Rafael Amirovich Arslanov
Doctor of History

"A thousand mile journey begins with one step"

1975

Graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology of P. Lumumba Peoples’ Friendship University. Specialty – “History”.

1978

Candidate thesis on the specialty “History” was presented. The theme – “P. L. Lavrov's Criticism of Russian Liberalism”.

2000

Doctoral thesis on the specialty “History” was presented. The theme - “K. D. Kavelin and Formation of the National Liberal Tradition in Russia”.

1978-1981

Assistant, Department of History of Russia at P. Lumumba PFU.

1982-1984

Associate Professor, Department of History of Russia. P. Lumumba PFU.

1985-1988

Professor of History at the University ENSUP (L'école Normale Supérieure de Bamako) Bamako, Mali.

1988-2000

Associate Professor of the Department of History of Russia, Deputy Head of the Department.

2001 - present

Professor of the Department of History of Russia, Deputy head of the Department.

2003

The academic title of Professor at the Department of history of Russia RUDN was awarded.

2008-present

Member of the Dissertation Council on Historical Sciences at RUDN.

2010 – present

Member of the Dissertation Council on Political Sciences at RUDN.

2014 – present

Director of the direction of training “Historical Sciences and Archaeology” at postgraduate school.

2018 – present

Deputy editor-in-chief of the journal “Vestnik RUDN. Series “History of Russia”.

Teaching activities

1. Lecture course on History of the Middle Ages and History of Eastern Europe in French at ENSUP University in Bamako, Mali (1984-1987).

2. Lecture courses for bachelors of the direction “History”:

  • “History of Russia XVIII – first half XIX century”;
  • “History of Medieval Russia”;
  • "History of Public and Political Thought of Russia XIX-early XX centuries”;
  • “Methods of Writing Final Work".

3. Course for masters of the direction “History”:

  • “The Main Problems of Russian History: Theory and Historiography”.

4. Conducts postgraduate direction “Historical Sciences and archaeology” research seminar on the History and Historiography of Russia XVIII-XIX centuries.  

5. Directs the joint master's program “History and Dialogue of Cultures”, developed by RUDN University and the University of Grenoble-Alpes (France).

Science

  • A specialist in the history of Russian liberalism. R.A. Arslanov was the first who identified and conducted a comprehensive study of the contribution of the largest theorist K. D. Kavelin in the development and formation of the national concept of liberalism, designed to adapt liberal values to the socio-cultural conditions of Russia of post-reform modernization epoch.  He is the head of the scientific school for the study of social thought in Russia in the second half of the XIX century, in the approach to its radical, liberal and conservative directions.

  • Director and senior Executive of several scientific projects supported by grants of the Russian Humanitarian Scientific Fund (RHSF), RUDN University, including:

  • In the grant “Evolution of reformist democratic thought in Russia in the second half of the XIX-early XX centuries: models of development, historiography, research methods” was proved the validity of the concept of “reformist democracy”, the problems of adaptation of this system to the national socio-cultural environment were analyzed. 

  • Within the framework of the grant “Foreigners in Russia and about Russia: migration, adaptation and cultural interaction” together with a group of scientists the requirements for the volume of knowledge on the history of Russia for a comprehensive integration exam designed for foreign citizens arriving in the Russian Federation and applying for a residence permit were prepared. Also, standard training tests for lecturers-historians teaching foreign citizens for the exam, examination and test materials and manuals for training were developed.

  • More than 150 publications in regional, Central Russian and foreign publications were published, including 11 monographs and textbooks, 3 of them with the stamp of Educational-Methodical Association (EMA) on classical University education of Russia.
     

Scientific interests

  • ideological development of Russian liberalism;
  • evolution of the liberal doctrine in the context of post-reform modernization;
  • the content of the views of leading liberals and the processes of adaptation of liberal doctrine to the socio-cultural conditions of Russia in the second half of the nineteenth century;
  • foreign policy views of liberals of Russia;
  • perception of the West and its foreign policy towards Russia by domestic liberals;
  • the study of the French historiography of the history of Russia.

 

The article analyses the perception of the mid-to-late nineteenth-century Russian liberals of the West European states and their foreign policy of the time towards Russia. The article discloses the main features and differences in assessing the West and Russia as its part. It allows to reveal such features in Russian liberalism as common provisions and values typical of world liberal theory and a number of special features which resulted in developing different schools of liberal movement in Russia. The article underlines that the range of liberal ideas varied from selective borrowing of some elements of the western political system to their complete adaptation in Russia. The article focuses on the opinion of a number of national-oriented Russian liberals of the time who put forward a priority task to modernize the country, to implement liberal reforms, but not to strengthen its foreign policy power which, according to them, prevents improving well-being of the people and social stabilization. The study allows to define a main vector of the ideological pursuit of the Russian liberals, the part of whom tried to enroot the liberal ideas in the backward peasant country.