The department was established in 1995 with the assistance of Harvard University professor, founder of the Krymsky Institute of Oriental Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, academician O.Pritsak. The first head of the department was a well-known Ukrainian linguist, founder of the world’s first Linguistic Educational Museum, Professor K. Tyshchenko. From 2001 to 2017, the department was headed by Associate Professor T. Malka, since October 2017 – by Doctor of Philology, Associate Professor O. Mazepova.
The department trains specialists in Arabic, Persian and Hindi. The staff of the Department is made up of well-known orientalists in Ukraine, including: 3 Doctors of Sciences (2 Professors), 11 Candidates of Sciences (6 Associate Professors), 1 Senior Lecturer, 8 Assistants.
The main areas of research of the Department are lexicology, lexicography, theoretical grammar, history of oriental languages and literatures, language contacts between Ukraine and the countries of the East.
For 20 years, the department’s faculty have prepared and published unique educational and methodological works, monographs, manuals, and textbooks in Ukraine, including: “Metatheory of Linguistics” (K. Tyshchenko), “Iran, Iranians and Us. Linguistic and Country Studies of Iran” (T. Malyanka), “Linguistic and Country Studies of the Arab East” (M. Velychko), “Lexicology of the Arabic Language” (I. Sivkov), “Discovering Arab Culture” (I. Subota, O. Khomitska), “Persian: Conversational Workshop” (O. Mazepova).Mazepova), “Persian Poetry: Texts, Commentaries, Translations” (A. Bocharnikova), “Practical Grammar of the Hindi Language: Basic Level” (Y. Botvinkin, A. Ponomarenko), a series of Arabic language textbooks for all years of study (A. Subh in co-authorship), etc.
The Department closely cooperates with the Krymsky Institute of Oriental Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and together with it published archival materials on Iranian studies of the prominent Ukrainian orientalist A. Krymsky (UNESCO grant) “A. Krymsky. Selected Orientalist Works. Volumes IV, V” (compiled by T.Malynka, Y.Kochubey), a collective monograph “A.Krymsky. Sketches of Life and Work” (V. Rybalkin, T. Malyka, etc.).
The staff of the department develops international cooperation with universities and educational institutions of Iran, India, UAE, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Kuwait, Algeria, where teachers, graduate students and students undergo language training, participate in international scientific conferences.
The Department has three language centers: the Center for Iranian Studies, the Center for Hindi Language and Indian Literature, and the Egyptian Center for Arabic Language and Culture.
The department’s educational programs: bachelor’s degree programs in Arabic Language and Literature and Translation, French, Hindi Language and Literature and Translation, English, Persian Language and Literature and Translation, English; master’s degree programs in Eastern Philology, Western European Language and Literature: Arabic Language and Literature, Eastern Philology, Western European Language and Literature: Hindi Language and Literature, Eastern Philology, Western European Language and Literature: Persian Language and Literature.
At different times, the department worked:
- Vladyslava Biesiedina
- Polina Hryshko
- Конончук Оксана Михайлівна
- Subh Ali