News

SCIT celebrates the Diplomat’s Day

On 11 February a reception to celebrate the Diplomat’s Day took place in the Marble Palace, St. Petersburg. The representatives of diplomatic services, general consulates and the Government of St. Petersburg were invited to the reception. The MFA Office in St. Petersburg is a long-standing partner of Herzen University. Vladimir Zapevalov, MFA Representative in St. Petersburg, and the MFA Office in St. Petersburg took an active part in launching and developing the St. Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation. 20 SCIT graduates have been employed with the MFA of Russia over the past years.

The MFA Office in St. Petersburg recognized the achievements of Herzen University and its Rector Gennady Bordovsky (1986 – 2011) in promoting international cooperation. In 2009 Rector Bordovsky was awarded the Alexander Gorchakov Silver Medal “For the efforts in strengthening Russian sovereignty and unfailing service to the country” in recognition of his efforts in launching the St. Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation. In 2018 Director Irina Alexeeva and Deputy Director Angelique Antonova were awarded the Contribution Medal from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to mark the 10th SCIT anniversary.

The ceremony in the Marble Palace was attended by Gennady Bordovsky, President of Herzen University, Yulia Komarova, Vice-Rector for International Cooperation, Director Irina Alexeeva and Deputy Director Angelique Antonova.

SCIT at Training for Trainers Seminar in Brussels

Early in 2019 SCIT graduate and trainer Elena Zheltova attended the traditional Training for Trainers seminar organized by DG SCIC of the European Commission in Brussels.  The training was conducted by acting interpreters from the Spanish booth Carlos García Vico и Marta Igártua. Among the participants were interpreter trainers from various universities in Spain including La Laguna University, SCIT’s partner in EMCI, also trainers from Argentina, Cuba, Great Britain, Denmark and other countries. The seminar is a perfect opportunity for interpreter trainers to systematize their training skills and exchange good practices.  Young trainers from SCIT grab the chance to upgrade their qualifications and are grateful to the European Commission for help. 

Master-class of AndreyFalaleyev at SCIT

Crushing logic, swift responses, vivid examples, sudden revelations and overpowering energy of the accomplished professional – all these are in the master-class of the legendary interpreter Andrey Falaleyev at SCIT. The traditional meeting with SCIT students took place on 22 January. So with the goals set and priorities determined, SCIT students are ready for more work!  

UN Information Centre: Multilingualism as Basic Principle

The UN Information Centre’s annual seminar was marked by two landmark occasions – 70^th  anniversary of the UN in Russia and declaring multilingualism a UN key principle.  The members of the UN-MoU Universities network with the Russian language – MGIMO, Moscow State University, Minsk State Linguistic University, Nizhni Novgorod Linguistic University and Astrakhan State University – presented their reports on the activities they carried out to promote the UN values and strengthen the position of the Russian language and culture worldwide. Vladimir Kuznetsov, Director of the UN Information Centre in Moscow, Alexei Fedorov, Deputy Director of the Linguistic Support Department of the Russian MFA, Vladimir Parshikov, Head of the Russian Translation section at UNOG, Alexandr Vorobiov, Deputy Director of the Conference Management Section at UNOV, spoke about developing cooperation with the universities and appreciated the SCIT trainers’ and students’ work during UN internships.  Kirill Barskiy, Permanent Representative of Russia at ESCAP, spoke about the ESCAP project for T&I trainers to develop their professional skills, where SCIT trainers are also included.  Vladimir Faekov, a patriarch of interpreter training in Russia, introduced the idea to develop a legal basis regarding the interpreter’s right to confidentiality. SCIT was represented by Director Irina Alexeeva and Deputy Director Angelique Antonova. Their report focused on the international conference on multilingualism organized by SCIT in June 2018, SCIT joining the international consortia EMCI and CIUTI, and the portal of T&I training resources with Russia’s ethnic languages developed jointly by the Russian Academy of Education and SCIT, which manifests the UN humanitarian ideology.

Voenmech visiting SCIT

Following the master-classes for Voenmech trainers and students held by Director Irina Alexeeva recently, the delegation from this famous university visited SCIT. Voenmech (the Ustinov Baltic State Technical University) has various programmes for technical translators. The guests were interested to learn about training at SCIT, attended classes in consecutive interpreting (a mock conference on ecology) and a translation class. The parties agreed to continue professional contacts and exchanges.