The University of Haifa was established as a university institute in 1963, and in 1972 it was declared an independent university, and was the sixth academic institution established in Israel
The Faculty of Humanities was established in 1972, with the establishment of the university with 10 study departments. As of 2017, the faculty has 30 departments and three schools. The Faculty of Humanities operates the “Way of the Spirit” program –, a program in which all university students from all faculties study basic courses in the humanities, with the aim of expanding their minds and opening a porthole for a broader education and subjects that are outside the student’s usual field of specialization.
The Faculty of Humanities deals with human culture, the history of human society, the human spirit and its expression in the fields of philosophical thought, literature, linguistics, music, theater and art, in their various branches.
Aside from the general humanistic foundations, the foundations of Judaism, the history of the people of Israel and its culture, as well as the studies of the Land of Israel, archeology and the studies of the Middle East and Islam, which express the local and regional tone of the humanities, also find prominent expression in the faculty.
The humanistic direction of the faculty is accompanied by imparting knowledge, tools, approaches and research methods in all fields, with intensive use of modern academic teaching methods (in the framework of e-learning, a computerized linguistic laboratory, a multimedia laboratory, workshops, study tours, conferences, interdisciplinary seminars, and more).
There are currently three schools in the faculty:
The School of History, which is based on the recognition that history is a scientific discipline whose various aspects – general, Jewish, Middle Eastern, Land of Israel are closely related. The School of History currently has five departments: General History, Israel History and the Bible, Israel Studies, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, and Art History. The school is designed to optimize and increase the cooperation between the history circles, while enriching the studies currently offered in the field for undergraduate and graduate students and with the aim of training the research students in interdisciplinary research methods and deepening the historical research at the university.
The School of Arts, which includes the three arts departments: the Department of Music, the Department of Creative Art and the Department of Theater.
The School of Archeology and Marine Cultures which is at the forefront of developments in modern archaeology, including the revolution of the use of exact sciences and natural sciences in studying the past and the need to address the challenges of preserving the heritage of material culture. The school will include four departments: two existing, the Department of Archaeology and the Department of Marine Civilizations, and two new, the Department of Archaeological Sciences and the Department of Material Cultural Heritage.
In the field of languages and literature, four classes operate: Hebrew and comparative literature, Hebrew language, English language and literature, and Arabic language and literature.
Besides the above departments, the following departments also operate in the faculty: Asian Studies, Philosophy, Maritime Civilizations and Archaeology and the programs: Jewish Fellowship, Roderman Program for American Jewish Studies, Israeli Culture: Literature, Thought and History, Women’s and Gender Studies, Holocaust Studies, Film Culture and German and European Studies.
The faculty offers international programs in the fields of: maritime civilizations, Israeli studies, Holocaust studies and archeology. These programs are held in the English language and Israeli students are allowed to participate in them.
The faculty is anchored in the Ofakim university outstanding program as well as multidisciplinary studies.
