{"id":63998,"date":"2015-06-24T13:26:39","date_gmt":"2015-06-24T18:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/?p=63998"},"modified":"2015-06-24T13:26:39","modified_gmt":"2015-06-24T18:26:39","slug":"delta-state-completes-exchange-in-perm-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/2015\/06\/delta-state-completes-exchange-in-perm-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"Delta State completes exchange in Perm, Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Delta State University recently completed an international exchange program with its partner university Perm State University in Perm, Russia from May 22-June 1. Delta State\u2019s group was invited by Perm State within the framework of the \u201cRivers of Music \u2014 Rivers of Culture\u201d project, a part of the U.S.-Russia Peer-to-Peer Dialogue Program<\/a> and supported by a grant from the U.S Department of State.<\/p>\n

The two institutions have been developing the partnership since November of 2013 thanks to the hard work of Delta State President William N. LaForge and Svetlana Polyakova, program coordinator from Perm State. LaForge has visited Perm State three times in recent years \u2014 once in 2008 as a visiting professor in the Center for International Legal Studies program, and twice as a Fulbright Fellow<\/a> in 2011 and 2015.<\/p>\n

During the most recent exchange, called the Permski Krai Immersion Experience, six students from Delta State\u2019s Delta Music Institute took part in the trip to Perm. These students included: Jessica Faith Wishard, Jarrick Finkley, Leelah Dill, Justin Boatman, Ty Young and Brandon Mosley. Additionally, seven Delta State faculty and staff members attended the trip: Tricia Walker, Charly Abraham, Miles Fulwider, Barry Bays, Robin Boyles, Beverly Moon and Rory Doyle.<\/p>\n

The first component of Rivers of Music \u2014 Rivers of Culture included a visit from Perm State students and faculty in October of 2014, who attended Delta State\u2019s inaugural International Conference on the Blues and additional Bridging the Blues events. This portion of the program was coined the Mississippi Delta Immersion Experience.<\/p>\n

The second component continued throughout the spring semester with a telebridge project, a series of webinars between both universities. Utilizing music as the universal language, both groups took part in virtually streamed classes focusing on the cultures, histories and heritages of the two countries.<\/p>\n

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Russian and American students performing at the closing concert.<\/p><\/div>\n

During the recent Permski Krai Immersion Experience, the Delta State group was able to participate in Perm\u2019s festival season and provide a mini summer Delta Music Institute camp to Perm students.<\/p>\n

The main goal of the DMI camp was to produce a public concert at the PSU Students’ Palace of Culture at the end of the camp session. The concert featured performances from both Perm State and Delta State students as a final stage of this intensive international program. In the week leading up to the concert, the participants held four joint rehearsals before the performance on May 29.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the concert you could hear songs in the style of traditional Russian folk music and American blues of the Mississippi Delta region,\u201d said Polyakova.<\/p>\n

The Russians participating in the camp included: Katya Ilynykh, violin; Katya Konstantinova, key piano; Dmitry Dementiev, bass guitar; Uliana Grebenschikova, clarinet; Daniel Mansvetov, bongo, cajon, harmonica; Dasha Krasilnikova, vocals; Aleksandra Popova, vocals; Marina Aksenova, vocals; Igor Kopylov, vocals, songwriter; Ksenia Mazitova, vocals; and Eugeni Zherebtsov, songwriter.<\/p>\n

DMI faculty are now in the process of producing an official recording of the concert.<\/p>\n

The DMI students also participated in the Red Sail Festival of songwriters in the village of Shadeika near Kungur. This unique opportunity allowed the students to perform on stage to an audience in rural Russia. Once again, both Delta State and Perm State students joined together for the performance.<\/p>\n

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Polyakova (left) and Ilynykh leading the conference “Rivers of Music \u2014 Rivers of Culture: At the Cultural Crossroads.”<\/p><\/div>\n

Another highlight event during the visit was Delta State\u2019s participation in the conference “Rivers of Music \u2013 Rivers of Culture: At the Cultural Crossroads,” in which the American students and professors participated in the plenary session and attended four sections. Around 70 participants attended the successful conference.<\/p>\n

Special interactions occurred at school No. 6, where the group met Russian schoolchildren aged 9-16. Alla Podolskaya, director of music programs at the school, organized a thorough performance highlighting the musical talents of the students.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey enjoyed many other visits and excursions organized by the students of Foreign Modern Languages and Literatures, Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Law,\u201d said Polyakova.<\/p>\n

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The group received a tour of the architectural and ethnographic museum called Khokhlovka.<\/p><\/div>\n

One noteworthy trip in the Perm region was a visit to the architectural and ethnographic\u00a0open-air museum called Khokhlovka. Founded in 1969 and opened for visitors in 1980, it is the first open-air architectural museum of wooden architecture in the Ural region, and includes 23 unique monuments from the 17th through early 20th centuries.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the Delta State group was exposed to a number of interesting cultural events during the Diagilev Festival in Perm. The group attended five events in the Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre and were guided through two excursions of the Perm Art Gallery.<\/p>\n

The detailed schedule would not have been successful without the joint efforts of Perm State faculty and students. Along with Polyakova\u2019s role as PSU program coordinator, the committee included: Olga Ilynykh, vice rector; Svetlana Zhdanova, head of the Development Pshychology Department; Elena Gritsenko, associate professor of English in the Language and Intercultural Communication Department; Michail Bakharev, faculty of law; Anna Shavkunova, Lubava Puzireva and Ekaterina Ilynykh, faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences; Daria Krasilnikova, Artem Gorin and Ivan Shardakov, faculty of Law; and others.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Meeting with faculty and students at Perm State University.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe Americans liked everything \u2014 organization, food, accommodation, transport and the field trips,\u201d said Polyakova. \u201cThey praised the level of English of non-linguists, although the linguistic support was organized by the Faculty of Foreign Modern Languages and Literatures, including Kristina Kostina, Anna Poryadina, Marina Aksenova, Elena Trushnikova and others.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the group departed Perm, they continued the exchange with a three-day tour of Moscow.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the outstanding results, and a sign of a special recognition of the program, was the invitation of the DSU group to a meeting at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, where the students sang the original song of our project, \u201cWe are one,\u2019\u201d added Polyakova. \u201cBut the most important thing for all the participants is the friendship and good social and cultural relationships they have grown thanks to the program. It is an inspiring and unforgettable outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the trip, Delta State\u2019s Office of Communications and Marketing established a program blog at https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/russia<\/a>. DMI students and teachers shared their impressions about Perm and Perm State throughout the journey. Read more of these impressions and view trip photos on the blog.<\/p>\n

Follow all news of the exchange at www.deltastate.edu<\/a> as both institutions will continue to explore future developments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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