On the occasion of the 50th birthday of the Department of Russian language and literature, the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Novi Sad organized an inter-departmental conference ‘Reach and Perspective of the Development of Slavic Studies’ on September 17th, 2011.
The round table ‘Slavic and Russian studies in the light of the reform of the higher education studies - the situation and perspectives’ was attended by a number of professors from Novi Sad and Belgrade. Papers by Ksenija J. Končarević (Belgrade), Marija J. Stefanović (Novi Sad), Nataša D. Ajdžanović, Katja M. Juršić – Huzjan (Novi Sad),Slobodanka V. Perkučin (Novi Sad), Dojčil P. Vojvodić (Novi Sad), Draginja L. Ramadanski (Novi Sad) were presented.
The reform of foreign language studies in Serbia – the REFLESS project’s scope, goals and deliverables were presented by Marija J. Stefanovic, PhD, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad. Since the REFLESS project is dedicated to the reform of foreign language studies in Serbia and their harmonization with the EU standards, the analysis of the current situation at all the levels of language education (teaching, interpreting, and curricula) and the situation on the labor market are examined and compared for the sake of a strategy of change that is ambitious but grounded. The strategy leads to the design of the first level module for translation at all Serbian Universities, special Master’s Degree program in interpreting at Belgrade, Novi Sad and Kragujevac Universities, and the creation of a Master’s Degree program for Serbian as a foreign language (the University of Belgrade and Novi Sad). EU partners are sharing experience in developing accredited programs for the education of translators and interpreters - these are the project’s guiding lights towards the best and most applicable changes. Since the project is ongoing, this round table with colleagues was an important place for a dialogue and exchange of ideas towards a better quality of reforms, and for making the current situation more in accordance with the one expected at the end of the project.
The Vice-Dean Ksenija Koncarevic’s (the University of Orthodox Theology in Belgrade) presentation entitled: ‘The scientific style of the philological disciplines at the Russian studies - organizational, conceptual, curricular and textbook aspects’ is a good example of steps that need to be taken from merely knowing a language to using it and/or interpreting it in a designated (in this case - scientific) context. Mrs Koncarevic pointed out the necessity of the scientific style being taught from the first year of studies by introducing special exercises through which the students would acquire skills starting from reading, through understanding of the spoken scientific subject, development of presentational skills for scientific subjects in a monologue or a dialogue form, formation of the writing skills, development of the ability to translate scientific texts into the mother tongue and Russian and skills of interpretation.
The second round table was dedicated to young Slavic scholars, its theme being ”The Perspectives in Research of Slavic Languages, Cultures and Literature”; papers by Darja D. Vojvodić, Dragana B. Popovic, Mensel R. Dauti, Маја R. Krstić, Dragana M. Vasilijević, Irena M. Subotić, Melina M. Panaotović and Galina M. Lukić were presented.
