Dr. Ali Shariati Faculty of Letters & Humanities Aiming to provide highly-skilled and expert human resources, Dr. Ali Shariati Faculty of Letters and Humanities was founded in 1955, with the establishment of the Department of Persian Language and Literature as its first department. Other departments including the departments of English Language and Literature, French Language and Literature, Geography, History, and Linguistics were founded shortly afterwards. Prospective students have been admitted into the M.A. and Ph.D. programs in Persian Language and Literature since 1970 and 1976, respectively, with the first Ph.D. candidate in Persian Language and Literature graduating in 1983. Currently, the Faculty comprises 9 independent departments and 8 undergraduate program disciplines. Besides, this Faculty has 100 academic staff (12 professors, 31 associate professors, 48 assistant professors, and 9 lecturers), 12educational officers, and 48 staff along with nearly 3000 undergraduate and graduate students.