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Place of Traineeship: Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki

daria

ICE Student: Daria Pritup

Place of Traineeship: Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki

“During my two month internship at the Aleksanteri Institute I will be assigned different tasks. Firstly, I will be helping out in administration processes such as updating the Institute’s website, write emails for the mailing list, write course descriptions for the online course platform Weboodi, help out with the organization of lectures and visits, and so on.

Secondly, I will be involved in a Master’s level course on business cooperation with Russia. Part of the course is an excursion to St. Petersburg, during which I will aid a small group of students with their tasks and participate in the organization of events.

Thirdly, I will have the opportunity to travel to Stockholm for the Nordic Conference on Romani Studies and participate in the lectures. I will be given the task to write an article about it for the Institute’s newspaper Idäntutkimus. I can choose the topic I would like to focus on freely.

Fourthly, I will work as a research assistant and help out with collecting materials, some of which will be in Russian or other Slavic languages.

My goal for the internship is to get acquainted with the inner workings of university administration and how my studies in Intercultural Encounters and Area and Cultural Studies can aid me in practice. Academia is obviously a very intercultural environment, which focuses on the exchange of knowledge and experience, so I believe I can definitely use my theoretical expertise as well as intercultural competence skills. I would like to get more comfortable with independent work and creative writing as well as develop my organizational skills. I chose the Aleksanteri Institute specifically, because it is the hub of Balkan studies, which are my minor subject, and because my language skills (Russian and Bulgarian) are relevant for the job.”

Visit: Interkult Kassandra

The first visit we had regarding integration through cultural education was to the Kassandra Institute (Interkult Kassandra), where we talked to Catia S. Pedrosa, the executive director, and Venla Martikainen, the financial and administrative director. The young engaging and inspiring women informed us on Kassandra’s work promoting integration and diversity, and also providing workshops for the youth in Finland.

Interkult Kassanrda was founded in the year 2000, and works mostly on promoting integration through arts and culture. The organization was founded by theater director Ritva Siikala, whose goal was on building bridges among cultures, and supporting the further development of multiculturality. At first, it was aimed mostly on acting as a form of communication between cultures. Also, it was not only for “newcomers” but also for young Finns who wanted to meet new people as well as enjoyed theater.

Due to various changes, both politically and financially, Kassandra has developed and changed in how they work. First, the organization originally was supporting strongly feminism, which is why most of those who worked there were women. Nowadays, it is not only women who run the institute. Men are more active participants as well. Secondly, Kassandra provides more than theater and acting. For instance, it arranges various workshops for children and youngsters, where both the participants and the volunteering instructors learn from each other in a safe and fun environment. However, Kassandra has maintained one passion in their workshops, namely art!

Kassandra Institute organizes a special INTERKULTfest, a festival dedicated to performing arts for young adults.  Performers, both professional and amateur, are invited from all corners of the world promoting diversity as much as possible. The festival is organized once a year and cooperates with different schools from Finland in forms of workshops.

For more information visit: kassandra.fi