Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences in Montenegro
Our goal is to transcend interdisciplinary boundaries and provide an education that combines academic rigor and freedom of choice, diversity of opinion and cooperation between students and faculty.
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{Located in Budva, Montenegro}
Our history
An independent higher education institution created by Russian educators in exile
In March 2022, the Moscow Prosecutor's Office ruled that Liberal Arts education was ‘aimed at destroying traditional values’ and contradicted the ‘national security strategy of the Russian Federation’. All three Liberal Arts faculties operating in Russia were censored and transformed into a ‘broad baccalaureate’ (a hitherto non-existent educational model). Russia later announced its withdrawal from the Bologna Process.
Within a year of the outbreak of war with Ukraine, hundreds of educators scholars, and educational administrators left Russia. Some of these political exiles will now continue their work at FLAS in Montenegro.
FLAS is the first independent institution of higher education created by Russian academics in exile to receive state accreditation in the host country. It is also the first Liberal Arts and Sciences faculty in the Western Balkans region.
We want to build on our teaching and university life management expertise as well as provide our staff with the opportunity to conduct research while enjoying political and academic freedoms.
Three-year undergraduate program. The teaching is conducted in English.
FLAS is officially accredited by the Agency for Quality Control and Quality Assurance in Higher Education of Montenegro.
Montenegro is a participant of the Bologna Process. Credits and degrees obtained by FLAS students will be in line with higher education international standards. Graduates will be able to work or continue their education in Europe and other countries.
Teaching staff
Professors and tutors at FLAS bring a wealth of international experience and a proactive approach to guiding students on their learning journey
Head of the New Political Science major at FLAS. Expert at the Sapere Aude School of Civic Education and formerly Dean of the Faculty of Political Science at the Moscow School of Social Sciences (Shaninka).
Bio
Publications
Vasily Zharkov
1
Head of the New Political Science major at FLAS. Expert at the Sapere Aude School of Civic Education and formerly Dean of the Faculty of Political Science at the Moscow School of Social Sciences (Shaninka).
Head of Digital Humanities major at FLAS. Digital humanist, digital historian, Ph.D. Researcher of East European and Central Asian History at FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg.
Bio
Publications
Dinara Gagarina
8
Head of Digital Humanities major at FLAS. Digital humanist, digital historian, Ph.D. Researcher of East European and Central Asian History at FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg.
Dean of FLAS, PhD in Philology, MA in Ethnology (EUSP)
Bio
For me, our Faculty is an opportunity to uphold and continue the principles of modern, liberal education that we used to foster back home. The environment of collaboration and dialogue initially drew me to the Arts and Humanities program at St. Petersburg University. Over time, the program evolved into a distinct department, the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, in 2011. A decade later, my colleagues and I inaugurated a faculty bearing the same name at Shaninka. And now, when we are opening FLAS, I hold firm to the belief in the educational model of Liberal Arts and Sciences and have personally witnessed the profound growth of our students.
We welcome open-minded students who seek to study in an international environment and are ready to embrace the Liberal Arts model. Alongside their professors, they will become co-authors of their educational journey.
Academic interests: modern educational systems, folklore studies, anthropology
Graduate (1995) of Herzen Russian State Pedagogical University (St. Petersburg), Associate Professor at the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Smolny College) of St. Petersburg State University (2012-2018), developer of Russian educational programs on the Liberal Arts and Sciences model (until 2022).
Former Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences at MSSES (Shaninka).
Former Dean of the Liberal Arts College, RANEPA
Publications
Калашникова М.В. Через тернии - и все еще где-то там... Что мешает модели свободных искусств и наук стать по-настоящему успешной в России? // Образовательная модель Свободных искусств и наук: мировой и российский опыт. /под ред. А. Л. Кудрина, Д. Е.Раскова, Д. В.Кадочникова.—Москва; Санкт-Петербург : Издательство Института Гайдара; Факультет свободных искусств и наук СПбГУ, 2021.—(Новое экономическое мышление).—512 с. С. 201-230. Kalashnikova M.V. Through the thorns - and still somewhere out there... What prevents the liberal arts and sciences model from becoming truly successful in Russia? // Educational Model of Liberal Arts and Sciences: World and Russian Experience. / Edited by A. L. Kudrin, D. E. Raskov, D. V. Kadochnikov. -Moscow; St. Petersburg: Gaidar Institute Publishing House; Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, SPbSU, 2021.-(New Economic Thinking).-512 pp. С. 201-230.
Калашникова М. Как студенту понять, чего же он хочет // Коммерсант, 14.09.2023. Режим доступа: https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/6209944/. Kalashnikova M. How a student can understand what he wants // Kommersant, 14.09.2023. Access mode: https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/6209944]
Marina Kalashnikova
11
Dean of FLAS, PhD in Philology, MA in Ethnology (EUSP)
Co-founder and Director of FLAS in Montenegro. Head of the School of Media Communications at the Institute of Social Sciences of the Russian Presidential Academy (ISS RANEPA), 2012-2022
Bio
Publications
Andrei Fetisov
12
Co-founder and Director of FLAS in Montenegro. Head of the School of Media Communications at the Institute of Social Sciences of the Russian Presidential Academy (ISS RANEPA), 2012-2022
Co-founder of FLAS. Head of the Adriatic School network, founder of the Edumonte educational company, co-founder of the Pristanište Refugee Charity Foundation
Bio
Publications
Vladimir Shmelev
13
Co-founder of FLAS. Head of the Adriatic School network, founder of the Edumonte educational company, co-founder of the Pristanište Refugee Charity Foundation
Vice Dean of FLAS. Sociologist, Ph.D. in history. Former Head of the Master's program "Applied Methods of Social Analysis of Markets" and the Department of Economic Sociology at the Higher School of Economics (Moscow), 2008-2023
Bio
Publications
Diliara Ibragimova
16
Vice Dean of FLAS. Sociologist, Ph.D. in history. Former Head of the Master's program "Applied Methods of Social Analysis of Markets" and the Department of Economic Sociology at the Higher School of Economics (Moscow), 2008-2023
Vice Dean for Public Relations of FLAS and Head of the Media Studies and Journalism major at FLAS. Journalist, Ph.D. in philology, former Dean of the Faculty of Media Communications of the MSSES ("Shaninka"), and Head of the Department of Theory and Practice of Media Communications at RANEPA.
Bio
Publications
Ksenia Luchenko
20
Vice Dean for Public Relations of FLAS and Head of the Media Studies and Journalism major at FLAS. Journalist, Ph.D. in philology, former Dean of the Faculty of Media Communications of the MSSES ("Shaninka"), and Head of the Department of Theory and Practice of Media Communications at RANEPA.
Dean of FLAS. Ph.D. in Philology, founder of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences (MSSES, or Shaninka), Dean (till 2022)
Co-founder and Director of FLAS in Montenegro. Head of the School of Media Communications at the Institute of Social Sciences of the Russian Presidential Academy (ISS RANEPA), 2012-2022
Co-founder of FLAS. Head of the Adriatic School network, founder of the Edumonte educational company, co-founder of the Pristanište Refugee Charity Foundation
Vice Dean of FLAS. Sociologist, Ph.D. in History. Former Head of the Master's program "Applied Methods of Social Analysis of Markets" and the Department of Economic Sociology at the Higher School of Economics (Moscow), 2008-2023
Head of the FLAS Center for Individual Student Support. The author and the developer of the tutor support system for liberal arts programs at Russian universities (MSSES, RANEPA)
Vice Dean for Public Relations of FLAS and Head of the Media Studies and Journalism major at FLAS. Journalist, Ph.D. in Philology, former Dean of the Faculty of Media Communications of the MSSES ("Shaninka"), and Head of the Department of Theory and Practice of Media Communications at RANEPA.
Head of the New Political Science major at FLAS. Expert at the Sapere Aude School of Civic Education and formerly Dean of the Faculty of Political Science at the Moscow School of Social Sciences (Shaninka).
Head of Digital Humanities major at FLAS. Digital humanist, digital historian, Ph.D. Researcher of East European and Central Asian History at FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg.
Head of Cross-Cultural Linguistics major at FLAS. Linguist, Ph.D in Linguistics. Leading researcher at the V.V. Vinogradov Institute of the Russian Language.
Introducing a new educational paradigm in Montenegro: Meet our board
Ljubomir Filipović
Co-founder of FLAS and Chairman of the FLAS Board. Political scientist.
Vesko Garčević
Professor and Board member at Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston. Former National Coordinator for NATO, Ambassador of Montenegro in Brussels (NATO) and Vienna (OSCE).
Marat Guelman
Art collector, gallerist, and op-ed columnist, member of the anti-war committee of Russia, founder of the free culture forum SlovoNovo, founder of the NGO Art and Democracy.
Vladimir Shmelev
Co-founder of FLAS. Head of the Adriatic School network, founder of the Edumonte educational company, co-founder of the Pristanište Refugee Charity Foundation.
Ekaterina Shulmann
Freelance Researcher at the Carnegie Eurasia Centre for Russia in Berlin, Associate Professor at KAZGYU University in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Andrew Wachtel
Head of Compass College in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Andrey Zorin
Professor of Russian, Fellow of the new College, University of Oxford.
Starting a faculty department from scratch requires support. Donations are used to maintain FLAS facilities, and purchase equipment, software and educational materials.