Students of the Institute of International Relations of Altai State University presented their project, uniting peoples, at the School of Constructive Dialogue in Kazakhstan

On April 9 and 10, students of the Department of Oriental Studies of the Institute of History and International Relations of Altai State University took part in the School of Constructive Dialogue “Formation of an intercultural tolerant space and the development of dialogue among youth,” which was held at the “House of Friendship - Center for Public Harmony” in Ust-Kamenogorsk (Kazakhstan).

Nadezhda Vilman, Egor Gogorev, Grigory Sinitsin, Sofya Bobrovskaya and Zlata Lesnicheva, 1st and 2nd year students of the “Foreign Regional Studies” direction became the participants of the School. For two days, the guys participated in trainings and lectures on sociology, and also defended their own social project aimed at solving problems in the field of intercultural communication and youth policy.

“The problem identified by our group is the low level of integration of foreign students into the public life of the university. The university is home to students of different nationalities, and it is essential to create a comfortable intercultural environment. Many foreign students are grouped into diasporas, may lack confidence in using or knowing the Russian language, or simply cannot integrate into student life due to cultural differences. While the university is currently taking various measures to support foreign students, our project aims to create “informal”, free and comfortable meetings and events to promote integration.

In simple words, in the future our club “East” plans to organize meetings of students of different nationalities dedicated to music, cinema, national dishes, etc. The club aims to act as a kind of base, a connecting link for all students. In a place where there is a friendly atmosphere and where there is no room for strife, students (both international and Russian) will have the chance not only to get to know each other, but also to introduce themselves, their culture and their country. Our organization helps students at Altai State University learn a little more about the peoples whose representatives study at the university,” said Sofya Bobrovskaya.

Grigory Sinitsin also shared his impressions of participating in the School:

“We were glad to represent Altai State University at such an interesting conference! We really liked the mentality of the hosts, especially their hospitality, for which we are immensely grateful to them. The scientific school gave us new experience in project activities, gave us many new acquaintances and positive emotions.”