AUCA’s Best Paper presented at the 8thSmolny Student Conference at St. Petersburg State University

April 29, 2019

Hafizullah Saeedi, International and Comparative Politics student from Afghanistan presented his paper at the 8th Smolny Student Conference “Multidisciplinary in Science and Art” which was distinguished as the best from the American University of Central Asia.

Below, Hafizullah describes his impressions about the trip and academic achievements.

- I was very honored that my paper was selected as the best paper from AUCA, for the course “Global Citizenship” which was taught jointly across the Bard International Network at Bard College (in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY), Bard College Berlin, Al Quds-Bard College of Arts and Sciences (in East Jerusalem), the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences at St. Petersburg State University, the American University of Central Asia (Bishkek) and European Humanities University (Vilnius).

I also am very glad to have had the opportunity to present my paper which was written on the topic of “Is global citizenship, as an ideal and a practice, something that can effectively help humankind to confront borderless problems like the current “refugee crisis” in Europe or climate change?” at the 8^thSmolny Student Conference “Multidisciplinary in Science and Art” in Smolny College, the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences at St. Petersburg State University.  

What contributed a lot in doing this research, particularly in relation to “Refugee Crisis in Europe”, was my experience of Erasmus exchange semester in Germany, because along the university studies, I was also able to meet migrants and refugees from different countries, to discuss and share opinions on several issues related to the migration process in general and all kinds of political, legal and economic challenges they have gone through.

However, I believe the type of course such as” Global Citizenship” offered across the Bard International Network helps students to share a wider range of perspectives on the topics of discussion which helps students broaden their vision and understanding of global issues such as refugee crisis and migration in general.

The 8^thSmolny Student Conference was a unique platform for me to firstly improve my paper through receiving feedback and questions to be considered and answered, yet more importantly to learn new perspectives and opinions on how to study and resolve global problems such as climate change and refugee crisis.

Apart from the content of the conference, what makes such international platforms important is the fact that we as students get to know each other and learn about each other’s cultures, experiences and thoughts, make friends and network with experts and specialists from totally different parts of the world with. This is one of the most important parts of any youth program because it then helps us all as global citizens to develop societies where people from different backgrounds can live together.

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