Russian universities in the international context: are they still part of the global academic community? - Professor Anna Stebletsova

The 2020s have become a challenging time for Russian universities regarding their international academic activities. The powerful trend in the early part of the 21st century for Russian scholars to be integrated into the global research community is now in jeopardy. In March 2022 The Union of Russian Rectors called for the international academic contacts which had been developing for decades to be maintained and for Russian academia to remain part of global science. Have Russian universities succeeded in this pursuit? What are the current trends in academic collaboration between Russian universities and their international partners? Have the local academic activities of Russian universities also changed?

We are delighted that Professor Anna Stebletsova agreed to join us by Zoom from Voronezh to talk to us about these issues, which she addressed from her professional perspective and experience. As the Head of the Foreign Languages Department at a Russian medical university, Anna Stebletsova has witnessed how inter-cultural communication both in languages and in medical research has been developing over recent decades in Russia. 

Professor Anna Stebletsova is the Head of the Foreign Languages Department at Voronezh N. N. Burdenko State Medical University. She is a Doctor of Philological Sciences (Ph.D), the focus of her research being on the comparative analysis of English and Russian business and academic communication. Her professional career has always been connected with language teaching and research since she graduated from Voronezh University in 1993. From 1993 to 2008 she was a Lecturer in the English Philology Department at Voronezh University. In 2008 she became Chair of the Foreign Languages Department at Voronezh Medical University - the position she holds at present.