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Find opportunities that are right for you to continue your education outside your home country.
© 2025 Freedom Degree
Freedom Degree, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. © 2025 | Powered by Strapi
Apr 14, 2025
Faculty of Liberal Arts and Science in Montenegro. Interview with the Dean Marina Kalashnikova
If education in the Liberal Arts and Sciences is viewed as a danger to "traditional values" and national security in Russia, what should we do? Professionals working on Russian projects are taking initiative and, in spite of the challenges, they are still doing what they do best, which is arranging excellent modern education for us. Marina Kalashnikova, dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Science in Montenegro (FLAS) project, was the person we spoke with. In addition to starting a new project overseas, the FLAS team has a big job ahead of them: setting up a full-fledged faculty—indeed, a university—that will start multiple programs, take in students, and grant officially recognized degrees in Montenegro. Among other things, we talked about the challenges that FLAS staff are currently facing, including accreditation, licensing, and creating credentials for Liberal Arts programs in another country.
I work on the FLAS project as a faculty member and dean. For twelve years, I taught at Saint Petersburg State University Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Smolny College). I served as the acting head of the Department of Theory and Methodology of Teaching Arts and Humanities in addition to being an associate professor. After that, I worked with colleagues at a private university in Kazakhstan for two years to redesign a first-grade bachelor's degree program. The project was canceled for a number of reasons after the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
My coworkers and I discussed the possibility of establishing a Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences while we were working in Kazakhstan. We decided to create an innovative and cutting-edge program at Shaninka that is distinct from the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration program. We got the first course in 2021, and the students are currently finishing their studies in the best possible format. In 2021, the Russian prosecutor's office came to Shaninka, and we were told to dissolve the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The Liberal Arts programs, according to the prosecutor's office, did not conform to so-called 'traditional values.' I realized that I had to find something else to do because there was nothing else left for me in Russia.
To determine our next course of action, my colleagues and I gathered in the spring of 2022. At that point, Montenegro emerged as a viable option, where a favorable environment for speaking Russian had already emerged, with many students and schools with Russian-speaking teachers. Furthermore, after 2022, Russian students are no longer accepted at many European universities. Fewer students were admitted, but not in large numbers as Russian propaganda suggested. It was obvious that we had to build our own educational infrastructure. We made the decision right away to create a licensed and accredited program that would enable our students to get degrees rather than limiting ourselves to volunteer programs and communities. We selected Montenegro for this reason. It would have been impossible, for instance, to establish a university in France or Germany. It was found to be feasible in Montenegro. There is a vibrant online community, even though there aren't many of us here yet and not everyone has moved here.
Many professors have indicated interest in working with us and offering their courses, even though the full undergraduate education process has not yet started. The Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences has already been founded, accredited, and is now going through the licensing procedure. It is my hope that we will soon be able to function as a university in Montenegro.
We provide extra learning opportunities for all, including our Beach University program and summer and winter schools. We offer certificates there that would be regarded as extra educational programs in Russia. People of various ages and levels of training, from high school students to pre-retirement age, attend these short programs to spend a week face-to-face with our instructors. Since this format is so widely used, it cannot be regarded as novel. Once we have our license, students will be able to enroll in the majors, which are part of an undergraduate program that has been accredited.
There are a number of reasons. The team must, first and foremost, be legally based in the region where the university will be founded. Since Montenegro does not require a visa, we were able to move there swiftly, create a legal entity, and get a local residence permit (boravak) so that we could work there lawfully. It is essential to legalize the team in order to negotiate with the Accreditation Agency, the Ministry of Education, and the local academic community.
What rules need to be adhered to, how does a liberal arts education program fit into the law, and what are the demands of the labor market and education system? All of these are difficult questions that call for specific expertise. The process of adding new higher education credentials to Montenegro's educational system is underway. This is a challenging process, and the reason for the difficulty is not some conflicting forces, but rather the fact that liberal arts is a relatively new concept in Montenegro.
Second, we work on FLAS in collaboration with local experts. What rules need to be adhered to, how does a liberal arts education program fit into the law, and what are the demands of the labor market and education system? All of these are difficult questions that call for specific expertise. The process of adding new higher education credentials to Montenegro's educational system is underway. This is a challenging process, and the reason for the difficulty is not some conflicting forces, but rather the fact that liberal arts is a relatively new concept in Montenegro.
By default, Liberal Arts and Science assumes a particular set of majors. Based on the expertise of our Shaninka colleagues, including Dinara Gagarina (Digital Humanities) from Vyshka Perm, Viktor Vakhshtayn (Sociology), Ksenia Luchenko (Media), Vasily Zharkov (Political Science), and other experts, we first prepared six majors. Additionally, we introduced linguistics and art history majors, which Shaninka had not previously offered. A large number of faculty members volunteered for the project. The list of people who are willing to teach has expanded, and we anticipate adding 10–14 majors soon.
At first, many of these students intended to enroll in prominent Russian universities, including Smolny, Shaninka, Vyshka, and others. Some students even had the opportunity to study there before departing Russian universities, witnessing their transformation. Some stayed in Russia and worked without going to university, while others traveled to Georgia or the Baltic States. Children of our acquaintances also come to us because they lost interest in studying after leaving with their whole family.
It is noteworthy that both adults and teenagers experienced a notable degree of confusion at departure in 2022–2023. My father served in the military, and I also had to move from Kamchatka to mainland Russia at one point of my life, so I am aware of this. It is very challenging and causes a great deal of internal conflict. So we actually gathered around us guys who needed help in adapting to their new life. Outside of the classroom, resources such as psychologists, tutors, psychotherapy, and antidepressants can help with this process. This is not to suggest that all students are profoundly traumatized; many of them are amazing, vibrant, and outspoken individuals. Nevertheless, for many, relocating and choosing a place to study was and still is a challenging experience. To keep a feeling of home, some have deliberately avoided an environment where everyone speaks a foreign language.
The students speak Russian among themselves, and this community of communication, events, and hangouts is very important to them, even though some of the courses are taught in English. Students' parents write to express their gratitude for placing their kids in a supportive environment where they can finally relax while still getting an excellent education. In addition, we have given students a unique experience: they are collaborating with us to establish a brand-new university that didn't exist before.
Some of our students left their parents behind and came straight from Russia. This includes money transfers, tuition payments, and financial difficulties. Some of the students have come to us specifically because they have lived overseas. I don't see much of a difference here, and they communicate with each other easily.
I am aware that there is skepticism about our project; people ask why we are doing this when the war will be over, the student flow will stop, and the program will only be in place for three to four years. But we don't plan to train thousands of students, and I don't think the conflict (war) can be resolved quickly. Neither Shaninka nor Smolny recruited thousands of people in their first year; we have always adopted a niche strategy. We are thinking about it, but it is crucial that we give those thirty-eight students the chance to feel that they need and want to study, no matter what else is happening in the world. Yes, the model is still financially unstable. However, at university people can discuss serious issues that concern them. This holds great importance for our students. Education defines limits and boundaries, shapes values, and even serves as a catalyst for reflection when someone violates them. Our goal is to do that.
We are occasionally criticized for concentrating only on the audience that speaks Russian. This isn't totally accurate. Our goal is to open a fully functional international university in Montenegro that will attract students from nearby countries like Albania, Serbia, and Croatia in addition to those from Russia. There isn't a Liberal Arts and Sciences program like the one we're creating in this area. We want our graduates to be able to find employment in the local economy if they so choose, and we teach our students the Montenegrin language. We plan to start a master's program in the upcoming years, and then, in partnership with other universities, a network PhD program. We also see the potential for cooperation with other European projects and Erasmus+ programs. The Russian-speaking population here, which includes Belarusians, Russians, and Ukrainians, is very friendly despite the current challenges, and we make an effort to work together and prevent disputes. Our goal is to create a fully functional international university with a distinct educational model in addition to teaching Russian speakers.
Indeed, there are clear benefits to this type of collaboration. We all compete for the same resources, which are currently severely limited, so on the one hand, we are all in the same field. Funding for many projects has been cut or eliminated. However, I place more faith in our relationships and interactions with one another than in institutional cooperation per se. This has always been true for Liberal Arts programs, and we now choose faculty and majors more on the basis of interpersonal relationships, common values, and interests than on formal criteria or demand from the job market. Only afterwards do we take that into account.
I believe that human communication and common interests are the foundations of cooperation. Naturally, I want to encourage collaboration, but there isn't much time for it right now because all teams are focused on internal problems, paperwork, and bureaucracy. We recently signed a cooperation agreement with Prof. Nina Belyaeva, the founder of Global Nomad University in Batumi, who came to teach a course on our campus. Some of our colleagues teach at the Free University, and we know a number of the professors there. We will not limit anyone and will not prevent such collaborative work. But it's crucial to remember that we are a formal educational establishment with restrictions imposed by the approved curriculum, due dates, certification and test requirements.
This (war and emigration) is not going to end anytime soon, in my opinion. Unfortunately, it is very hard to overcome the conservative nature of the educational system and its vulnerability to ideological pressure. It took until the very last minute to break free from the legacy of the Soviet system, even in very progressive universities in Russia, and when the familiar notes of ideology returned, they swiftly reverted to their original forms. The teacher-student hierarchy has once again become rigid and formal: "I am the boss, you are the fool." It's alarming how quickly this has happened.
Because of this, I think Russian school graduates will find it difficult to get a truly free education in the years to come, even if the war ends quickly. Correcting these procedures takes a long time. Since a university is now primarily an environment, I hope that we will develop into a place where students come to experience something different in addition to receiving a degree. You can earn a diploma in a variety of ways by taking online courses, but the university community is something you cannot obtain by simply sitting at home.
Although Montenegro has its own distinct features, I hope so as well. Prior to the establishment of the first university in the 1970s, Montenegro was not a significant hub for education in Yugoslavia. Belgrade, Sarajevo, and Zagreb were home to the main universities. As a result, some Yugoslav bureaucratic norms have been passed down to the local educational system, while others resemble Soviet ones. However, there isn't any deliberate ideological pressure. Although there is bureaucracy and officials make an effort to show their effectiveness and significance, nobody intentionally puts up barriers. I'm hoping we can move past this and successfully complete our project.
Details regarding FALS programs are available on our website.