Russia and Kazakhstan: Academic Mobility of Students in Action

Academic mobility of students is an important component of specialist training in such areas as Journalism and Advertising and Public Relations at South Ural State University and the L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University of Astana. Two years ago, a principal agreement on implementation of the program of student academic mobility was signed between the Faculty of Journalism of the SUSU Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities and the ENU Faculty of Journalism and Political Science.

In the 2016-2017 academic year, second- and third-year students of the SUSU Department of Journalism and Mass Communication completed a semester-long studying at the L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University. In the first semester there were students of group СГ-211 Ekaterina Vasilyeva and Anastasiya Karavayeva; in the second semester there were Oksana Starovoytova,СГ-303 and Alena Maksimova, СГ-304.

“Mobile” students of SUSU noted the high level of teaching at the Kazakh university, father-like attitude of mentors from the Department, good living conditions in a comfortable dormitory for students, and the impressing beauty of the Kazakhstan capital.

“Astana amazed us with its architecture, buildings, and monuments. It is unforgettable,” recalls Alena Maksimova. “But even more important for us was the ability to gain new knowledge. We participated in international conferences, experience exchange, scientific discussions. We became friends with students of the Eurasian University and we hope that together we will prepare and hold a joint Youth Science and Education Forum.”

In the 2017-2018 academic year, fourth-year student of the SUSU Faculty of Journalism Rustem Minyazov, group СГ-403, is studying at the Eurasian National University within the academic mobility program. And the ENU student of the Faculty of Journalism and Political Science Alina Abdrakhmanova, group ЖР-22, came to South Ural State University to study at the SUSU ISSH’s Department of Journalism and Mass Communication.

“My study here is different because students have many practical lessons, says the student from Kazakhstan. At SUSU, I have already worked in television, newspaper, and radio. This is a very valuable experience for me. The SUSU Department of Journalism and Mass Communication is giving me the opportunity to obtain modern, universal abilities and skills in the profession. I also met many good friends here.”

The future of developing academic mobility of South Ural State University and Eurasian National University students within the bounds of international partnership includes two more tasks.

“The first of them,” says the Head of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Dean of the SUSU ISSH Faculty of Journalism, Lyudmila Shesterkina, “is releasing a dual degree program for master’s degrees, which makes it possible to obtain two degrees in related fields when the master’s student has the ability to spend one academic year at their own university, and obtain scientific knowledge abroad in the second year. At the end of this program they will receive a master’s degree awarded to them by two universities. In this case – SUSU and ENU.”

One more, no less important, task is creating partnership between the Russian and Kazakh universities for professional training of the teaching staff and holding a cycle of joint conferences and seminars. This makes it possible to increase the international level of journalism training and improve the training of modern media specialists who are able to work professionally in the global informational space.