Ekaterina Arslanova is a graduate of the Department of International Relations of Ural State University (USU). Since 1998 Ms. Arslanova is a Ph.D. candidate at the Graduate School of USU. Ekaterina is an assistant professor at the Department of International Relations where she teaches a course “Western European Union: foundation, history and  modern development” which is offered within a wider framework of “World integration”. Ms. Arslanova published several research and conference papers on topics of democratic development, international relations, European history and European integration. From January to July 2000 she held a position of Research Assistant to the UNESCO chair in the Department of International Relations. Currently, in addition to her academic duties Ekaterina also coordinates domestic and international outreach programs in the Department of International Relations of USU.

Galina Belolubskaya,  YSU

Galina Belolubskaya is a graduate of the Historical Faculty of Yakutsk State University. She has worked as an assistant at the Department of Political Science since 2002, where she teaches the general course of political science. Her main interests are the role and importance of NGOs in the forming and functioning of civil society, the problems of cooperation between state and public institutes, democracy development. Galina published several articles on topics of nonprofit organizations and civil society.

Mikhail D. Besedin was born on December 5th 1958 in Chelyabinsk.  He received his Diploma in History and Social science from Chelyabinsk State University in 1984. During 1984 - 1986 he was an assistant lecturer at the Department of Scientific Communism, Southern Ural State University. In the Fall of 1986 Mr. Besedin departed for Moscow to take a postgraduate course at Moscow State University, Department of the CPSU History. His dissertation thesis on historiography of the Comintern's united front tactics was successfully defended in February 1990 and later that year he received his Ph. D.

Since 1990 Mr. Besedin has worked at the Department of Political Science, Southern Ural State University. As an associate professor he conducts a general course in political science and gives an additional course "Democracy Theory and Practice".

At the same time, in 1991 - 1998, Mr. Besedin also worked for the Chelyabinsk State Television and Radio Company as an author and presenter of a weekly program which included reports on Russian and world events as they were covered by correspondents from the USA and Europe.

Dr. Besedin is the author of several publications that deal with separation of powers, electoral system and elections in modern Russia".

Dr. Igor Y. Kiselev,  YSU

Igor Kiselev has been working with the Initiative on Distance Learning since its inception in 2000. He is a professor at Yaroslavl State University, and in 2005 was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to conduct research at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC. At YSU, he teaches in the Department of Social-Political Sciences, and also works as the Dean’s deputy in charge of scientific research and development. Kiselev received his Doctor of Sociology (PhD) from St. Petersburg University. Research foci include sociology and psychology of international relations. His latest publications in Russian: Formation of the Image of the State in International Relations and Social Cognition, Issues of Philosophy, 2003, N 5, pp. 3-13; State Images in International Relations: Mechanisms of Transformation, POLIS (Political Studies), 2003, pp. 50-57. He is currently working on a manuscript entitled, Political Communication at the Turn of the Centuries, Moscow: Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2002, 320 p.

Nickolai Kukharenko was born in 1976. In 1998 he received his degree from the department of foreign languages, Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University, with a specialization in English and Russian philology. From 1998 until 2001 he taught English language at the Department of International Relations at Amur State University. From 2000 until 2004 Nickolai first worked as an interpreter and later as a head of the International Office at the same university. In 2004 successfully he defended thesis “Chinese ethic-religious communities in the USA” at Moscow State University and received a candidate of science degree in Philosophy. In 2001 he started working as a local instructor for IDL courses 101, 103, 104. Currently Nickolai teaches Theory and Practice of Translation at Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University and gives lectures in the History of World Religions at Amur State University. He is also the head of International Cooperation Department at Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University.

Svetlana Kurganova graduated from Saratov State University, Department of Sociology in 2001. Currently she is a postgraduate student in sociology, Saratov State University. She is an assistant and instructor in the Center of Regional Sociological Research, Saratov State University. Among the courses she teaches are: Data Analyses in Sociology, Theory and Methodology of Sociological Research, and others.

Svetlana’s active participation in 3-year joint project of Wyoming State University and Saratov State University, aimed at the modernization of the educational process, gives her international experience in joint courses and distance learning activities.

Svetlana is an instructor for IDL courses 101 and 102 at Saratov State University.

Andrey N. Subochev is a lecturer at the Department of Applied Political Science (Chair of Political Theory), State University – Higher School of Economics (Moscow) and works as an instructor for SIIS/IDL from the beginning of MHSE's participation in the program in March, 2002.

He graduated from Moscow State University (Department of Physics) with Diploma cum laude in Physics in 1996; then entered the M.S. program of the State University – Higher School of Economics (Moscow) in 1997, where he received his M.S. degree in Sociology in 1999 and was subsequently offered a position at the Department of Applied Political Science.

Mr. Subochev's scientific interests focus on four major fields: 1) globalisation and its implications for national and international politics, anti-globalist movement, emergence of informational society; 2) CIS politics; 3) mathematical models and methods in political science and other social sciences; 4) epistemology and its relationship with social sciences.

He has published several texts: on post-Soviet space integration processes and Russian federalism as their factor, on phenomenon of anti-globalism, on neo-Eurasian movement. He has also made a number of scientific translations including two chapters from Manuel Castell’s trilogy "Informational Age: Economy, Society and Culture" for the first (and only) Russian edition of this book (grant of “Open Society” Institute).

Alan Uadati is the Director of the International Information Department at North Ossetian State University (NOSU). He graduated the Pyatigorsk State Linguistic University in 1994 and the Faculty of Law of NOSU in 2004. Currently he is a member of the teaching staff at the Department of Business Law of NOSU, where he teaches law for marketing students. In 2004 Alan received a scholarship to participate in the Master in Professional Studies in Sustainable Development, organized jointly by the Forum for the Future (UK) and Middlesex University (UK).

Since 1998 Alan has worked in various International development and academic projects in partnership with the European Commission, Utah State University, Ford Foundation, Ankara University, IREX, University of Amsterdam, Charles University and others. On a part-time basis Alan also works as the Deputy Director of the North Ossetian Centre for Internet Education.

Anna Ukhanova received her degree in Law at Petrozavodsk State University, June 2004. She has been a post-graduate student in the field of Philosophy and the field of International Law at PSU since November 2004. She participated in and successfully completed a program “Regional Aspects of Management” offered by the Government of the Republic of Karelia and Petrozavodsk State University in 2001-2003. She was awarded the Government award of the Russian Federation, gold medal of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation for the research paper presented at the All-Russian Competition among students and post graduate researchers, November 2003; the Petrozavodsk State University awards for the reports at Annual Students’ Scientific Conferences in the field of Philosophy: 2-nd degree diplomas in May 2000 and April 2003, 1-st degree diplomas in April 2001, April 2002 and April 2004.

Ukhanova participated and successfully completed the 3-d International Ecological Law School “Legal Issues of the Pollution of the Environment” offered by Vermont School of Law (USA) and Petrozavodsk State University (Petrozavodsk, May 2002). She has also successfully completed all four IDL courses, in addition to participating in the First Annual International Conference on International Security Issues held by Stanford University in October 2003 (Yaroslavl, Russia). With her new duties as IDL instructor at PSU, she participated in a Professional Development Seminar offered under auspices of the Stanford Teacher Education Programm (STEP) and the Stanford Institute for International Studies’ IDL Program in August 2004. Other activities include: an Internet course “International Protection of Human Rights” offered by the Institute for Human Rights at Abo Akademi University (Turku, Finland)in December 2002; a course on International Protection of Human Rights organized by the Institute for Human Rights at Abo Akademi University (Turku, Finland) in February-March 2004; the Russian National Championship of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition in February 2003 and February 2004; and a course on International Humanitarian Law organized by the Institute for Human Rights at Abo Akademi University and International Committee of the Red Cross (Turku, Finland) in May 2005.

Ukhanova has worked as a consultant at Law at the Commercial organization “RTT”, as head of the legal department at the Commercial organization “RTT”, and as an IDL instructor for all courses since October 2000. She is currently a teacher of International Private Law at the Faculty of Law at Petrozavodsk State University, a post-graduate student in the field of Philosophy at Petrozavodsk State University since November 2004, and as assistant attorney at the Bar “Pereplesnin and K”.