commentaries on the developments in Estonian politics for many well-known international media outlets.

Natalia Tšuikina is Associate Professor of Russian. She graduated from Saint-Petersburg State University and earned her doctorate degree (candidate of philological sciences) researching the functioning of the semile in a literary text; in 2002 started teaching and research in Tallinn University.

Her research interests include not only different aspects of text analyses, but also trends in the modern Russian language orthography and punctuation. She works on questions of language and culture, language game usage in everyday life. Being a teacher of practical Russian courses, Natalia Tšuikina has paid much attention to the issues of teaching Russian to foreigners and to those who speak Russian as a heritage language.

Anna Fomina is a teacher of Russian. She obtained her bachelor's degree from Herzen University in St. Petersburg. In 2024, Anna obtained a master's degree from the University of Tartu in foreign language teaching, specializing in Russian and English. She also spent a semester at Stockholm University, where she studied linguistics and bilingualism from different perspectives.

Ele Arder is a teacher of Estonian as a second language. At Tallinn University, she works primarily with A1- and A2-level Estonian learners. She enjoys teaching beginners because it allows her to shape students’ first encounters with the language, help them find suitable learning methods, and encourage them to start using the language as early as possible. She sees every moment of language learning as an opportunity to introduce Estonian culture, which helps her build deeper and more trusting connections with her students. Arder believes that university students are very quick learners and that their interest in Estonian language and culture is often greater than Estonians themselves might assume.

Admission Requirements

General requirements

Completed Bachelor’s degree or the equivalent
Proof of English Proficiency
Please see the complete overview of admission and application requirements for Master's level applicants.

Entrance exams

The admission exam consists of a written and oral part.
As the written part, the applicants submit a motivation letter (one page) explaining why they wish to follow this particular programme at Tallinn University, how will they profit from this experience, future plans related to this degree etc. (should be uploaded to online application system DreamApply in pdf format)
In your motivation letter you should explain how you and this particular programme ‘match’ (why you wish to follow this particular programme at Tallinn University, how will you profit from this experience, your future plans related to this degree etc). Look closely on the MA programme and explain which topics and areas covered in the programme specifically fascinate you.
The oral part in an interview. Only applicants receiving the minimum required points are invited for an interview. The time of the interview is arranged individually via e-mail. If the date and time offered for an online interview do not suit the applicant it may be possible to delay the interview until the next interview date which is usually in the next month.

Important! Only applicants receiving minimum of 28 points for the first round (letter of motivation and research proposal) will be invited for an interview.

For the purposes of identity verification at the admission procedure the Admission Committee has the right to record the oral part of the admission exam carried out via video bridge.

Assessment of the candidates

1. Letter of Motivation: 40 points (min. required 28 points)
What we assess: Ability to explain the choice of the programme, ability to link your interests to the Estonian Studies programme; ability to comprehend future prospects related to the study field and programme.
2. Interview: 60 points (min. requirement 42 points)
What we assess: Ability to explain the choice of the programme and relate it to future prospects; the motivation and readiness of the candidate to follow the chosen study programme.

Exam Part	Evaluation Criteria	Scale
Letter of Motivation	Ability to justify one’s choice of specialty, knowledge of the study programme	max 20 points
	Written self-expression skills	max 20 points
Interview	Motivation and willingness to study East European Studies	max 20 points
	Oral self-expression and argumentation skills	max 20 points
	Ability to comprehend future prospects related to the field	max 20 points

How we assess

The examination board will assess each candidate individually based on the criteria. For the written part, each board member will assess the candidates based on the submitted materials and puts the points into a table that calculates the average of the candidate. Based on the average the candidate is invited / not invited for the interview. Only applicants receiving minimum of 28 points for the written part will be invited for an interview. At least two board members must participate at the interview. One of the participating board members will be leading the interview, all members may ask questions. After each interview there is a discussion among the board members who were present at the interview. Points are still entered individually into the table which calculates the average of the points given, and the final subtotal points.
If the candidate has also submitted a sample of translation, the board members will discuss it among themselves before entering the individual points into the table.

Online interviews will be recorded.

Find more information about the deadlines here.

Postgraduate Destinations

Career Opportunities

Wondering what to do after graduation or what kind of career opportunities open up with an MA in East Estonian Studies?

The major graduates will be well prepared for a wide range of international and interdisciplinary careers. The programme equips students with deep regional knowledge, analytical skills, cultural competence, and strong communication abilities — all highly valued in today’s global job market. Possible career paths include:

Roles in ministries, embassies, and international organizations that engage with the Baltic and East European regions;
Further studies or research positions in humanities and social sciences, focusing on Estonia or Eastern Europe;
Work in museums, cultural centres, universities, or language and cultural exchange programmes;
Journalism, publishing, translation, and cultural or political analysis for media outlets and NGOs;
Consulting, project management, or corporate communication roles requiring regional expertise and intercultural understanding.