В заседаниях семинара в начале апреля принимали участие студенты факультета международных отношений, политологии и зарубежного регионоведения групп канд. пед. наук, доцента Татьяны Барановой и старшего преподавателя Елены Гурьяновой по направлению подготовки «Международные отношения», направленность «Ближневосточные исследования» (3 курс).
Основной задачей семинара является развитие у студентов навыков участия в индивидуальных и коллективных учебно-научных исследованиях, формирование представления о теории и практике научного дискурса; пробуждение интереса студентов к научному исследованию; стимулирование самообразования студентов; формирование форм научной коммуникации.
Участники семинара продолжили разрабатывать выбранную ими научную тематику, однако в этот раз мы решили исследовать и представить информацию на провокационную тематику, связанную с различного рода известными событиями, вызывающими неоднозначные оценки. Нам показалось интересным обсудить и высказать свою точку зрения по вопросам, при решении которых наука и сама реальность соприкасаются с непознанным или пока не известным. Были представлены, например, выступления на следующие темы:
Conspiracy theories in relation to the incidents of 11 September 2001. - The iconic World Trade Centre towers - the tallest buildings in the world at the time - caught fire when two passenger planes crashed into them. The tragic incidents of 11 September shocked people then and ramifications of terrorist attack reverberates even today. This has led to a search for answers, in the hope of finding reasons to explain how the tragedy could have occurred.
Сonspiracy theories about the secret military base Area 51 in the US. - Space has always been and remains one of the most intriguing mysteries for humanity and much of what is related to this topic is covered with speculation and myths associated with extraterrestrial beings and spaceship. The American military airbase known as "Area 51" has been wrapped in various theories and rumors over the decades. The US authorities officially acknowledged its existence only in 2013. By this time, both Americans and residents of other countries had already made a sufficient number of guesses about what is actually hidden behind the fenced territory in the southern part of the state of Nevada.
When the CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg had to go before US Congress to testify about the social media platform’s possible role in Russian meddling in the 2016 US Presidential election, Mark Zuckerberg looked… well, more unusual than usual. Is he actually a human?..
Denver Airport in the United States became the center of conspiracy theories. - A huge statue of a "demonic" horse, strange murals, underground tunnels and gargoyles in suitcases — all this is available at an ordinary Denver airport. According to the myth, the system of underground tunnels is much bigger than the airport itself. And in fact, it leads to the underground bunkers where the Nazis are hiding. In the early days of the airport's operation, somebody drove through tunnels and decorated them with gilded mosaic frescoes, but soon these passages were closed for outsiders. Montgomery refuted the theories, but said that some employees actually paint aliens on the walls, and then these shots get into the media. In the mid-90s, Lydia Peña, the airport's chief architectural designer, commissioned sculptor Luis Jimenez to create a huge statue that would greet visitors to Denver and symbolize the "Wild Spirit of the old American West." The result of the work was an almost ten-meter blue Mustang with swollen veins and glowing red eyes.
Conspiracy theories about Freemasonry and other topics.
Представленная необычная тематика вызвала большой интерес, участники семинара выразили удовлетворение дискуссиями, а также подтвердили намерение продолжить свои научные исследования.
