HISTORY

The Faculty of Humanities is one of three faculties established when Chiang Mai University was founded in 1964. The other two faculties are the Faculty of Sciences and the Faculty of Social Sciences. The three faculties offer three groups of foundation courses: natural sciences, social science and humanities as educators at that time believed it would result in a perfect graduate who is equipped with basic knowledge related to things of nature, human society and the mind as well as other qualities of mankind. In the first year of the establishment in 1964, the Faculty of Humanities had 20 full-time academic staff and 2 part-time instructors, 3 administrative staff and 77 students while offering 282 courses.


  • 1951

    The cabinet of Marshall Sarit Thanarat granted approval to establish Chiang Mai University with a “Faculty of Art” being one of the first three faculties to offer foundation courses as mentioned above.

  • 1962

    The Sub-committee for Curriculum Drafting chaired by Luang Sawadisarasatputti undertook the drafting of the curricula for subjects in “Humanities Study” adopting the term used in the Education College Act, B.E. 1936.

  • 1963

    The Sub-committee for Curriculum Drafting worked on the details with Prof. Dr. Sarot Buasri as the chairman when they agreed to use the name “Faculty of Humanities”. So, Chiang Mai University was the first institute using this name.

  • 1964

    Four departments were established: Thai, History, Foreign Languages (English and French) and Human Relations.

  • 1967

    The Faculty was accredited by the Office of the Civil Service Commission to confer degrees in 6 disciplines: History, Thai, English, French, Mass Communications and Psychology.

  • 1968

    The National Education Council granted approval to establish the Department of Library Science.

  • 1969

    The Department of Psychology and the Department of Mass Communications were established.

  • 1971

    The Civil Service Commission approved the granting of a Bachelor’s Degree in Library Science.

  • 1972

    The Civil Service Commission approved the granting of a Bachelor’s Degree in German.

  • 1977

    The Civil Service Commission approved the granting of a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy.

  • 1978

    The Civil Service Commission approved the granting of a Bachelor’s Degree in Home and Community.

  • 1981

    The University Bureau approved the establishment of the Department of English.

  • 1984

    The Civil Service Commission approved the granting of a Master’s Degree in Philosophy.

  • 1986

    The Civil Service Commission approved the granting of a Master’s Degree in Lanna Language and Literature.

  • 1987

    The Civil Service Commission approved the granting of a Bachelor’s Degree in Japanese.

  • 1988

    The Civil Service Commission approved the granting of a Master’s Degree in History.

  • 1988

    The Civil Service Commission approved the granting of a Master’s Degree in School Psychology.

  • 1990

    Approval was granted to establish the Faculty of Philosophy and Religion.

  • 1994

    The Civil Service Commission approved the granting of a Graduate Diploma in Tourism.

  • 1995

    The Civil Service Commission approved the granting of a Master’s Degree in Library Science and Information Science.

  • 1996

    The Civil Service Commission approved the granting of a Master’s Degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

  • 1996

    The Civil Service Commission approved the granting of a Master’s Degree in English (Language and Communication).

  • 1999

    The Civil Service Commission approved the granting of a Master’s Degree in Tourism Industry Management.

  • 2001

    The Chiang Mai University Council granted approval of a Master’s Degree program in Buddhist Studies.

  • 2003

    The Chiang Mai University Council granted approval of a Bachelor’s Degree program in Chinese.

  • 2003

    The Chiang Mai University Council granted approval of a Bachelor’s Degree program in English and Japanese (special terms).

  • 2005

    The Chiang Mai University Council granted approval of a Master’s Degree program in Thai.