Lobachevsky University hosts events to mark the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture

A series of events to celebrate the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture was held at Lobachevsky University at two locations: the Institute of Philology and Journalism and the Science Park.

The programme opened with a lecture entitled “The Spiritual Meaning of the Deed of Saints Cyril and Methodius” delivered by Archpriest Vasily Spirin, First Vice-Rector of the Nizhny Novgorod Theological Seminary.

The Festival of Slavic Cultures brought together school and university students in the UNN Science Park. For many of them, it was an introduction to Serbia, the Czech Republic and Poland. The participants had to pass tests in national cuisine, costumes and language.

For first-year students of the UNN Institute of Philology and Journalism, the festival was an event that helped them to make choices in their studies.

"This year's events to mark the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture at the Institute of Philology and Journalism also serve as a kind of career guidance for first-year students. Next year, they will begin to study Slavic languages, and now they have the opportunity to decide which one is more interesting for them: Serbian, Czech or Polish. This year, school students are also taking an active part in the festival presenting their reports at the conference on Slavic themes. The jury of the conference included the teachers of our Department of Slavic Philology and Culture. This is a unique conference because our senior master's degree students acted as advisers," said Irina Abramova, Head of the Serbian Centre, Deputy Director of the UNN Institute of Philology and Journalism.

Angelika Vershinina, a student of the Scholion Psaltikis school of Byzantine chant from Moscow, conducted a unique master class for the participants. In the Science Park, Yulia Shevarenkova, Associate Professor of the Department of Russian Literature at the UNN Institute of Philology and Journalism, gave a lecture on "The figure of Seraphim of Sarov in Nizhny Novgorod folklore". She explained why St. Seraphim became a favourite character in Nizhny Novgorod folklore and what stories about his life got into people's minds. An interview with Yulia Shevarenkova can be found on our Yandex channel.

The series of events was concluded by a festive evening with songs and poems at the Serbian Centre of the UNN Institute of Philology and Journalism. During the meeting, the results of the Slavic languages translation contest "Without Borders" were summed up. The winners received diplomas and souvenirs.