The Foundations

On May 1, 1831, the Fathers of the Society of Jesus founded a college in Namur with the distinctive feature of providing philosophical education at both secondary and higher levels.

Two years later, in August 1833, a two-year candidacy in "Speculative Philosophy and Letters" was devised and created. It would be effectively undertaken the following academic year, that of 1834. This was the birth of UNamur's Faculty of Philosophy and Letters.

As early as 1835, the new program advocated enabled students to prepare for the state jury examinations to acquire the legal grade of Candidate in Philosophy and Letters. The program was then legally recognized as a diploma.

Early developments

In 1890, the application was enriched by offering four sections: philosophy, history, classical philology and Romance philology. A preparatory section for law was added and became an autonomous faculty in 1967.

From College to University

In the inter-war years, the establishment progressed. The law of 1929 assimilated the Collège Notre-Dame de la Paix's faculty of philosophy and letters to the universities, which awarded candidate diplomas in philosophy and letters. Students were no longer obliged to be examined by the central jury.

The time of reforms

Despite a difficult financial situation due to the lack of state subsidies, the faculty continued to develop.

The second half of the twentieth century saw the advent of numerous reforms. From 1953 onwards, girls were admitted to the Faculties on condition that they were from the city of Namur or a contiguous commune (the condition was lifted in 1965).

In 1955, new, more spacious buildings made it possible to accommodate more students, even if their numbers did not increase significantly until the 1980s.

In 1961, the sections of Germanic Philology and Art and Archaeology completed the existing sections. Lay professors were gradually added to the teaching staff.

From 1971, the government decided to grant the university operating subsidies calculated according to the same criteria as for other university institutions. The Faculty of Philosophy and Letters thus benefited from the improved financial situation of the institution as a whole.

The "today of the faculty"

In 1994, the decree on the university study regime empowered the faculty to organize the doctorate in philosophy and letters.

Ten years later, in 2004, following the so-called "Bologna" reform aimed at enabling greater collaboration between universities at European level, the candidacy cycle was transformed by ministerial decree into a three-year bachelor's degree.