Records of the Faculty of Arts

• Faculty minutes, agendas and papers 1862-1998
• Committee on Higher Degrees in the Arts Faculty minutes 1931-1968
• Sub-Faculty of Social Sciences papers and minutes 1950-1974
• General papers 1957-1972
• Newsletters 1964-1985

The Faculty of Arts was one of the four faculties formed at the foundation of the University in 1451  . It was the only faculty at that time which taught undergraduates and is therefore the senior faculty in the University.

The original buildings were probably situated in Rotten Row but after 1460  a 'College of the Faculty'in the High Street was gifted by Lord Hamilton . In 1467  this property was extended by a former student's gift of an adjoining tenement, and in the next century endowments from Mary Queen of Scots and the Town Council further extended the buildings.

The faculty originally provided teaching in Latin, Greek, Moral Philosophy, Logic, Mathematics and Natural Philosophy (Physics). During the nineteenth century  other modern subjects were added including English Literature, French, German, Political Economy and History. With the growth of new social science disciplines, several new departments were formed in the 1960s  including Economic History, Politics, Psychology and Sociology. In 1977  , the faculty was divided to form an additional faculty, the Faculty of Social Science.

The faculty is presided over by an appointed dean and conducts its own academic administration, including degree and course development, admissions and appeals and the financial administration of its resources.

Moss, M., Rankin M. and Richmond, L.Who, Where and When: The History & Constitution of the University of Glasgow . Glasgow :  University of Glasgow  ,  2001  .

Brown, A.L. and Moss, M.The University of Glasgow: 1451-1996 . Edinburgh :  Edinburgh University Press  ,  1996  .

This material is arranged in series as described in the scope and content note.

Minutes of the Faculty of Arts 1451-1555 are included in the Annales Collegii Facultatis Artium in Universitate Glasguensi (ref: GB 0248 GUA 26614 (Clerk's Press 2).

Statutes of the Faculty of Arts, 16th century (ref: GB 0248 GUA 26615 (Clerk's Press 3).

The material is original.

Subfonds level finding aid created by Victoria Peters, GASHE project manager, 20 June 2001  , as part of the Research Support Libraries Programme funded project'Gateway to Archives of Scottish Higher Education'