In the afternoon of March 20, 2023, teacher Guo Lin from the Department of European Languages, School of Foreign Languages, Jiangsu University, conducted a demonstration of the opening class on "Classical Russian literature reading" in the classroom 207 of Sanshan Building. The lecture was attended by the teachers of School of Foreign Languages - Hou Lusha, Lai Cencen, Chen Yingchao, Wang Zhilin and other teachers.
This opening class mainly introduced to students the representative works of Gogol, the founder of Russian critical realism -- the novel "Dead Souls" and the novella "The Overcoat". The novel "Dead Souls" is a profound reflection of serfdom in Russia, criticizing serfdom under the feudal system will help training students' critical attitude towards the backward social system through the description and analysis of the ugly state of the landlord exploiting class, and calling on students to pay attention to individual self-education. The novella "The Overcoat" revealed the class contradictions in Petersburg under the autocratic rule of the czar, pointed the satirical aim at the prevailing official worship phenomenon at that time, and showed the tragic fate of "little people" living under the feudal bureaucratic hierarchy. Through the appreciation of the work, it set up correct values for students and let them to be self-respect.
The teachers who attended the lecture had a discussion afterwards and confirmed the good effect of the lecture. This class not only has fulfilled the mission of "Nurture Morality and Foster Talent" and helped the School of Foreign Languages to promote the construction of "ideological and political education". The teachers gave valuable suggestions on how to improve classroom interaction in humanities lectures, which strengthened the communication of teaching experience among teachers.
