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Center for East Asian Studies Launches at PSU

The PSU Academic Council has made a decision to launch a Center for East Asian Studies, as a part of the Faculty of Philology, PSU. The Center will be led by Dr. Boris Kondakov, a known researcher of Chinese literature and culture, and a Professor at Perm State University.

The Center will perform research in linguistics, literary criticism and cultural studies of East Asian region,  as a part of the Faculty of Philology; it will also run educational activity in those fields. The Center staff, who come from the Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, and the Department of Russian Literature, PSU, have been already teaching Chinese and Japanese languages, and Eastern Oriental literature and culture. The Center plans to employ post-graduate students from Japan and China studying in Perm, as well as promote cooperation with Chinese and related Russian universities.

“The Center will focus primarily on the study of Chinese and Japanese languages, culture and literature. There will be several new master’s programs in Philology and Pedagogical Education. For masters’ we will also offer several programs which incorporate studying Chinese. This year, we are planning to open admissions for the new program “Chinese and Japanese Languages” within the core course in Linguistics. We are also about to obtain a license for running the “Oriental and African Studies” program, shares Dr. Boris Kondakov, Head of the Center for East Asian Studies.

The Center will continue teaching two popular bachelors’ programs in Pedagogical Education – “Russian as a Foreign Language and Chinese language” (available for Russian and other students in Russian), and “Management in Education” (for Chinese students in English). Preparations for the master’s program “Pedagogical Education”, implemented with universities from Anhui and Shandong provinces (China), are also being made.

A series of meetings and workshops by teachers and partners of the Center addressing both applicants and students from PSU and other universities, will start in February, 2023.

International Linguists Discuss Teaching Practices

On 24-25 October, 2022, an international online conference “Linguistic Technologies and Innovative Language Teaching” was held at Perm State University, as part of Perm International Forum “Science and Global Challenges of the 21st Century”. 

Despite Covid restrictions in 2021 and growing number of objectives, the scholars managed to dive into the process of fruitful collaboration, internationally. The Department of English Language and Intercultural Communications at Perm State University (PSU) encouraged a broader dialogue – inviting colleagues from all over Russia, as well as long-time partners Prof. Dr. Michael Losavio and Prof. Dr. Adel Elmaghraby (University of Louisville, USA), and Prof. Dr. Reima Sado Al-Jarf (King Saud University, Saudi Arabia) to participate. Due to Professor Svetlana Polyakova, one of the key contributors to science diplomacy at PSU and in Perm, academic links grow into bigger projects and sister cities’ links.  In 2022, the conference participants included students and teachers from Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and the USA.

The scholars’ reports considered corpus-oriented approach to analyzing texts of different genres, comparisons within English scientific and technical discourse; news bioethics terminology; ethical-legal-technical challenges with the Internet of things; impact of pandemic crisis on university management; metaphors in philosophical discourse; cognitive linguistic analysis in advertising; economical, linguistical, juridical and educational issues in naming companies; approaches regarding British fiction as a tool in  tertiary level education.

“As a Conference co-organizer and contributor, I feel a certain tendency of scholars at finding something unexpected, yet catchy and prospective, long ahead standard expectations. Comparing reports of our foreign partners to those from Russian universities, I’d say the former tend to be more tech-oriented – regarding issues of digital technologies within the use of artificial intelligence, or machine learning in relation to a more humane world. Revealing the difference in academic paradigm in Russia, the Western countries and Eastern world, seems like a promising topic for a new research,”

says Konstantin Klochko, Head of the Department of English Language and Intercultural Communications, PSU.

Among the Conference participants are the University of Louisville (USA), Delta State University (USA), King Saud University, Moscow State University, St Petersburg University, National Research N. P. Ogarev Mordovia State University, and many more scholars from joint research projects.

Learn Japanese Painting at PSU

The Faculty of Pedagogy at Regional Institute for Continuing Education, PSU invites those interested in traditional oriental painting for a workshop on traditional Japanese paining of sumi-e.

Sumi-e is a type of Asian ink brush painting which uses black ink typical of Asian calligraphy. Typically monochrome, it uses only shades of black, with a great emphasis on virtuoso brushwork and conveying the perceived “spirit” or “essence” of a subject over direct imitation. Emerging during the Tang dynasty of China (618–907), the art of sumi-e flourished from the Song dynasty in China (960–1279) onwards, and was brought to Japan by Zen Buddhist monks in the 14th century.

The art of sumi-e is believed to calm the mind and bring harmony. The workshop participants will get acquainted with the history, philosophy and principles of sumi-e, as well as Japanese painting tradition in general. The participants will practice drawing techniques while depicting particular objects, such as grass and bamboo, birds, butterflies, fish, mice. For drawing, traditional sets used by artists and calligraphers of Japan will be provided – the ink, inkstands, brushes and paper lining.

The workshop is run by Sergey Bolkhovitin, a coach and an artist, who has been practicing the art of sumi-e for 20 years. Sergei is a frequent host for related sumi-e events in St. Petersburg and Perm, to mention the Day of Japanese Culture at PSU Academic Library and educational ‘green’ venues by PSU Botanical Garden. Sergey will start his workshop with an extra bonus, an introduction to the ikebana, the traditional Japanese art of arranging flowers and plants on dedicated plates.

Teachers, schoolchildren and students from Perm and Perm territories region are invited to participate in the workshop, no prior specific knowledge of Japanese arts is required. To participate, please register at https://forms.yandex.ru/cloud/62ac408b9bab4ee1caea2af8/. Campus-based classes will be held on 18-19 August, accompanied by a live stream at Yandex.Telebridge. Please, address any further questions to the Faculty of Pedagogy at Regional Institute for Continuing Education, PSU: +7 (908) 272 10 34, pedagogika-psu@mail.ru

The Regional Institute for Continuing Education, established in 2004, remains one of the largest centers for additional education and professional orientation in the Perm territory – providing courses for all kinds of audiences, from college and university students to civil servants and practicing professionals. The institute is based at Perm State University campus and draws qualified teachers for its educational projects.

PSU Joins Tolles Diktat, Contributes to Academic Diversity

Perm State University has become a ground for the Tolles Diktat – a dictation in the German language, organized nationally for the ninth time. At PSU, the dictation is being supported by the Department of Linguodidactics, Faculty of Modern Foreign Languages and Literature, for the third year in a row.

In 2022, the dictation took place at three levels of language proficiency – A1, B1 and C1. The participants had a unique opportunity to hear live German speech: the original texts were read by Katrin Köpke, Associate Professor at the Department of Linguodidactics, a native speaker from Germany.

“It’s a good tradition, that both PSU students and local senior school children take part in the event. Many of them study German as a second foreign language. Yet, this circumstance did push them from giving it a try. And, we keep in mind that German spelling does possess a number of distinctive features, if compared to English writing,” says Ekaterina Kupriyanycheva, teacher of the Department of Linguodidactics, head of the Office for Innovative Teaching Data.

The winners of the Tolles Diktat ‘2022 are: Maria Polyakova (level A1, School 122), Elena Fedoseeva (level B1, 1st year student, PSU) and Ekaterina Volegova (level C1, 3rd year student, PSU).

The Tolles Diktat is held on the initiative of UNESCO and is traditionally timed to coincide with International Mother Language Day. This year the action was held in 77 regions of Russia and brought together more than 52 thousand people. Kazakhstan, Croatia, Ukraine, Montenegro, Germany, Belarus, Uzbekistan and other countries joined the participation.

The all-Russian “Tolles Diktat ’2022” was held by the International Union of German Culture (Internationaler Verband der deutschen Kultur, АОО «Международный союз немецкой культуры»), Tomsk Regional Russian-German House («Томский областной Российско-немецкий Дом»), Interregional Association of Teachers and Teaching Fellows of the German Language – aiming to promote the German language and develop the tradition of German writing skills.

PSU International Students Receive Diplomas in Modern Pedagogics

Eight international students from Turkmenistan, Faculty of Biology, PSU, graduated from the professional retraining program in Modern Pedagogy, obtaining a qualification “Teacher of Basic and Secondary General Education”.

Overcoming language and cultural barriers, using modern technologies and new methods, the Faculty of Education at the Regional Institute for Continuing Education, PSU, did its best to help international students become an effective teacher.  

All the Course students had their final theses defended, receiving excellent marks and graduation certificates. The knowledge and skills acquired during the Course will enhance their professional performance in practice, at school.

The diplomas were presented by Mikhail Mukhin, Acting Head of the Institute, Valery Zhuk, Deputy Dean for Extracurricular Activities, and Tatyana Kuznetsova, Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs, Faculty of Biology, PSU. The Regional Institute for Continuing Education, established in 2004, remains one of the largest centers for additional education and professional orientation in the Perm territory – providing courses for all kinds of audiences, from college and university students to civil servants and practicing professionals.

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