Historical Background
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences was established in 1866, the same year in which the Syrian Protestant College, now the American University of Beirut, was established. On December 13, 1866, the first class was held, attended by sixteen students, and in 1870 the first five students graduated. Arabic, which was the language of instruction since the inception of the college, was replaced by English in 1882. The university in general, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in particular, have survived many crises since 1866, including two world wars, regional and local wars, student strikes, and economic crises. In spite of all these hardships, the faculty has continued to develop and to maintain its high academic standards.
Mission
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences embodies AUB’s core commitment to the liberal arts and sciences. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs in the arts, humanities, social, natural, and mathematical sciences, and is dedicated to advanced research in all these domains. Through its freshmen and general education programs, it is the University’s principal gateway to higher studies and professional education. The faculty, through its teaching and research, promotes free inquiry, critical thinking, academic integrity, and respect for diversity and equality.
Vision
Building upon its rich tradition, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences is determined to position itself at the heart of free inquiry in the Middle East. Free and critical thinking is central to the faculty’s teaching, its research, its engagements with the wider community, and its commitment to the thoughtful transformation of all of its activities and structures. The faculty’s enhanced undergraduate programs will graduate innovators with a breadth of vision who can be agents of positive change wherever they live and work. The faculty will strategically expand its graduate offerings, especially in areas where it can make a distinctive contribution, and will educate graduate students who are themselves producers of knowledge. The faculty will be recognized internationally for the quality of its research and creative activities in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, mathematical sciences, and interdisciplinary areas, whether undertaken in response to regional and global needs or to human curiosity and imagination. The faculty will provide a vital forum for open discussion and engage contemporary issues in ways that resonate far beyond our campus walls.