On 19-21 September 2017 г. SCIT hosted Mrs. Ildikó Horváth, President of the EMCI Governing Board. Mrs Horvath gave a number of Training for Trainers seminars and master-classes for students in autonomous learning, sport psychology and interpreting and professional bilingualism / multilingualism.
Good news arrived at SCIT at the start of the new academic year: the EMCI Governing Board voted in favour of the admission of SCIT to its ranks. EMCI membership opens up new prospects for professional cooperation and growth to both SCIT trainers and students, such as participation in ToT seminars, access to EMCI resources, grants to carry out research projects, etc. The forthcoming visit of Horváth Ildikó, President of the EMCI Governing Board, planned for 19-22 September, is just the first step in building cooperation on a new level.
On 28 July a Diploma Award Ceremony for SCIT graduates took place in the Mariinsky Hall of Herzen University. The ceremony was attended by a lot of distinguished guests, among whom were Movses Abelian, Assistant to the UN Secretary General, Vladimir Goncharenko, Director of the Linguistic Support Department, Russian MFA, Vladimir Kuznetsov, Director of the UN Information Center in Moscow, Vladimir Zapevalov, Russian MFA Representative in St. Petersburg, Irina Ganus, Deputy Head of the Committee for Science and Higher Education, Government of St. Petersburg, William Hackett-Jones, Director of Eclectic Translations. The Herzen University administration was represented by Gennady Bordovsky, President of Herzen University, and Mikhail Puchkov, Acting Vice-Rector.
In their welcoming speeches the guests stressed the importance of language mediation for international communication. They metaphorically spoke of interpretation as ‘swimming’ and compared interpreters with a rescue team in the sea of communication.
SCIT Director Irina Alexeeva presented her annual report on the results of the study year. She outlined the SCIT mission today as improving the quality of translation with Russian on the international arena and promoting the Russian language and culture worldwide. It is also essential, she said, to contribute to the development of the T&I industry in Russia, and make SCIT a brand name for Herzen University.
This year SCIT turned out 7 graduates, with one of them receiving a SCIT diploma within the joint study project with Geneva University.
Farewell, and may a following wind fill your sails, dear graduates!
On 15 and 16 May the delegation of Moscow State Linguistic University trainers and students, headed by Irina Shokina, Head of ESL Division, visited SCIT. The guests worked intensively during two days attending classes and discussing related issues with SCIT trainers and administration. The colleagues also discussed potential collaboration within the framework of the Consortium of Russian universities which signed the Memoranda of Understanding with the UN.
On 12 May SCIT held the presentation of the new equipment purchased with the grant from the Government of St. Petersburg. The presentation was attended by the distinguished guests: Valentina Pereverzeva, Deputy Minister of Education, Vladimir Kirillov, Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg, Vladimir Zapevalov, Russian MFA Representative in St. Petersburg, Andrei Maximov, Head of the Committee for Science and Higher Education in the Government of St. Petersburg. Rector Sergey Bogdanov welcomed the guests. Angelique Antonova, SCIT Deputy Director, told about the School’s mission and the results achieved, Ekaterina Shutova, SCIT trainer and renowned interpreter, demonstrated the new equipment at work. Director Irina Alexeeva handed to Vice-Governor Kirillov a letter of gratitude from Veniamin Yakovlev, Advisor to President of Russia and Head of the SCIT Board of Guardians.
The presentation of the equipment opened a series of events marking the 220th Anniversary of Herzen University.
On 20 and 21 April UN Headquarters in New York hosted V Anniversary UN MoU-Universities Conference. The Herzen University delegation was headed by Yulia Komarova, Acting Vice-Rector for International Cooperation. Angelique Antonova, SCIT Deputy Director, was the keynote speaker reporting on the universities’ activities under MoU. This privilege was justified: Herzen University is either ahead or on par with the world’s leading T&I schools, based on the results of ten years of MoU work. Irina Alexeeva, SCIT Director, put forward a suggestion for the universities with the Russian language to join efforts in training specialists for the United Nations. Within the framework of the conference the Herzen University delegation had a meeting with the Chief of the Executive Office of the UN Secretary General and with six Ambassadors to the United Nations representing the six official languages. On the margins, the Herzen delegation had meetings with Catherine Pollard, Under-Secretary General for General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM), Movses Abelian, Assistant Secretary General for DGACM, Igor Shpiniov, Chief of USG Office, Olga Kazanli, Head of the Russian Verbatim Reports Service in UNHQ, Dmitry Sapsai, Head of the Russian Translation Service in UNHQ, Sergey Kochetkov, Head of the Russian Interpretation Service in UNHQ and others.
Fifth Conference of the Universities that signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United Nations on cooperation in the training of candidates for United Nations Language Competitive Examinations (organized by the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM))
Herzen Anthology features a new book by Irina Alexeeva. This impressive 400-page volume of the renowned scholar and practitioner of translation is entitled Text – Translation – Culture and includes her star articles and essays on text theory, translatology and German studies in Russian and German. The book comprises, among others, selected works from the philological narratives on Mozart and Faust, articles on the history of the German language and culture of Austria.
On 13 April SCIT successfully participated in TranslAcademy webinar taking questions from Internet audience. The viewers noted methodological coherence of all SCIT trainers, as well as their personal attachment to the project, something that is essential to SCIT’s achievements. The webinar will soon be available on Youtube.
Former Deputy Head of MFA Linguistic Support Department and currently Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexei Fiodorov was School’s guest for three days. The honorable guest attended a mock conference on innovations to assess the students’ performance in simultaneous and consecutive interpreting. Alexei Fiodorov also told students about the work in the MFA Linguistic Support Department. He also met with Acting Rector Sergei Bogdanov.
On 6 and 7 of April the University of Johannes Guttenberg in Mainz – an international partner of Herzen University – held a conference which brought together specialists in Slavonic, Romance and Germanic studies. Herzen university was represented by Irina Alexeeva, SCIT director. Her presentation on Russian as a mediator language in teaching translation and interpretation with Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Turkmen languages drew a wide response from the audience. Within the frame of the cooperation agreement between SCIT and Johannes Guttenberg university the partners also are planning to organize a series of virtual T&I conferences.
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