The Mona Lisa: A Masterpiece in Focus of the Sustainable Development Goals"

On November 28, 2025,   the first-year students of the Faculty of Journalism together with  Professor R.T. Kasymova, held an event on the topic: 🎨 "The Mona Lisa: A Masterpiece in Focus of the Sustainable Development Goals," dedicated to  🌍 SDG 4 — "Quality Education" and 🏙️ SDG 11 — "Sustainable Cities and Communities" . The event covered  the study and the  promotion of cultural heritage.

🎯 The goal of the event was to develop practical skills in creating media content of various genres (📝 post, 💬comment, 📧 email newsletter, ✍️ blog article).

🧩 During the event, an intellectual warm-up session, "True/False," was held, which helped to liven up the discussion and prepare the ground for completing the assignments. 👩‍🏫 The teacher briefly discussed Leonardo da Vinci's life, the painting's history, and its significance in global culture. She emphasized the role of artistic symbols, as well as the Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile, which has become the subject of numerous interpretations.

💡 Students shared their impressions of their visit to the Louvre (in person and virtually), describing what most impressed them about the painting. The discussion focused on the painting's visual details, emotional perception, and cultural significance. They completed a series of creative tasks:

📱 Social media posts (Instagram/Telegram);

🖋️ Blog articles about their personal experience of a virtual "encounter" with the painting;

📊 Creating multimedia presentations.

Results of the event:

📖 Systematization of knowledge: students expanded their understanding of media formats and improved their level of media literacy.

🛠️ Professional Skills Development: Students successfully developed skills for creating content across various genres, tailored to the specific target audience.

🔍 Critical Thinking Development: Working with a cultural object in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals allowed them to understand the interconnectedness of cultural phenomena with global social processes.

🚀 Increased Motivation: The creative format and practical focus of the assignments increased student engagement and demonstrated the importance of knowledge about the SDGs for future professional development.

📌 Conclusion: The educational event demonstrated that even an object as seemingly unsustainable as the Mona Lisa is a powerful tool for cultivating in future media professionals 🌐 global responsibility, 🧠 critical thinking, and 🎭 the ability to discuss current issues through a cultural lens.

R.T. Kassymova, the professor of the Department of Russian Philology and World Literature