On October 11, the conference hall of the main building of Voronezh State University hosted the opening of the international forum “Linguistics and Challenges of the Modern Paradigm of Public Relations: Interdisciplinary, Intercultural, and Interlanguage Interaction”. The conference was organised by the Faculty of Romance and Germanic Philology of Voronezh State University, the Higher School of Translation and Interpreting of Moscow State University, and the Russian Academy of Education. The conference will last from 11 to 14 October.
The history of the conference began in the mid-90s, when the Faculty of Romance and Germanic Philology organised a project dedicated to the opening of its translation and interpreting department. The very first conference was organised by the Department of French Philology of the faculty in cooperation with the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations in Paris. Later, the Higher Schools of Interpreters and Translators of Paris, Edinburgh, and Brussels joined in. As a result, the newly established translation department was guided by the best practices of the Russian school of translation and the most successful approaches of the European schools. In recent years, the format of the conference has been modified. The range of issues and scientific problems discussed has expanded, the subject of research has become not only translation issues, but also related disciplines: intercultural communication, cultural linguistics, specific features of translator training, the Russian language, and foreign languages.
This large-scale event will feature four scientific panels. On 11 October, scientific panel No. 1 “The Science of Translation Today” was opened, timed to the 70th anniversary of the Russian theory of translation. Panel No. 2 was named “The Science of Language in the Mirror of Intercultural Communication”. It was dedicated to the memory of VSU Professor Iosif Sternin, Honoured Scientist of the Russian Federation. Scientific platform No. 3 “Language Education of the Future: Innovations and Current Trends” was timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Konstantin Ushinsky, the founder of the scientific approach to pedagogy in Russia. The forum will be closed by scientific panel No. 4, dedicated to youth science today.
At the opening of the conference Dmitry Kostin, Vice-Rector of VSU for Research and Innovations, made a welcoming speech:
“The work of the forum within the walls of VSU shows that the university supports and develops the traditions established by previous generations of teachers. I am glad that one of the panels is directly related to modern youth science, because young people are the driving force of all research. It is especially valuable that one of the panels is dedicated to the memory of our dear Professor Iosif Sternin. He is a major figure in the history of Voronezh State University.
Panel No.1 was opened by Nikolay Garbovsky, Director of the Higher School of Translation and Interpreting (faculty) of Moscow State University, member of the Russian Academy of Education, and a recognised expert in the field of Russian translation studies. In his address, he outlined the prospects for the development of translation studies and the format of a translator’s work, which are undergoing significant changes under modern conditions.
The programme of the Forum was diverse and extensive: more than 250 lecturers and 170 students from Russian and foreign universities sent applications for participation in scientific discussions, open lectures, workshops, and round table meetings.
