Founded on July 11, 1992 and published in the Official Gazette dated July 11, 1992 and numbered 21281, Dicle University Faculty of Theology started education in 1993 with 28 students in the Faculty of Dentistry building. As of the end of 2022, our faculty has reached its 30th year and has graduated its 25th semester graduates in the same year.
Since 2000, our faculty has moved to its own detached building in two blocks with a closed area of 27.000 m2 and there are 32 classrooms in the building. On the 1st floor, a conference hall with a capacity of 200 people, and a second conference hall with a capacity of 300 people was built in the faculty garden. During this period, a 2000-seat practice mosque was built for our faculty. It has a library with 20.000 books, a dining hall where 250 students can eat at the same time, and a cafeteria where 200 students can sit, rest and eat and drink. On the ground floor of Block A, four (4) lecture halls were built from scratch, desks and tables and all kinds of furnishings were provided. On the 1st floor, 2 reading halls were built in blocks A and B and were put into the service of our students by installing desks and chairs and air conditioners. Thus, there are 3 reading rooms in total. Our faculty has made significant progress in physical terms.
Dicle University Faculty of Theology gave its first graduates in 1997-1998 academic year when it was located in the Faculty of Dentistry building. In addition to the Theology Program in the 1999-2000 academic year, the Primary Education Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge Teaching Program, the second education in 2009, and the Bachelor of Theology Completion (ILITAM) programs were opened in 2011. Our faculty has 2 active programs, namely Theology and ILITAM, 3 departments, namely Basic Islamic Sciences, Philosophy and Religious Sciences and Islamic History and Arts, and 20 departments.
The undergraduate theology education is five years in total with the Arabic preparatory class, and our professors who teach the preparatory class are from a few Arab countries, but due to the widespread presence of madrasas in the region, many of them are both theology graduates and academics with madrasah degrees, which results in a quality education in the preparatory class. In addition, in our undergraduate courses, 30% of the undergraduate courses are taught in Arabic.
In the Theology Program, in addition to the compulsory courses that will provide basic knowledge in the field of theology, formation courses are also given to prepare students for teaching life. In all three departments, Master's and Doctorate programs with and without thesis are carried out through the Institute of Social Sciences of our university. As of the end of 2022, our Faculty is one of the largest and leading Theology Faculties in Turkey and its region with its competent academic staff, undergraduate and graduate programs and more than 4000 students. Its ranking in university preferences in Turkey and its region, academic achievements, participation in international student exchange programs and cooperation with stakeholder institutions reveal its recognition.
In 2020, our faculty applied for international accreditation in the Theology 1st Education program and started to work on this issue rapidly. For this purpose, it has created the 2021 annual activity report, 5-year strategic plan and published it on its website. The quality handbook (English-Turkish) and the accreditation report (ACR) for 2021 and 2022 (Turkish and English) were sent to the Theology Accreditation Agency. In the international evaluation process of our faculty, team members were formed and ethical processes were completed. It has entered the evaluation process. Our distinguished and successful academic staff, students and administrative staff have made significant contributions to the accreditation and development of our faculty in many other fields. We would like to thank all our academic staff for their contributions.
Our faculty has bilateral student and academic exchange agreements signed with Romania, University of Pitesti and Austria, Katolisch Theologische Privatuniversität Linz within the framework of the Erasmus Learning Mobility Program. Our students can continue their education for one or two semesters by going to the institutions with which our Faculty has an agreement.
Within the framework of Erasmus Internship Mobility, they can also carry out summer internships in Islamic centers in Europe.
Within the scope of Erasmus +, we have student and academic exchange agreements with Khoja Ahmet Yassawi International Kazakh-Turkish University in Kazakhstan, Lahore College for Women University in Pakistan and Universitas Islam Indonesia in Indonesia within the scope of K1017 and K131 projects.
We have student and academic exchange agreements with Universitas Islam Indonesia and Universitas Islam Indonesia within the scope of K1017 and K131 projects.
With the protocol signed on 05.10.2018 in partnership with the Turkish Religious Foundation and Dicle University Faculty of Theology, the Theology Academy Program is carried out. The protocol signed between Dicle University Faculty of Theology and Diyarbakır Yenişehir District Mufti's Office covers activities such as education, accommodation and scholarship support to contribute to the academic, cultural and individual development of students.
The protocol signed between Dicle University and Dicle İlim İrfan Youth and Assistance Association covers the execution of scientific, academic, social, cultural and artistic studies to be carried out for theology students in cooperation.
"Scientific and Academic Cooperation Protocol" was signed between Dicle University Faculty of Theology and Diyarbakır Provincial Mufti's Office. With the signed protocol, it is aimed to continue the religious services within the scope of formal and non-formal education between the two institutions effectively and efficiently. Within the scope of the protocol, faculty members of our faculty will participate in preaching and guidance programs in mosques.
For the first time in our faculty, iftar dinner was organized by the "Mehmet & Esra Cansız Foundation" every weekday during Ramadan in 2022. In 2023, an iftar dinner was given on Laylat al-Qadr in Ramadan. On behalf of our faculty, we would like to express our gratitude to Mr. Mehmet Cansız, the owner of Lila cosmetics, and his esteemed wife Esra Cansız, who had the biggest share in the realization of this iftar program. Students showed great interest in the iftar dinner. We hope that these activities will become traditional and that such a spiritual atmosphere will be experienced again and again every Ramadan.