Pyatigorsk State University: developing international cooperation and partnership relations between Russia and Germany

In September 2018, in order to develop international cooperation and partnership between Russia and Germany, the PSU delegation visited Germany to take part in a number of events and meetings.

N.M. Kashirina, Associate Professor of the Department of Linguocommunicativistics and Applied Foreign Languages of the Institute of International Service, Tourism and Foreign Languages, actively participating in internationalization of the university, in the implementation of export-oriented projects, and in strengthening the international prestige of the PSU, visited several cities in Germany where she participated in a number of landmark events of various levels and formats.

In particular, in Berlin N.M. Kashirina attended the reception at the Embassy of the Russian Federation and at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany at the invitation of H. Maas, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

N.M. Kashirina joined the work team “Active Civil Society in the Social Sphere: Development, Results and Prospects in German-Russian Partnerships” and took part in an international conference dedicated to the Russian-German Year of Municipal and Regional Partnerships 2017/2018.

As part of the conference, the German side presented letters of appreciation for the implementation of the joint project “Media Bridges” of PSU and Schwerte (Germany), which was included in the brochure “Cities, Regions and Initiatives” of the German-Russian Forum.

During the conference, business meetings were held with the participation of Mr. R. Metling, Oberburgermeister of Rostock, as well as Ms M. Schwezig, Prime Minister of the Federal State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where the issues of academic partnership between PSU and German universities from the federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania were discussed.

After that, the PGU delegation moved to Dortmund where the PSU's representatives (N.M. Kashirina, Associate Professor of the Department of Linguocommunicativistics and Applied Foreign Languages; V. I. Shulzhenko, a member of the Union of Writers and Journalists, Head of the Department of Literary Activity of the Institute of Translatology and Multi-Language Studies of PSU; and T.D. Savchenko, Associate Professor of the Department of Linguistics, Russian Philology, Literary and Journalistic Skills) took part in the implementation of the next stage of the long-term international project “Russia and Germany: Dialogue of Languages and Arts”, which integrated the efforts of three parties: the Department of Linguocommunicativistics and Applied Foreign Languages of the Institute of International Service, Tourism and Foreign Languages of PSU; the Department of Linguistics, Russian Philology, Literary and Journalistic Skills of PSU; and the Society for the Development of the International Activities of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia (Dortmund, Germany).

The representatives of PSU made presentations at the International Society of North Rhine-Westphalia (in particular, Associate Professor N.M. Kashirina made a presentation on the topic “The Role of Literature in German High School Classes (on the Example of Pyatigorsk State University)”, and took part in the open forum of writers.

In addition, N.M. Kashirina held a number of business meetings:

1. with Professor B. Schabbing, Head of the ISM (International School of Management). During the meeting, they discussed a long-term plan for the implementation of the joint Internet project “Tourism in the North Caucasus and North Rhine-Westphalia” with the participation of the Department of Tourism and Hotel Services, as well as students of Tourism;
2. with Mr. T. Goll, Professor at the Technical University of Dortmund. During the meeting, the issues of interaction between the two universities were discussed, in particular,  Professor T. Goll's possible arrival in Pyatigorsk to participate in the conference at PSU with a report;
3. with the head of the Graduate School of Hotel Management and Gastronomy (WIHOGA) H. Becker. During the meeting, the issues of class attendance at WIHOGA by students of the PSU were discussed, as well as sharing experience in organizing the educational process by universities;
4. with Mr. M. Frese, Head of the German section of the International Society of North Rhine-Westphalia. During the meeting, the issues of organizing German language courses for PSU students were discussed.

A number of business contacts were held in the city of Schwerte:

• the reception by Mr. D. Aksorgos, burgermeister of Schwerte to sum up the results of the projects of twin cities Pyatigorsk-Schwerte and discuss the prospects for the implementation of new projects in 2019;
• meeting with Mr. M. Kolöchter, Head of the Red Cross in Schwerte, in order to discuss the prospects for the participation of the Department of Linguocommunicativistics and Applied Foreign Languages of the Institute of Foreign Languages and International Tourism of PSU and other departments of PSU and the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Pyatigorsk in a joint project;
• an interview with the newspaper “Ruhrnachrichten” about the work of twin cities Pyatigorsk-Schwerte and the role of PSU in this process;
• an interview with the newspaper “WochenKurier” about the PSU's international activities and the need for cooperation between Russia and Germany, Pyatigorsk and Schwerte, the PSU and universities of the Ruhr region.

In addition, N.M. Kashirina conducted a series of Russian language lessons for grades 9–13 at the Lünen gymnasium and at the V. Rudolf Steiner school.

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