Our history
With the establishment of the University of Dhaka in 1921, the Faculty of Arts was also established. This faculty started with eight Departments: (i) Sanskrit and Bengali, (ii) English, (iii) Philosophy, (iv) History, (v) Education, (vi) Economics and Politics, (vii) Arabic and Islamic Studies, and (viii) Persian and Urdu. Presently, this faculty, one of the largest faculties of the university, consists of seventeen Departments. These are Department of Bengali, Department of English, Department of History, Department of Islamic History and Culture, Department of Philosophy, Department of Information Science and Library Management, Department of Arabic, Department of Islamic Studies, Department of Sanskrit, Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Department of Urdu, Department of Linguistics, Department of Theater and Performance Studies, Department of Music, Department of World Religions, and Department of Dance. The academic activities of these departments are conducted by the Faculty of Arts.
The faculty office is located on the first and second floors of the Arts Building. The Faculty of Arts offers full-time and part-time courses leading to B.A.(Hons), M.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D., as well as several certificate and diploma level courses. The Faculty’s taught programmes are a balance of compulsory study-units and elective ones, creating space for students to pursue their individual interests and preferences. The Faculty does its best to be flexible in order to promote such student experiences. The Faculty of Arts and its committees are increasingly concerned with the quality assurance of academic programmes. At all degree levels, external examiners are involved in the final assessment of students, after a long tradition that has secured international recognition to all the degree programmes of the Faculty of Arts. Besides offering its own degree programmes, the Faculty of Arts services a number of faculties, institutes and centers within the University, often supplying a substantial proportion of the content of their programmes.
