Challenging Stereotypes: Belgorod State University open a series of events for international students

Students from Afghanistan, Colombia, Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, Gabon, Haiti, Iraq, Morocco, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan participated in the “Truth or Action” event of the Challenging Stereotypes series at the Centre for Intercultural Communication. The thematic meeting was organised by Kristina Khabarova, the Director of the Centre for Intercultural Communication, Olga Lutova, the Director of the Peoples' Friendship Centre and Elena Nazarenko, the Deputy Head of Preparatory Department.

A selection of photos and videos were prepared for the participants, clearly demonstrating this or that stereotype of Russia and its inhabitants. The students had to guess which example was encoded in the message. If they refused to answer, they had to do the following: sing “Kalinka-Malinka” song in karaoke, repeat the “Obratnaya Kosa” choreography from Russian folk dances, take apart and put together a matryoshka doll, match the portraits of the great Russian writers to their names.

The students easily guessed all the most common stereotypes about Russia: cold weather, bears walking in the streets, Russian salad, borsh and caviar eaten with spoons, samovars, from which they always drink tea in Russia. And then some of these stereotypes were put to rest through the students' personal stories, examples from literature and films.

During the general discussion young people discussed how stereotypes were formed, what role art and mass media played in it, and why it is important to form a realistic image of different countries by breaking down misconceptions.

As the organizers of the event noted, the series meeting on different countries will be continued throughout the academic year.

At the end of the meeting Kristina Khabarova awarded the winners and runners-up of the “My Russia. The Country I Live and Study” essay competition – students of Medical Institute, the Institute of Intercultural Communication and International Relations, and Preparatory Department.