The 12th Moldovan-German Summer School - organized by the Leipzig Institute of Moldova in cooperation with the State University of Moldova and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) - began its activities. Today, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Moldova, Angela Ganninger, highlighted at the opening ceremony the importance of such meetings for the training of the young generation.
"Moreover, these events serve to strengthen the relations between our countries, create bonds between certain people and generate experiences and impressions that will never be forgotten", said the head of the German diplomatic mission.
Speaking on behalf of the hosts, the State University of Moldova rector, Igor Șarov, urged the German students to make the most of their stay in Moldova, in order to deepen their knowledge of the language and of the socio-political realities and to understand the Moldovan spirit and traditions.
Talking about her expectations, one of the school's students, Sophie Bartels from Witten, the Ruhr region, expressed her eagerness to acquire impressions in the coming weeks about Moldova, its people and the culture. Her fellow student, Jan-Erik Pruschke, a future historian, who has previously studied Romanian, said that in the process of his studies he had developed an interest in the history of the Romanian-Moldovan area and would like to cultivate it further.
The topic of this year's session is "Identity discourses in multicultural spaces: the Republic of Moldova and Bucovina". Students will hear lectures and presentations. Additionally, the students will engage in debates on a variety of topics, including "Population, language(s) and identity(ies) in the Soviet Union (MSSR) and post-independence", "Basarabia - a multi-ethnic periphery of the Russian Empire", "Russians and Russian speakers in Moldova".
Earlier today, the participants of the Moldovan-German school visited IPN, where the director Valeriu Vasilica talked to them about our work and mission to truthfully and accurately cover everything that happens in Moldova.
The Moldovan-German summer school will continue until September 12.