Overview of the Department of History and Archaeology

It should be noted at the outset that the department’s name changed in December 2021 to "Department of History and Archaeology." The department was originally established as "History" when Kuwait University was founded in 1966, and it remains one of the departments of the Faculty of Arts under its new name "History and Archaeology."

At its inception, the department relied on a select group of faculty members on loan from Arab universities. However, since the mid-1970s, PhD holders from Kuwait began to join the faculty, and their proportion has steadily increased to the point where they now make up approximately 85% of the total faculty members. The study in the department initially began under an annual system, which was in place at the university until it transitioned to a credit-hour system (course system) in the early 1980s.

The department does not only focus on the history of Kuwait but is also concerned with the study of world history across its various periods. The department has worked on developing its academic programs and teaching methods to ensure that its graduates are aligned with the rapid development of Kuwait and the needs of the Kuwaiti job market. This includes establishing a branch dedicated to the study of archaeology as a supporting specialization to history, a field that emerged from the history specialization. Students began studying archaeology courses as a supplementary discipline from the academic year 2014/2015.

The department’s curriculum includes courses covering the ancient periods of world history, starting from the Stone Age and the histories of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, through the civilizations of the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf, ancient Iran, and ending with ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. The medieval period includes materials covering all stages of Islamic history and the great Islamic civilization, as well as courses on the medieval period of European history. For the modern and contemporary periods, the curriculum includes substantial content on the Arabs in general, and the Gulf and Kuwait in particular, as well as the history of Iran, India, East Asia, Africa, Russia, Europe, and the Americas.

The curriculum also includes a space for teaching unconventional topics, reflecting the evolution of historical research methods through courses titled "Special Topics" in each of the three historical periods, as well as various other topics such as the history of women, colonialism, economic and social history, and more. The curriculum has not overlooked the methodological foundation for students, including mandatory courses in historical research methodology and a graduation research project, in addition to other courses in supporting disciplines, including the aforementioned archaeology branch.

The department has achieved success with its Master’s program in both Islamic and modern history, with many scientific theses completed in these fields, and recently, a doctoral program was approved in these areas. However, a new track for the Master’s program in ancient history and archaeology was recently introduced, and student enrollment in this track has been active since the start of the current academic year (2021/2022).

The department has also successfully organized scientific field trips (in history and archaeology) to various countries, including Egypt, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Spain, Italy, Jordan, Turkey, and Tunisia, as well as domestic trips to locations such as Failaka and Subiya.

Objectives of the Department of History and Archaeology:

The vision of the Department of History and Archaeology is to achieve the highest degree of excellence in historical studies and research to establish a historical culture based on scientific foundations. Its mission is to graduate students at a high academic level, who have the ability to understand historical events and contemporary issues, and who are capable of pursuing advanced studies and serving the community in cultural fields. Graduates of the supporting archaeology branch gain scientific, practical, and field experience in archaeology, excavation, museums, and artifact classification.

To achieve the department’s mission, faculty members aim to accomplish the following objectives: develop students' analytical skills, assist them in connecting information from diverse primary sources, analyze and interpret historical events, train them to use historical terminology appropriately, understand the factual content of the topics covered by the courses, and enhance their ability to handle historical texts and documents.