A Short History
This scientific center began its activity in 1984 as Institute of Higher Education of Bāqir al-‘Olūm in order to raise political information and awareness of seminarians in the grounds of the Muslim world, Iran and international relations. The Institution of Higher Education was upgraded to a university level in 2006 with the approval of the Ministry of Sciences, Researches and Technology after years of scientific and educational activities with the expansion of its scopes of activities in different fields of humanities and became known for Bāqir al-‘Olūm University.
University Goals
1. Development and spread of Islamic sciences and humanities: helping to promote surface culture and community knowledge, develop and spread Islamic sciences and humanities;
2. Training of skilled manpower: Participation in training skilled manpower and elites required in a scientific and cultural field among the seminarians of the seminaries;
3. Laying the preparations for public participation for the development of education and research: cooperation in a suitable laying of preparations for all people to participate in the matter of developing and promoting education and research in the country;
4. Development of a higher education by making use of the capacity of the seminaries: making use of the present features and capabilities of the country as well as the latent capacities in the seminaries in developing a higher education;
5. Production and development of religious innovation: helping to produce and develop religious innovation in different fields of Islamic sciences and humanities, and provide its educational, research and preaching opportunities and facilities.
University President
Dr. Shamsullah Mariji, a graduate of level 4 (doctorate degree) of “Contemporary Thought of the Muslims” took the responsibility of the university presidency since 1390. In addition to his high seminary education and years of presence in the advanced level (dars e khārij) of Jurisprudence and its Principles of the Great Marja’s, he has academic background of university courses in the field of Sociology. Authoring over 12 titles of books and 45 articles, instructing and advisory of 60 master’s theses and doctoral dissertations are amongst his scientific activities.
Scientific Faculties
Baqir al-‘Olum University has three faculties:
1. Faculty of Culture, Social and Behavioral Sciences
This faculty consists of three scientific departments: the Department of Social Sciences, Department of Strategic Management and Department of Cultural Studies and Communications.
2. Faculty of History and Political Studies
This faculty consists of three scientific departments: Department of Political Studies, Department of Islamic History and Department of cultural and civilizational studies.
3.Faculty of Philosophy and Ethics
The Faculty of Philosophy and Ethics consists of three scientific departments: Department of Philosophy and Theology, Department of Philosophies of and Department of Islamic Ethics and Sciences.
4.Faculty of Figh and Law
Fields of Study
PH.D.
History of Islam
Muslim Social Sciences
Cultural Policy Making
Political Sciences Orientation of Public Policy Making
Political Sciences Orientation of political thoughts
Political Sciences Orientation of Political Sociology
Political Sciences Orientation of Iranian Problems
Culture and Communication
Islamic philosophy
Philosophy of Law
Philosophy of Social Sciences
Philosophy of Physics
Islamic Studies Orientation of Islamic Ethics
Islamic Studies Orientation of
Theoretical Principles
Islamic Studies Orientation of Islamic History and Civilization
Master’s Degrees
Social Communication Orientation of Cultural Promotion
Political Thought in Islam
History of Islam
History of Islamic Iran
Sociology
Muslim Social Sciences
Political Sciences
Political Jurisprudence
Philosophy of Religion
Philosophy of Social Sciences
Islamic Philosophy and Theology
Women and Family Studies
Strategic Management of Culture Media Management
Regional Studies Orientation of Middle East and North African Studies
Bachelor’s degree
Islamic Studies in English
Departments
Managed by the University, the Department of English language and Arabic language, apart from holding English courses on Islamic Studies in bachelor’s degree, also holds open (azad) courses on learning these languages. Likewise, open courses on learning German and French languages are being offered in the University.
In addition to the abovementioned departments, the Department of Additional Jurisprudences of and Department of Family Studies are amongst the newly established departments that operate directly under the management of the University.
Scientific Board Members
Ten professors as the scientific board – with the academic ranks of full professor, associate professor and assistant professor – are working in the University. In addition to full-time scientific board members, more than 40 visiting professors are also teaching different courses in the University. Some professors of this University are amongst the national and international outstanding professors and likewise are in outstanding scientific positions.
Scientific Journals
Amongst the research activities of the University is publishing of scientific journals. In addition to the three quarterlies that have research-scientific rating, student journals and even digital journals in Persian and other languages including English are also being published.
Top Three University Quarterlies:
The quarterly of “A’in-e Hikmat (Theosophia Practica)” began its activity in 2009 on Islamic philosophy, and it has published 54 issues so far.
The quarterly of “Political Sciences” began its publication in 1998 with a scientific-research rating, and it has published 102 issues so far.
The quarterly of “Islamic History” began its printing in 2000 with a scientific-research rating, and it has published 96 issues so far. Two other scientific-research quarterlies with the titles of “Theoretical Studies of the History of Civilization” and “Philosophy of Laws” have been legally licensed and will be published soon.
Library
The university library is one of the most significant libraries of humanities in Qum that has a total of 65,000 books including 150,000 volumes in specialized fields of Persian, English and Arabic languages. The possibility of searching
the intranet and the Internet is amongst the features of this library. This library has two sections: the open and trust sections. At least one copy of every book is maintained in the open section wherein teachers and students are allowed to enter the repository and use the books. Trust library is located in an independent hall and is dedicated to presenting the books as trust to the users. In addition to these two sections, study hall – with an area of 400 square meters to accommodate up to 120 people is also another feature of this library.
University Press
The scientific board members and professors of the University have been active in writing and publishing books, and more than 60 books have already been published under the name of the University. The vast quantity of scientific publications and books caused the university to set up an independent publishing press entitled “Baqir al-‘Ulum (a) University Press”. It has now 12 works that have gone through the legal process and scientific evaluation, and managed to obtain a publishing license, and they are going to be published.
International Conferences, Meetings and Workshops
Baqir al-Olum University has had an impressive success over the past years in holding conferences, scientific meetings, educational workshops and scientific-promotional sessions. A number of these scientific conferences, workshops and meetings were held internationally and attended by foreign guests from different countries. Amongst its achievements are holding more than 5 international conferences, 83 scientific meetings, 45 skill-enhancing and research workshops, 14 scientific-promotional sessions and 12 awards for choosing top researchers.
Humanities Elite Students’ Discourse
The national project of the humanities elites’ discourse started in the summer of 2015. It has aimed at creating scientific capacity in the elite students of humanities in order for them to actively engage in the arenas of discourse making, education, research and theorization in humanities. This project will be implemented through the participation of the top 24 universities in Iran and the cooperation of the best humanities professors. It is exclusively designed for the elite students of humanities after their passing an entrance examination and interview.
The following are amongst the activities of the discourse: holding focused educational camps in the summer and specialized classes, helping students’ networking, communication and upgrading their scientific levels throughout the academic year as well as orienting them to current issues and problems in order for them to discover and present scientific solutions.
International Majors
International majors offered in English: PDF
International majors offered in Arabic: PDF