Manipal Institute of Communications, India, under the guidance of Professor Nandini Lakshmikantha, initiated the international round table dedicated to the Communication During COVID-19 and invited representatives of the SUSU Institute of Media, Social Sciences and Humanities to participate in the online forum, among the attendees of which were the Head of the Department of Journalism, Advertising and Public Relations, Doctor of Sciences (Philology), Professor Liudmila Shesterkina, and Associate Professor of the Department, Candidate of Sciences (Philology) Anna Krasavina.
"Under conditions of the lockdown, the SUSU Institute of Media, Social Sciences and Humanities continues to strengthen the existing international ties and build up new contacts abroad," said Director of the Institute, Doctor of Sciences (Philology), Professor Lidiia Lobodenko. "On July 28th and 29th, an international cross-disciplinary round table brought together specialists and scientists in the field of media, education, management, and medicine from universities in India, Russia, the USA, Canada and other countries. We represented Russia at this forum and shared our experience in solving the COVID-19 problems related to training in journalism, advertising and public relations."
At the round-table session, the importance of communication as an effective tool for making changes in people's behaviour patterns was highlighted towards the aim of disseminating truthful and correct information, as well as raising awareness about COVID-19.
In the report entitled Does Online Teaching of Journalism, Advertising and PR Have the "Right to Life"?, prepared by Liudmila Shesterkina and Anna Krasavina, the representatives of the SUSU Institute of Media, Social Sciences and Humanities told the round table participants about the results of distance learning for students of the Department (the future media specialists), shared their successful teaching experience, and spoke about the problems they faced.
"The importance and necessity of such initiatives is beyond any doubt," said Head of the Department of Journalism, Advertising and Public Relations, Doctor of Sciences (Philology), Professor Liudmila Shesterkina. "We gladly responded to the proposal of our colleagues from India, and besides, we really have something to share. For the Department of Journalism, Advertising and Public Relations, remote work in the COVID era is a valuable experience, when the Department was able to respond to a new professional challenge of the time."
The Electronic SUSU system and the training and certification organization regulations developed by the SUSU Rector's Office allowed the teaching staff to perform all the tasks.
"The situation called for the demonstration of particular professional behaviour from each teacher, such as readiness to accept new things, professionalism, competence, flexibility, promptness, attentiveness, patience, restraint, as well as skills and abilities of working with digital equipment and technologies that have not previously been applied. And we pulled it through together," emphasized Anna Krasavina.
The participants of the online discussion highly appreciated the Russian experience, and the International Forum in India became the beginning of a new promising international cooperation for the SUSU Institute of Media, Social Sciences and Humanities.