American center reopens in Moscow

20 October in Moscow re-opened the American Center - the venue for open lectures and seminars, the implementation of various programs in the field of culture and education, a social and cultural club with numerous printed and electronic materials about the United States, collections of books and collections of magazines.

The center began its work on the territory of the US embassy.

A center with the same functions, supervised by the United States Embassy in Moscow, existed in the Russian capital since 1993, and for 22 years it received guests in the building of the All-Russian State Library for Foreign Literature named after M.I. Rudomino.

However, this year’s 1 library’s leadership unilaterally terminated a formal agreement with the US embassy about the support center. Representatives of the embassy then told VOA that “the diplomatic mission’s attempts to reach an agreement with the library to continue supporting cultural and educational programs were unsuccessful, and the updated draft agreement was rejected.”

The embassy, ​​however, as a token of good will, “donated to the library all books, printed and multimedia materials, most of the equipment, including advanced equipment, and other property of the closed center.”

Now a similar center is operating in the building of the American embassy in Moscow, and it will be open to the public from 12 to 18 hours on weekdays. As representatives of the embassy said, during these hours access will be provided for everyone: it is enough for visitors to inform the guards that they are going to the American Center. Participation in the evening events will be by appointment on official website of the center.

In the center, as stated in the official press release of the US diplomatic mission in Russia, meetings will be held with leading American experts in various fields, including experts in the field of entrepreneurship, urban planning, and climate change; Documentary film screenings will be arranged, and spoken English and American literature clubs will operate.

In an interview with Voice of America, the spokesman for the US Embassy in Moscow, Will Stevens, spoke in more detail about the capabilities of the American Center: maintaining cultural ties with the Russian people. We were forced to move from the Library of Foreign Literature, but we decided not to give up and open a new center, so it was not only an unpleasant surprise, but also the opportunity to resume work. Experts, astronauts, sportsmen, and scientists will come and speak here to communicate with the Russian public. Another important thing is that if you want to study in the States, here you can also get advice on this in the department of the USA Education Center. In addition, there are open circles for teaching English, in particular, it will be possible to prepare for the TOEFL. ”

The embassy also told Voice of America that in St. Petersburg and Moscow, as part of the Education USA program, 26-27 will be held in October, the largest exhibition of American universities in Russia. It will feature more than 20 US private and state universities, and visitors will be able to talk directly with members of admissions offices and representatives of university departments.