The IX Volga Region Educational Camp for International Students POLIS was held from April 25 to 28 at the Chistye Prudy Sports and Recreation Center. The organizer was traditionally the Department of Student Affairs of the International Education Office, the Institute of International Cooperation, PSU, with the support of the International Students Association of the Penza Region.

POLIS brought together representatives from 12 countries from 4 Russian universities, namely Mordovia State University (Saransk) and Derzhavin Tambov State University (Tambov), and for the first time in the history of the camp – Saratov Chernyshevsky State University (Saratov).

At the opening of the shift, Sergey Ivanchin, Head of the International Education Office, greeted the students and wished them productive work: 

“We are glad to see young talented people from different parts of the world here – each of you brings your own unique culture, experience and ideas, enriching our common atmosphere of mutual exchange of knowledge and understanding of each other.”

The camp programme consisted of two modules: the main module was educational and the auxiliary module was cultural and creative, and included various trainings, workshops and activities aimed at developing communication skills, creativity, emotional intelligence and the ability to work in a team.

Psychological trainings in teams from the master's degree students of the Department of General Psychology Maksim Kamyshin, Olga Usova, Marina Krivova and Alena Bardova were aimed at introducing the participants and creating a trusting atmosphere in the group; the exercises helped relieve tension and establish positive relationships between the students.

On the eve of the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, representatives of the regional branch of the All-Russian public movement "Volunteers of Victory" told the international students about the history of this war and organized an intellectual game to test knowledge of key moments of the battles.

Particular emphasis was placed on the creative component: the participants had a vocal workshop from vocal teacher Maria Melnikova, a choreography workshop from the trainer of the dance and sports club S-Dance Olga Illarionova, as well as an acting training from the actor of the Penza Drama Theater Nikita Kuzin.

As part of the social business game “City of the Future,” the students created a virtual city of their dreams, solving real social problems of a modern city, learned to interact, make decisions, and understand the needs of other community members.

A large section of the educational programme was devoted to project activities and the creation of cases to improve the lives of international students in the environment of a Russian university. The participants mastered methods of project planning, developing goals and objectives, distributing roles within a team, and created presentation videos about each team's project. In the game format, they identified international students’ current problems, on the basis of which topics were selected for creating future projects: scientific activity, study, creativity, migration support and the stay of foreigners in Russia.

The cultural and creative section of POLIS consisted of bright and dynamic events: dance exercises, a disco in Russian folk style, a detective quest and the personal championship of the POLIS camp, which included a number of creative tasks over the course of three days.

The camp concluded with the defense of projects within the framework of the laboratory of student initiatives aimed at improving the lives of international students. The expert committee at the defense included: Sergey Ivanchin, Head of the International Education Office, Institute of International Cooperation; Ekaterina Syagaylo, Head of the Student Affairs Department, and Adel Ali Omar Maqbol, Chairman of the International Students Association of the Penza Region.

"Our camp is a unique platform where representatives of different countries can feel like part of a single whole, learn new things from each other, share their views and opinions, develop their talents and abilities. Excellent conditions for personal growth, creative self-expression and active interaction have been created here," said Adel Maqbol.