Day of Slavonic script and culture

25.05.2024

Day of Slavonic script and culture

On 24 May, a concert dedicated to the Slavonic Script and Culture Day took place in the student space of TulSU. This year's celebration was timed to coincide with the 225-th anniversary of A.S. Pushkin's birth.

The event was traditionally organised by the Department of General Theoretical Disciplines and Russian as a Foreign Language of the Institute of International Education.

The Day of Slavonic Script and Culture is celebrated on 24 May, the Day of Commemoration of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Brothers Cyril and Methodius, the creators of the Slavonic script.

The holiday symbolizes the inseparability of historical, spiritual and cultural ties of the Slavs, and serves to remind us of the importance of the written word. It also allows us to remember the origins of the national cultures of the Slavic peoples, emphasizing the organic unity and at the same time the diversity of their traditions.

Olesya Labadze, Vice-Rector for International and Project Activities, opened the festive event: ‘I would like to congratulate everyone on this holiday! On this day we honour the creators of the Cyrillic alphabet - Cyril and Methodius. It is important, dear international students, that you are not just studying Russian, but also living in a city whose history is inextricably linked with the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. It is pleasant to realize that today Russian language is an effective means of communication that unites TulSU students from different countries’.

In a videoconference address on behalf of the Representative Office of Rossotrudnichestvo in the United Republic of Tanzania, Natalia Karamaga, representative of the Russian House in Dar es Salaam and teacher of Russian language, extended greetings to international students of TulSU on the Day of Slavonic Script and Culture. She encouraged them to learn more about this holiday and the spiritual feat of Saints Cyril and Methodius, whose educational activities played a great role in the life of the Slavic peoples.

Kenyo Harisma Kurniasari, the head of the Office of International Cooperation at Tidar University (Republic of Indonesia), then joined the meeting. In her opening remarks, she extended congratulations to all attendees on the Day of Slavonic Script and Culture and shared her personal experience of participating in the Summer School of Russian Language, History and Culture at TulSU in September 2023.

The solemn part was finished by a special guest of TulSU - Yana Sergeyevna Zakharova, the head of the project ‘Adventures of foreigners in Russia’ under the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.

In her presentation, she outlined a topical all-Russian project of adaptation of international applicants, students and graduates through social media resources.

After the solemn part, the hosts of the concert told about the history of the holiday, evolution of the holiday, including the emergence of the Slavonic alphabet and its creators.

To mark the Day of Slavonic Script and Culture, international students of the pre-university training programme presented creative numbers. They shared interesting facts about the Russian language, recited poems, sang songs and performed skits exclusively in Russian.

International students recited Mikhail Lermontov's ‘I`m Bored and Sad’ and ‘Mountain Peaks’, Aleksandr Pushkin's ‘Poor Vanya was a Coward’ and ‘The Vampire’, Afanasiy Fet's ‘I Came to You with a Greeting’, Agniya Barto's ‘African Dance’, Nikolay Zabolotskiy's ‘On the Beauty of Human Faces’ and much, much more.

The musical repertoire included the following songs: ‘Where does childhood go?’, ‘Katyusha’, ‘Childhood’ and ‘We are together’.

The concert served as a platform to recognise the academic achievements of students, as well as their talents. Irina Marselyevna Lagun, the Head of the Department of General Theoretical Disciplines and Russian as a Foreign Language, and Olga Dmitriyevna Gladkova, Director of the Institute of International Education, awarded the winners and prize-winners of the IV International Essay Contest ‘This Diverse World’, Olympiads in Russian language, physics, biology, chemistry, mathematics and computer science for international students with honorary diplomas.

Following the Day of Slavonic Script and Culture celebrations, the project ‘Adventures of Foreigners in Russia’ continued its work at TulSU with the Student Media Centre, preparing a video titled ‘TulSU and Tula through the eyes of foreigners’.

After the celebration of the Day of Slavonic Script and Culture, the project ‘Adventures of Foreigners in Russia’ together with the Student Media Centre continued its work at TulSU, preparing a video “TulSU and Tula through the eyes of foreigners”.

May this day, that unites the Slavic peoples, serve the good cause of strengthening peace and harmony among all peoples, as well as the age-old traditions of Slavic brotherhood.