On March 30, in the conference hall of the main building of the VSU, the 2nd Erasmus + Jean Monnet student conference "European Identity through the Prism of the European Union Policy" was held. The Jean Monnet project PolidEU is being implemented by the VSU department of French Philology with financial support from the EU.
The conference was opened by the Jean Monnet project manager, the head of the department of French philology E. Alexeeva, who in her welcoming speech highlighted the importance of an interdisciplinary approach in training specialists in the field of linguistics. She stressed that such events can become an important tool for professional development, because they allow you to acquire research skills and contribute to understanding the current international context.
N. Ushkova, head of the International Student Programs Department, also addressed the conference participants with a greeting. She told about the action of the Erasmus + Jean Monnet project and VSU projects supported by the EU. She invited students to take part in the round table "Academic mobility through the students’ eyes: new opportunities", which will be held on May 18.
The conference was attended by students of 2, 3 and 4 years of studies of the Faculty of Romance and Germanic Philology. All the reports were divided into two groups: studies on the current political challenges to European identity (migration issues, Brexit) and the research on European identity from the standpoint of the humanities (tools for fostering European identity, its elements and manifestations). The participants presented their speeches in French. The innovation of this year’s conference was the participation in the conference of 2-year students who have been studying French only for two years. They attended the meeting last year and became interested in the subject of the European studies.
All the speakers were awarded with certificates confirming their participation in the event. In addition, they received as a gift the project textbook, published at the department of French Philology in 2016.
The department of French Philology expresses gratitude to all students who presented the results of their studies:
■ Shchekina Lyubov, Malakhova Anastasia (2nd year, Faculty of Romance and Germanic Philology): Migrants in France: the search for integration;
■ Plotnikova Ekaterina (3rd year, Faculty of Romance and Germanic Philology): "Brexit" and challenges of European identity;
■ Derkach Ekaterina (4th year, Faculty of Romance and Germanic Philology): Will Brexit lead to the strengthening of the national identity of the EU member states?;
■ Dyatchina Anna, Petiy Anastasia (2nd year, Faculty of Romance-Germanic Philology): The impact of the Second World War on European and Russian identity;
■ Sakharova Daria (2nd year, Faculty of Romance-Germanic Philology): To Feel European: the Erasmus program and European identity;
■ Mishchenko Natalia (3rd year, Faculty of Romance and Germanic Philology): Fostering European identity through teaching foreign languages;
■ Kurbatova Irina, Shvetsova Daria (2nd year, Faculty of Romance and Germanic Philology): European identity and contemporary art: problems and interrelationship;
■ Tarangina Marina (4 year, Faculty of Romance and Germanic Philology): Linguistic means of expressing the national identity.