Department of History

The Department of History was established in Dr. Ali Shariati Faculty of Letters and Humanities in 1957 at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad with the following objectives:

To familiarize students with history, culture and civilization of Iran from the development of the first human civilization in this country until now
To introduce students with the history of political and cultural developments of Europe from the ancient Greece to modern centuries
To foster students with quality research capabilities through offering subjects on research methods and techniques of teaching history to students

The areas of specialization offered in the Department of History in the Master’s program (founded in 1957) are as follows:

Ancient History of Iran History of Islamic Iran
History of Shi'ism

Established in 2008, the main aim of the History of Ancient Iran program which is another areas of specialization in the History Department is to provide the students with the knowledge of the Iranian history and civilization from its emergence to the advent of Islam. The curriculum of this areas of specialization is based on the study of the history of ancient civilizations such as the Elamites, the Medes, the Achaemenids, the Parthians and the Sassanids and the mythology and ancient languages of Iran.

The program in History of Islamic Iran was founded in 1987. This areas of specialization aims to train students in the study and review of different periods of history of Islamic Iran from the arrival of Islam to Iran to the present time.

Founded in 2010 at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, the areas of specialization in History of Shi'ism is planned to meet the following aims:

To make students familiar with the history of Shi'ism, history of Shiite ideas and its political and environmental evolution in Iran and other Islamic countries
To study the life of the infallible Imams (AS) and how the caliphs of the Umayyad and Abbasid treated the Shiites.

The Department of History also offers a Ph.D. program in History of Islamic Iran. This program aims to meet the following objectives:

Reviewing the political history in the Islamic era in general and the social and cultural changes of Iran in particular, with an emphasis on criticism of the historical literature
Studying the historians and identifying the historiography schools and methods of advanced research in history.

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