About
Humanities: Delving Into the Human Spirit
The realm of the human spirit is a broad and dynamic world of ever-changing horizons, due to its lack of boundaries. The human spirit is imagination, thought, research, analysis, invention, creativity, and so much more. All these human capabilities are being structured and developed through practicing the academic fields that compose the Humanities. These abilities—to ponder and study, to think, research, and innovate—are uniquely human prerogatives; to materialize them is to fulfill the humanistic essence hidden in us all. These abilities and skills separate humans from all other living creatures and stresses their supremacy above computer and machine.
The Faculty of Humanities at Bar-Ilan University is a home to the transmission and preservation of knowledge and the creation of new lore across all theoretical fields with academic excellence and proficiency. Our scholars’ research and teaching methods stem from a profound interest in human wisdom and creation, a passion for decoding texts and ideas, and a commitment to professional, educated analysis. They publish their work in prestigious academic journals and present it at international conferences worldwide.
Our scholars pride themselves on personally working with their students on enhancing their critical thinking and perceptiveness. They strengthen their students’ question-asking skills and encourage them to doubt that which is given, while cultivating imagination and intuition, harnessing their morality and gut feeling to develop original ideas.
Cultivating these skills provides our graduates added value in the academia, business, and civil realms. Curiosity, a persisting quest for knowledge, and independent learning capabilities translate into the pliable and adaptable development that aligns with the intense changes that characterize our times. Knowing how to explore the world from versatile cultural and historical perspectives amounts to an inner world rich with associative capabilities, inclusivity, and sensitivity to social justice and equality.
Our faculty consists of ten thematic-disciplinary departments specializing in the cornerstones of humanities: philosophy, general history, comparative literature, classical studies (Greece and Rome), English literature and linguistics, Arabic and French culture and languages, translation practice and research, Asian studies, music, and information sciences.
Our versatile and modular curricula allow for comprehensive learning and research focusing either on one specific field, or a blend of intertwining, diverse themes in the Multidisciplinary Studies in the Humanities, where the vastness of interests provides students with a taste of the entire treasure-chest of the humanities offered at Bar-Ilan, including our new Sustainability and Humanities Major. Structured double major BA programs enable our students to bring their passion for the humanities into any of Bar-Ilan University’s departments: Exact Sciences, Life Sciences, Law, Social Sciences, and other fields, through which they gain a rich and multidisciplinary toolbox that expands their horizons.
Choosing the Faculty of Humanities at Bar-Ilan University to be your academic home means joining a bold intellectual community, having the opportunity to experience the joy of delving into profound learning and research processes, and adding to the body of human knowledge and creation, actively impacting culture and society
