Vuelta al Pasado! Back to the Past! PSU History Gets New Voices

3rd year students of the Faculty of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures, PSU, have successfully defended and tested a group project in partnership with the Museum of PSU History. The team of Arina Azanova, Evgenia Demchenkova, Anastasia Efimovskikh, Elizaveta Mayorova and Elizaveta Tyurina designed and delivered the “Back to the Past: the Origin of PSU” tour for university students from China, Colombia, and Peru – followed by tour guides printed in Russian, English and Spanish.

Luckily, the ‘language tours’ by PSU students met a request for volunteer initiatives by the Museum. “We love such coincidences. They prove the museum is not just a repository of artifacts, but a living part of the University, incorporated into the educational process,” admits Maria Mingaleva, head of the Museum of PSU History. “In the students’ move, we saw a strive to make a good and sought-after product. We will be glad if they become our volunteers and help guide tours for foreign students.”

“The Chinese group appeared much more uneasy to interact with, as it was difficult for them to rely on voice only, without text. Most of all, they were intrigued by an old Chinese book,” shares Arina Azanova, a project participant. “The guys from Peru were easier to communicate with, we felt more spontaneous and confident, and maintained to run a dialogue. Sometimes it seemed that it was them who made the tour. Despite the groups were quiet different, we managed to get an extraordinary cultural experience.”

“It was truly exciting to create the original product of ours. No one gave us a ready-made text for translation. Surely, we did rely on materials available, including tours by the Museum staff, books and articles on PSU history. Our task was not just to collect data, but also transform it and adapt for another ‘mindset’. It’s been important for us to find balance within the text without overloading it with unnecessary information, and at the same time, make it interesting,” notes Evgenia Demchenkova.

“Not only did we try to immerse international students in the university history, but also create a kind of new tradition – the one that reflects our hospitality towards foreign guests, and eagerness to interculturally communicate,” says Elizaveta Mayorova. “As far as we discovered, tours around Museum of PSU History have not been conducted in other languages, before. So, we feel like a part of new trend or University tradition, which we do hope to develop!”

59 students from the Faculty of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures prepared 12 reports aimed at both the University community and Perm Territory residents, as well as wider Internet audience. A distinctive feature of the group projects is their target audience focus, offer and demand character, ability to run dialogue with an employer, and customer-oriented result. Students practice creating multi task teams, using individual talents and knowledge, and challenge themselves with new objectives – like creating websites, shooting videos, recording podcasts, designing posters and writing press releases.

The project activities for the Faculty students in 2023 included the support of the LAMPA International Film Festival, supervision of PSU international students, support of environmental initiatives and comfortable campus space, running city tours and helping University museums, child training in robotics, interaction with PSU partners, promotion of language centers and PSU Academic Library, popularization of local urban folklore and Komi-Permyak culture.

“It was great to realize that our students’ initiatives have something in common regardless their association with different faculties. Taking that cross-field path is extremely promising and important for the University, especially when such initiatives aim at implementing socially significant tasks, contributing to the overall University progress,” notes Olga Meshcheryakova, Vice-Rector for Youth Policy and Extracurricular Activities, PSU.