Seminars

On 21 April 2012 the Association of Russian Culture in Ankara organised, within the framework of the Grundtvig programme, the fifth international seminar dedicated to the "Use of Russian cultural heritage in Russian teaching for adults in Europe"

Seminar topic: Russian cultural heritage in Turkey

Seminar venue: University of Ankara, Ankara

Participants of the educational partnership Grundtvig:

• Belgium - Association Maison Russe à Liège;
• France - Association Russie-Aquitaine, Bordeaux;
• Hungary - ALFAVIT Oktatási és kulturális közhasznú alapítvány, Budapest;
• Italy - Centro didattico per lo sviluppo del bilinguismo italo-russo "Lev Tolstoj", Associazione culturale "Russky dom - Italia" Milano;
• Greece - «MIR» Center of Foreign languages, Athens;
• Turkey - Rus Kültür Derneği, Ankara. 

The seminar was attended by heads and teachers of public organisations, Russian teachers, and students of Russian language courses. The total number of participants was 37 people.

The session was opened by the First Secretary of the Embassy of the Russian Federation A. Shivanov and a representative of  the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo) V.G. Emelin, who noted the great importance of the work being done today in Europe and in Turkey to preserve the Russian language and Russian cultural heritage.

President of the Association Irina Korkut and coordinator of the project "PaRus" in Turkey Larissa Lutkova Tyurkkan introduced the Association of Russian culture to the participants, presented the structure and main objectives of the organisation.

Project Coordinator Igor Zhukovsky introduced all the delegations and outlined main goals and objectives for the period until the end of the project.

Ekaterina Shatalova, editor in chief, made a presentation of the bilingual magazine "Gündem Rusya", containing articles on literature, culture, Russian and Turkish politics, bilateral relations and answered questions about the development of these two countries. The presentation aroused great interest form the participants.  

Teachers of Russian language courses talked about the experience of using poetry and literature heritage in teaching Russian as a foreign language to adults in Turkey:

• Olena Güven: "Brodsky in Istanbul"

• Olga Ataij : "In memory of the Gallipolians"

• Evgeniya Sharlak: "Fragments of Russian culture in the antiquarian book shops in Ankara"

• Inna Chekirdek :"Places of pilgrimage in Turkey"

• Larissa Komissarova: "Ankara by Russian artist Svetlana Inach"

Victoria Maximova (Milan) presented her recommendations on how to use the texts elaborated during the project for students. 

Antonina Zhukovskaya (Bordeaux), Project Coordinator, spoke about the work accomplished. The results of all the partners will not only be presented in a manual, but also some educational routes with Russian cultural presence places will be created and are marked on the interactive map of Europe.  

The seminar finished with a poetry session. Students of Russian language courses of the Association of Russian culture Ankara read poems of Alexander Pushkin. All participants received certificates and souvenirs.

There was a fruitful exchange of experiences between teachers of Russian as a foreign language from different partner countries. The heads of delegations were given guidelines for writing the final report.

The organisers of the seminar prepared a rich cultural program: visit of the Ankara Citadel, the first pictures of which were taken by a Russian photographer Dimitri Ermakov, military topographer and promoter of photography in many ethnographic and archaeological expeditions and military campaigns, winner many international awards and exhibitions. The participants also visited the house-museum, which contains objects of life and culture of the past.

The guests have fully experienced the oriental hospitality of Turkish partners.

The next meeting is scheduled for June 2012 in the capital of Greece.

Project Coordinator Larissa Lutkova Tyurkkan, Ankara, Turkey