SIETAR Russia: introduction
In 2018 SIETAR family welcomed a new member SIETAR Russia.
The main purpose of SIETAR Russia is to build a strong network of intercultural practitioners in Russia with activities ranging from conferences, professional development and networking events.
SIETAR Russia will contribute to the mission of SIETAR EUROPA of increasing cultural diversity, tolerance and inclusivity as well as will participate in the SIETAR Global group to share best practices and support new projects. The website www.sietarrussia.ru has also highlighted goals of SIETAR Russia:
- To promote the study, training and research of the field of Intercultural Communication in Russia.
- To increase awareness of the importance of the development of intercultural competence to be more effective in diverse cultural contexts.
- To serve as a networking platform for the professional development of Russian intercultural professionals and to support their interaction with the rest of the world.
Dr Yulia Taratuhina is the President of SIETAR Russia. She is an Associate Professor at the National Research University in the Higher School of Economics, Faculty of Business and Management and the head of the Teaching and Learning Office. Her research interests are intercultural communication and cross-cultural didactic.
SIETAR Switzerland took an interview from Yulia Taratuhina where she shared very interesting details and the background information about SIETAR Russia:
“Russia itself is a multinational country, and this fact heightens local interest in the topic. Moreover, our interest in communicating efficiently with foreign colleagues from various spheres has recently increased a great deal.
We have an extremely strong board committee. It is a union of research workers and practitioners. In my opinion, it is great that we have put together a mixed-age team. We also have a very dynamic and promising Junior Team which unites volunteers, students and young specialists. The basic objective of the junior team is to provide tolerance training to students and youth.
To promote intercultural cooperation, it is necessary to create university courses, exchange experiences with foreign colleagues, and participate in conferences, seminars, webinars, training, and consultations.”
The full interview can be found at http://sietar.ch/an-interview-with-yulia-taratuhina/?fbclid=IwAR057GI0i4oaWvmYTMZRtSUxZZufCQkXvuvAPomk248CpPQiqT9Et5TEb58
The East-West Event – In October 2018 SIETAR Russia had their first event together with SIETAR Europa. “East and West Event 2018” started in Helsinki, Finland and continued for 2 days in Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
Yulia Taratuhina, the President of SIETAR Russia Maura Di Mauro, the President of SIETAR Italia
The participants had guided tours, round-tables and discussions. The speakers were from the US, Europe and Russia. They presented such topics as teaching tolerance in communication, use of nicknames in the Russian political discourse, usage of technologies for teaching intercultural competences, creation a safe intercultural learning environment for students and digital learning tools. The speakers from SIETAR Russia also presented such topics as traditional Russian drinks, Russian women on Tinder, the integration of migrants, Russia in the World Cup and so on. In addition, intercultural games as learning tools in intellectual stimulus and intercultural competence learning were successfully presented.
More photos from the event can be found at SIETAR Russia Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/559956444159634/
The review of the East-West Event has been also included in the latest Journal issued by SIETAR Europe https://www.sietareu.org/images/stories/newsletters/SE_Journal_Dec-Feb_2019.pdf
SIETAR Russia upcoming projects
There is a number of exiting projects that SIETAR Russia will be working on in 2019:
- Summer school for expats – It’s planned to arrange a series of workshops, conferences and summer schools that will include the information about everyday life in Russian as well as its business aspects. The events will be arranged in English language and will take place not only in Moscow but also in central Russia and Caucasus regions.
- SIETAR Russia as a platform for cultural professionals and new projects – SIETAR Russia website is in process of redesigning, it will be a platform where intercultural trainers and experts will be able to publish the information about their products and services, search for new partners and collaborate on intercultural projects.
- Online school of Cultural Intelligence – It’s a new project that is in process of creation, it will be an opportunity to be attend online webinars and courses on different intercultural topics in Russian and English languages.
- Career consulting and tutoring – The project will be run under University in the Higher School of Economics, it will be a tool that will help to identify new employment opportunities job seekers, it include tips and advice as well as employment guidelines and recommendations.
- Blog “Life in Russia” – The blog will be published in English and Russian languages, the goal is to share more information about different aspects of life in Russia.
We believe that New Year 2019 will be a busy year for SIETAR Russian and full of new events and fruitful cooperation.
Please join me to welcome SIETAR Russia!
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About the author of this article:
Marina Rowe is an experienced international specialist, she has successfully completed a number of projects in areas of international sourcing, sales, account management, recruitment and business development. She enjoys studying cross-cultural business relations, she’s keen to share her knowledge and international business experience. Please feel free to get in touch via LinkedIn or Twitter!