The studia generalia lecture series Russia, Russia, Russia! organized by the Saimaa University of Applied Sciences (Saimaa UAS) continues in February-April. The first lecture out of three is held on Thursday 7 February 2012 at 6 pm by Ph.D. Sanna Turoma from the Aleksanteri Institute. Ms Turoma will give a lecture on the significance of literature and culture in the former Soviet Union and Russia. In the other lectures, Principal Lecturer Ph.D. Olga Shustrova from the Faculty of Arts at Saint-Petersburg State University discusses the meaning of fine arts and art education from the Soviet-era to present-day Russia. Furthermore, Ms Shustrova will present some of the art museums and galleries in St. Petersburg.

Between September 2010 and May 2011, nine lectures were organized at the Saimaa UAS in co-operation with the Aleksanteri Institute. Approximately 700 listeners attended these open lectures.  Virve Häkämies, Development Manager of Russian Relations, emphasizes the importance of Russian knowhow for the Saimaa UAS.

According to Ms Häkämies, the purpose is therefore to continue organizing Russia-related lectures three or four times a year together with the Aleksanteri Institute and other partners.  In order to understand Russian knowhow and functions as well as internationality, it is also relevant to understand the Russian way of thinking, which is very much based on history and culture.

Wide array of arts in St. Petersburg
The upcoming lectures will cover Russian literature, culture and art. The reason for these topics is the close co-operation between the Fine Arts program at the Saimaa UAS and universities in St. Petersburg. In addition, the close location of South Karelia to St. Petersburg and the wide array of arts in St. Petersburg affected the content of the lectures.

Ms Häkämies reveals that in the last lecture presenting the art map of St. Petersburg, Ms Shustrova will introduce hundreds of art museums and galleries in St. Petersburg that are specialized in different styles of arts, such as modern art, classism, West European art and underground. Ms Shustrova highlights the most significant ones and gives hints to those who would like to visit this metropolitan area and explore the versatility of arts it has to offer.

The lectures will be held in English (notice that Sanna Turomas will give a lecture in Finnish). Ms Shustrova illustrates her speech with pictures, for example, to make following the lectures easier also for those who do not speak English that well.