Affiliate
Master's Degree in Chinese Sociology and Politics and Master's Degree in European Studies, Duisburg-Essen University
Maria studied linguistics and cross-cultural communications in Russia. From linguistics she moved to studying social sciences, being enrolled in the master program “Studies in European Societies” run at the Faculty of Sociology of Saint-Petersburg State University in cooperation with Bielefeld University. In pursuit of following her interest in Asian culture, that started when she studied linguistics, she moved to Germany and completed her second Master’s degree in Chinese politics and sociology from the University of Duisburg, with the final thesis on the topic of stereotyping dynamics in the Beijing workplace.
Through her studies, using the internship opportunities, she had a chance to work at the Institute of Migration in Turku, Finland and later on at a student exchange company in Beijing, China.
Maria’s particular interest in researching migration and inter-group communications between locals and foreigners was developed through these experiences. Both of her master thesis works were based on narrower and more specific aspects of migration.
At the moment she is applying for PhD positions with two research proposals, one on the English teaching business in China. The other one focuses on multicultural family dynamics in Norway.
She has a personal interest and fascination in the current developments of interdisciplinary studies in China and passion to combine Chinese studies, migration research and multicultural group behaviour in her academic research.