1 January 2026

Photo: Maksim Khomiakov

Professor Maksim Khomiakov is a historical and cultural sociologist with a strong background in philosophy and intellectual history. His main research interests are historical-comparative sociology, sociology of modernity, social and political theory, philosophy, sociology of education and Western and Russian intellectual history. He has recently worked as a Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan), while had previously taken various positions in such Russian universities as Higher School of Economics (Saint-Petersburg) and Ural Federal University (Ekaterinburg). He held visiting positions at Free University, Berlin, The University of Johannesburg (South Africa), Fudan University (China), The University of York (UK), Texas A&M University (USA) as well as he was a Marie Curie senior fellow at the European University Institute, Florence (Italy). Prof. Khomiakov’s current research project is focused upon imaginary of mastery over nature in history of Russian modernity in the context of global political and ecological transformations.         

A warm welcome to the Centre, Maksim!