Abstract:

The Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) is the University which trains students from different parts of the world for work on a global international level, and different schools (the Schools of International Relations, Journalism, Economics, Law, Political Sciences, Regional Management, Sociology, Ecology, etc.) reflect specializations and the future areas of graduates’ employment. MGIMO-University has an extensive net of university-partners around the world for joint educational programs (master’s programs, student and professor exchange programs, etc.). International projects are also part and parcel of collaboration as the international aspect of the educational process is one of the University’s priorities.

This article focuses on the international projects realized at English Department №3, School of International Journalism for the last 6 years, and the overall analysis of their contribution to the study. The projects (“It’s a Small World”, “MGIMO-Musashi Exchange program” and others) involved students from France, the USA and Japan representing different continents, areas of students’ specializations and levels of English. The more valuable and of a more practical significance are the conclusions made and the results achieved.

Despite all unexpected difficulties that may arise in the course of collaboration (technical malfunctions, time difference, misunderstandings, the incompatibility of the computer programs in two countries, sometimes failures in getting information across to the other side of the communication line about upcoming holidays), international projects create a global context and project possible collaboration on a global scale, which ignites students’ creativity, competitiveness and motivation to learn.

Among the benefits brought about by joint projects are the following:
1) Competitiveness, which becomes a powerful impetus to students’ creativity and learning;
2) Comprehensive learning which includes explicit and/or implicit ways of exploring their own and peers’ cultures and discovering cultural similarities and differences;
3) Breaking stereotypes about yourself and the culture of international peers;
4) Comparison and contrast of styles and manners of communication in two or more cultures, possible complexes and psychological problems in communication nurtured by societies;
5) Adjustability students demonstrate in sharing the same behavioral and linguistic code in order to attune to successful communication;
6) Awareness of the latest technological advances in the collaborating countries;
7) Finding the most efficient means of communication, not exclusively verbal (a pictorial one, slides and graphics, PP presentations);
8) Setting a model for the peers to follow − in social or charitable work and other fields;
9) Establishing bridges for a more efficient communication in the future;
10) Developing cooperation and professional contacts for further collaboration among professors.

Keywords:

International project, collaboration, creativity, competitiveness, culture, communication, technological advances, cultural similarities and differences.