The status, role and future of Russian language training and Slavonic studies in the Scottish education system

Scotland-Russia Institute, 9 South College Street, Edinburgh, 1pm-5pm, Monday 28th May, 2012

Training and education in Russian language and Slavonic studies remain tenuous within the UK education system. The recent investment in higher education language-based area studies (LBAS) via research council and, in the case of CRCEES, Scottish government funding, gave the subject area a significant boost and yet it is not clear whether this targeted support will extend beyond 2014/16. This workshop is framed by an 18 month AHRC-funded Research Networking initiative, ‘Translating Russian and East European Cultures,’ which is exploring the multiple ways in which such cultures are translated, constructed and narrated within the multi-disciplinary and multicultural context of Russian, Central and East European Studies.

 Preliminary programme: 1300-1400 – Lunch 1400-1405 - Katarzyna Kosmala/Jon Oldfield, Introduction 1405-1530 – Session 1: Russian language teaching & Slavonic studies within the Scottish education system Chair: Jon Oldfield, Central & East European Studies, University of Glasgow Martin Dewhirst, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Glasgow, ‘How to improve and increase the teaching of Russian in Scotland' Jenny Carr, Chairperson, Scotland-Russia Forum, ‘How the SRF is trying to reverse the decline of school Russian in Scotland’ Simon Macaulay, Chair, Languages Working Group, Scottish Government, ‘Some reflections on Russian language provision in Scotland’

 1545-1700 – Session 2: Russian & Slavonic studies and the UK education sector Chair: Katarzyna Kosmala, School of Creative & Cultural Industries, University of the West of Scotland Jon Oldfield, Central and East European Studies, University of Glasgow, Slavonic studies in the UK: a brief historical overview Clare McManus, Co-Director of the Centre for Russian, Central & East European Studies (CRCEES), University of Glasgow, ‘Reflections on the current work and future initiatives of CRCEES and the Language-Based Area Studies (LBAS) initiative’ Nina Kruglikova, Russian Centre (Russkiy Mir Program), University of Oxford, ‘The work of the Russkiy Mir Program in the UK’