On 8 December 2014, the Mariinsky Hall of Herzen University hosted the round table Living Word: Dialogue of Ages and Cultures in Translation. The round table was dedicated to the cultural mission of language mediation and the “eastern dimension” in its today’s evolution. Nine presentations were made, and the discussions which followed brought together some 100 participants. The event was inspired by St. Petersburg School of Conference Interpreting and Translation. The round table proceedings were published in the almanac The World of Culture and Cultural Studies which came out of print on the eve of III St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum of which the round table was a part.