Roundtable ‘Language as a Factor and Tool of Cultural Diplomacy’

On May 30, 2023 MSLU held a roundtable called ‘Language as a Factor and Tool of Cultural Diplomacy’ dedicated to the many years of fruitful cooperation between Russia and Italy, MSLU and our Italian partners. The event was attended by His Excellency Giorgio Starace, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Italian Republic in Moscow, Giovanni Favilli, Consul General of the Italian Republic in Moscow, Giuseppe Lo Porto, Head of the Educational Department of the Consulate General of the Italian Republic in Moscow, Alessandro Salakone, the Official Representative of the Dante Alighieri Society in the Russian Federation and other Italian partners of the University.

During the roundtable opening ceremony Rector Irina Kraeva awarded Mr. Giuseppe Lo Porto, MSLU’s long-time friend and partner, with the MSLU Fellow title for his great contribution and activities to dissemination of Italian language and culture, close cooperation and many years of support to MSLU Italian language teachers and organizers of the Olympiad movement.

The roundtable was devoted to cultural diplomacy in the context of Russian-Italian relations. For many years the Embassy of Italy, Italian Institute of Culture, Consulate General of Italy in Moscow and Dante Alighieri Society have been providing invaluable support to our university in organizing joint events ─ conferences, roundtables, Italian language competitions; they also help to develop MSLU Italian language programs. The event included speeches on different aspects of language as a factor of cultural diplomacy, language policy, cultural communication, cultural mediation and literary research. The speakers shared their experiences in implementing their successful projects. The roundtable was moderated by Ms. Olga Yegorova, Director of the MSLU Project Office for International Cooperation, and Ms. Ekaterina Pokholkova, Dean of the MSLU Translation and Interpreting Department. MSLU students of Italian were also invited to attend the roundtable.