Ontology and Theory of Knowledge

Profession

The postgraduate programme in Philosophy attracts two types of people who link their future with science. The former chose philosophy as their main occupation in life long ago, and postgraduate study is a natural continuation of the path for them. The latter come to postgraduate programme in Philosophy after having received education in other areas. But they have realized that their research interests are connected with problems that have not only a scientific, but also an ideological aspect. To solve such issues, it is necessary to obtain philosophical training in addition to the professional one. For either them, the choice of the PhD programme in Philosophy at RUDN University will be a suitable solution because the programme combines fundamental training in the field of ontology, epistemology and social philosophy with a deep historical and philosophical analysis of contemporary problems of philosophy.
The programme in Philosophy, Ethics and Religion Studies is aimed at training highly qualified specialists in demand in state, international, research and teaching activities, analytics and consulting, as well as in the field of interdisciplinary knowledge at the junction with such sciences as psychology, political science, sociology, cultural studies.

Educational Process

The advantage of the RUDN University postgraduate programme is the opportunity to offer young scientists a wide range of research topics that can satisfy almost any research interest. Postgraduate students have every opportunity to deepen their knowledge in world and regional (Chinese, Indian, Arabic, Latin American, Russian, Western European) philosophy. The uniqueness of the scientific schools of the RUDN University Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Department of Philosophy allows students to solve these problems, which is determined by their deep theoretical and methodological research in dialogue between the philosophical cultures of the West and the East.
The specialized disciplines include:
History of Philosophy: study of ontological, epistemological, methodological and praxeological aspects of the problem of intercivilizational dialogue;
Social Philosophy: modern and postmodern; temporal multi-layeredness of the modern world; the nature and essence of “post-secularity”;
Ontology and Theory of Knowledge: problem of civilization in the context of the tasks facing modern philosophical thought;
Ethics: meaning of moral values in professional and social activities.
Training under postgraduate programme is concentrated mainly in the first year of study. Particular attention is paid to the development of modern philosophical research methods. The second and third years are devoted to working on an independent scientific research, whose contents are presented in a PhD thesis.

Practice

Training process includes both a teaching internsip and research work which can be carried out at the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences and other academic organizations. All activities are carried out under the guidance of postgraduate students' academic supervisors. Teaching internships take place at RUDN University: graduate students conduct practical classes in groups enrolled in bachelor’s and master’s programmes. Postgraduate students can:
— conduct seminars in the training course read by their supervisor;
— develop educational and methodological materials for seminars; and
— assist students in finding the necessary literature.

Career

The areas of graduates' professional activity include:
— research activities in humanities covering worldview issues;
— possibility of employment in the organization of the system of general and vocational education, academic and research organizations, the media, cultural institutions and public organizations, public administration bodies; and
— teaching activities in humanities.