The year 1992 marks the first chapter in the history of the new Faculty. At the former University of Chemical Technology in Pardubice, the Institute of Foreign Languages was established, followed by the Institute of Languages and Humanities. Originally intended to train future teachers of foreign languages, it soon began to offer new humanities and interdisciplinary programmes. In 2001, the Institute was transformed into the Faculty of Humanities and, at the end of 2005, into the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy.
Although the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy at the University of Pardubice is one of the youngest faculties of arts in the country, it has already been in existence for two decades. During that time, it has been led by three deans – renowned experts in their fields. And it did not come out of nowhere either; its roots can be traced back to the period just after the Velvet Revolution. In 1992, the Institute of Foreign Languages was established at the then University of Chemical Technology in Pardubice, and in 1995, it was renamed the Institute of Languages and Humanities. The Institute of Languages and Humanities’ original focus on training future teachers of foreign languages for primary and grammar schools was soon expanded to include new humanities and social sciences programmes. The introduction of new bachelor study programmes led to the transformation of the Institute into the Faculty of Humanities in 2000 (officially from 1 January 2001).
The first dean of the new Faculty was prof. PhDr. Milena Lenderová, CSc., historian and former head of the Institute of Languages and Humanities. During her tenure from 2001 to 2007, the organisational structure of the Faculty was completed, and individual departments were stabilised. At that time, the Faculty consisted of six departments – the Department of English and American Studies, the Department of Foreign Languages, the Department of Historical Sciences, the Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy, the Department of Social Sciences and the Department of Education. Bachelor studies have been extended in most departments to include a follow-up master’s degree, and in 2005, a doctoral programme Historical Sciences was accredited. On 1 December 2005, the Faculty was renamed as the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy. Almost two thousand students were studying at the Faculty at that time.
In 2007, a new Dean, prof. PhDr. Petr Vorel, CSc., was elected – also a historian (re-elected in 2011). In the following years, the Faculty’s position among Czech humanities faculties was further strengthened. That was reflected in the acquisition of the right to qualify for associate professorship and the right to appoint professors in the field of Czech and Czechoslovak History. In 2010, two more doctoral programmes were accredited: Philosophy and Religious Studies. Under the second Dean, the number of departments increased to eight. The original Department of Historical Sciences was divided into the Institute of Historical Sciences and the Department of Literary Culture and Slavistics, and the original Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy was also divided into two separate departments.
In 2015, prof. PhDr. Karel Rýdl, CSc., a respected educator, became the third dean of the Faculty. During his tenure, in 2017, thanks to the acquisition of an important project, the Department of Philosophy established an international workplace – the Centre for Ethics as Study in Human Value, whose head became the Swedish doc. Niklas Forsberg, Ph.D. In 2018, the Faculty also managed to achieve new accreditations and received institutional accreditation in the Historical Sciences programme. During these years, the number of students decreased so that in 2019, the Faculty had just under 1100 students.
Since 1 November 2019, the new Dean of the Faculty is doc. Mgr. Jiří Kubeš, Ph.D., historian of the early modern period, who for many years headed the Institute of Historical Sciences and in 2011–2013 and 2017 was the Chairman of the Academic Senate of the University of Pardubice. Currently, the Faculty offers 17 bachelor’s, six master’s and two doctoral programmes (Historical Sciences and Philosophy) in seven departments, and in terms of scientific results, it ranks second among the seven faculties of the University of Pardubice. The most significant scientific results are achieved mainly in the Department of Historical Sciences and the Centre for Ethics, more precisely in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies.
The following four-year tenure of the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy will begin on 1 November 2023.
