Take it English: The School of Media Offers Courses in This Language for All Students

This semester journalism students and international exchange students could select two subjects taught in English: American Political Rhetoric and Journalism and International Environment. We decided to learn more about these courses through students’ and teachers’ experience.

What do politicians really talk about?

This question and other ones were in the sphere of interest for students who participated in the American Political Rhetoric’s course. For two months guys analyzed the great speeches of the famous Americans. Students found rhetorical techniques and figures of speech in the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln and the speech “I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King. Also, everybody practiced in these things preparing the written analysis of the speech.

Emily Magnus

An exchange student from Canada

I've chosen this course to get more insight into what American political rhetoric is, especially on a domestic level. In my studies, I focus on the Russian & Eurasian region, and we've read many articles written by American scholars which actually contain kind of that logic and rhetoric that is found in American political speeches/official statements. So, I wanted to know more about the development of American political rhetoric in general in order to have a more critical approach towards it.

  

Alessandro Bellantoni

An exchange student from Italy

I chose this course because I’ve always been interested in everything that concerns America and I thought that it would be a great opportunity to learn something more. I hope I will know more about this country and that this course will help me in the future.

In addition to speech analysis skills, the participants of the course were able to find themselves in the place of politicians. Students delivered their own speeches in the debates on the model of the British Parliament. They presented arguments for and against the moratorium on the death penalty in Russia and the problems of modern television.

As Anna Plisetskaya, the teacher of the course noted, international and Russian students can perceive information differently. After watching the video of debates of Kennedy and Romney most of international students made a conclusion that Romney was more convincing while in some Russian students’ opinions Kennedy was the winner.

Anna Plisetskaya

PhD in Russian Language

This is the fourth year when I am teaching this course at our faculty. On the one hand, this course is important because in the class we are studying good examples of rhetoric, this material can be used to explore effective speech interaction and even the role of mass-media. Then, this course touches such areas as values of a relatively young country, its process of formation, how these values are being used. Of course, this course is a good opportunity to practice English skills for students. Moreover, everyone can try himself/herself in debates on actual political topics. This year I see a high level of involvement in our classes and grateful to all the students for such an active participation.

Diving into International Journalism

It is possible without a scuba on the course “Journalism and International Environment”. This course lasts two modules and give students an opportunity to find out what are the main features of journalism in the USA, Europe and other countries. Participants of the course prepare presentations where they describe one aspect of the work of foreign media. Students find out what is news drivers, how to define a target audience of the media, what standards should correspond to the news. 

Edgem Savas

An exchange student from Turkey

I am interested in Journalism and international events all around the world and thought that this course would be interesting for me. All the topics are interesting, I think that professor should keep teaching the subject in this way. The course is important because it helps students to perceive the world and cultures through different aspects and explains what the international journalism is.

 

Oleg Dmitriev, the teacher of the course, noted that the course is taught for the first time, and students supported his initiative to continue it: 

Oleg Dmitriev

The professor of media departmen, PhD in Russian Language

I think it’s very important for future journalists to always refresh they knowledge of international journalism to keep up with the latest trends in the media. It’s a unique chance for the students to keep up with all the innovations in the media sphere. And it’s quite challenging for me as a teacher to keep track of all the changes myself. I also feel happy that international students from Bulgaria and Turkey attend the course willingly. I’m sure they will become an inseparable part of our course.

In In the School of Media, other courses in English are available for the students. It is a great opportunity to obtain the language practice and learn more about the world.

Prepared by Tatyana Beluyga, Yulia Drevova, Max Spirin