It is for the sixth time the SUSU Institute of Media, Social Sciences and Humanities becomes the venue for holding the largest International Forum called “Communication Leader of the 21st Century”. It is to be held in the first decade of April under support of the European Journalism Training Association (EJTA).
This year, due to the pandemic, the organizers have decided to hold the Forum events in a face-to-face and online format from April 5 through April 11. The Communication Leader program includes a variety of professional competitions, master classes, round tables and scientific conferences, where the most topical issues in the field of social and humanitarian knowledge are discussed.
“We have planned such events as a round table dedicated to the 100th Anniversary of Academician A.D. Sakharov, which will be held by the Department of Russian and International History,” said the director of the Institute of Media, Social Sciences and Humanities, Doctor of Sciences (Philology), Professor Lydiya Lobodenko. “Topical issues of sociology will be considered at the round table “The Role of Youth Public Associations in the Development of Modern Society”. The large philological assembly of the Forum includes the 16th International Scientific Conference of Young Scientists “Language. Culture. Communication”; international round table “Literary Text of the 20th-21st Centuries: Philology in the Digital Era” and the research and education project “Philological Games”. The Department of Journalism, Advertising and Public Relations will hold the traditional International Festival-Competition of Student and School Media “Planet Media”, as well as the International Youth Congress of Advertising and Public Relations “Media PROFILE”. There will be a lot of various master classes from high-level professionals.”
Every year, the International Forum “Communication Leader of the 21st Century” expands its geography. Schoolchildren and students from more than 100 educational institutions from all over Russia - from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok, as well as from Iraq and Kazakhstan take part in the event. This year, the representatives of Belarus and Denmark have become its participants for the first time; they have already sent their journalistic materials to the International Festival-Competition of Student and School Media “Planet Media”. In the context of the ongoing pandemic, the Communication Leader of the 21st Century Forum creates real practical conditions for the preservation and development of communication between students, schoolchildren, universities and countries.
“We took the words of the famous French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery as the basis of the Forum's motto, who noted that the only real luxury is the luxury of human communication!” says Liudmila Shesterkina, Doctor of Sciences (Philology), Head of the Department of Journalism, Advertising and Public Relations, Institute of Media, Social Sciences and Humanities. “In the context of the events faced by the entire world community, this quote has acquired a special meaning. Today, more than ever, we feel the importance of developing communications. The Forum, which has been held for the sixth year by the Institute of Media, Social Sciences and Humanities, contributes to this. It is an effective tool for training and teaching the next generation of communication leaders.”
The international level of the Communication Leader of the 21st Century Forum is supported by the European Journalism Training Association (EJTA), South Ural State University being its institutional member since 2016.