Third season of SPbU lectures on Russian history in Greece

‘In the previous two years, students were introduced to the history of the formation of the Old Russian state, the connection between Byzantium and Russia, and the role of the Russian Empire in the emergence of the New Greek state. The continuation of the programme provides an insight into the international relations of Russia in the 20th century and the USSR,’ said Dmitry Ptyushkin, Director of the SPbU Language Testing Centre.

The course was developed as part of the Russia-Greece Cross History Year and launched in autumn 2021. This year, over 150 students will be learning about Russian history.

The complex and often contradictory relations between Russia and the European states will be discussed by Alexei Voronovich, PhD in History, a teacher at the D.K. Faddeev Academic Gymnasium of SPbU. At the end of the course, students sit an examination and receive a course certificate. 

Since 2016, SPbU has opened language testing centres in seven Greek cities: Athens, Thessaloniki, Ioannina, Corinth, Alexandroupolis, Heraklion, and Volos. The centres’ specialists regularly conduct seminars, webinars and professional development sessions for Greek teachers, presentations of the University’s educational programmes for Greek applicants, as well as online meetings with co-authors of Russian language textbooks.

The course is taught in Russian in a distance learning format. This way, listeners can not only learn history, but also improve their listening skills. Consecutive translation into Greek will be provided for those who do not speak Russian well or at all.

In addition, an SPbU Representative Office was opened in Greece in 2019. It organises state tests of Russian as a foreign language, Russian language courses, and other joint activities.