Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The head of the information service of the Ministry of higher and secondary specialized education Sardor Usmanov organized a master class for students of the Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies (TSUOS) on “Thinking strategically in the global information space”. The meeting was held in three languages – Uzbek, Russian and English.

As introductory welcome, S.Usmanov congratulated TSUOS students on the start of the new academic year wishing them to spend the year at an intellectually meaningful level. 

Oriental studies (orientalism) as an academic discipline has been one of the most topical and interesting subjects for hundreds of years. Leading orientalists have always served as liaison between governments and societies as the most knowledgeable and well-informed professionals of their ages. Many of them served as advisers to governments and plenipotentiary ambassadors.

For a long time, our country has had a well-established school that cultivated outstanding professional orientalists. In recent years, in “new Uzbekistan” much focus has been made on comprehensive formation of orientalists of the XXI century.

S. Usmanov shared his experience and gave advice for how future orientalists on how to operate with the information they need, given the information overload at the global level, at the same time not getting absorbed by unnecessary details.

Today, as a rule, universities provide students with field-related specialized knowledge, but are not always capable of teaching them to apply this knowledge in a real practical context. Therefore, it is important that modern educators primarily teach students strategic thinking skills, the ability to look at the relationships between the issues under study from different points of view.  

No matter how quality specialized knowledge we would teach students, if they are not able to make right decisions based on this knowledge in a real situation, then ultimately the educational process will turn out to be ineffective.

At the same time, educators should teach students not to get involved in the excessive technical details in their studies and everyday lives, while keeping in mind long-term goals when planning daily activities. That means, we should teach students not only what they are doing, but how they understand what they are doing and where they are ultimately going. That’s a great challenge. 

“If you intend to be an active and influential actor upon the global information space, and not just a passive observer, you should surely learn to think strategically and bring forward proactive initiatives”, noted S.Usmanov.

Resuming his speech, he wished that the students had a successful academic year and urged them to strive to acquire new knowledge every day, every single moment of life and apply the most important aspects of this knowledge in professional life.