After the Islamic Revolution, in 1981, twelve active institutes in various disciplines of the Humanities, including the Iranian Institute of Philosophy and Hikmat^[2] , the Foundation of Shahnameh of Ferdowsi^[3] , the Iranian Cultural Foundation, the Iranian Foundation of Culture and Arts, the Institute for Communication and Development of Iran, the Institute for Humanities, the Iranian Academy of Literature and Arts, the Iranian Academy of Language^[4] , the Iranian Academy of Science, Asia's Cultural Documents Center, the Iranian Center for Historical Research, and the Iranian Centre for the Study of Cultures, were merged into a new institute, called the Center for Cultural Research and Studies, which was affiliated to the Ministry of Culture and Higher Education. In 1990, following organizational changes, the Council for Extending Higher Education changed the title of this institute into a "Research Institute". The organizational structure of this institute was finally approved by the Organization for Administrative and Employment Affairs in June 1993. In 1994, the Supreme Council of the Research Center, giving prominence to humanities in research studies, called it the «Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies »^[5], which was approved by the Council for Extending Higher Education. Following the approval of the law of the organizing boards of trustees in the Ministry of Higher Education and the formation of the board of trustees of universities and research centers in 1992, this institute became a member of the Board of Trustees of Tehran's fourth district. Since then, all of the affairs of this institute have been carried out under the supervision and direction of the board of trustees. The Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies is a research institute, mainly responsible for research in humanities: Persian and Arabic literature, Linguistics, Social Sciences, History, Philosophy, Law, Religion, Quranic Studies, Theosophy, Comparative Economics, Political Science etc., and also studying human’s various cultures.

Development Plan

In 2019, the document of the second strategic plan of the Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, using the achievements and experiences of the first program, with the goals of improving the quality of research, improving the national and international status of the institute, increasing the impact on society and playing the role of the institute as the fourth generational institution was compiled in order to realize the efficiency, effectiveness and promotion of humanities in the second period of the institute’s plan.

Outlook and Mission

Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies at the horizon of 2025, is an organization with national and international prestige and scientific authority, pioneer in the creation of new ideas, the development and promotion of human sciences and the promotion of Islamic culture and civilization, with constructive interaction in the national, regional, continental, and global arenas. The mission of the Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies in the framework of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology's macro programs and based on religious, local and national beliefs and values is the implementation of fundamental, applied and developmental research as well as theorizing, future research, knowledge promotion and the elevation of humanities in the realm of intellectual, historical, literary, scientific, cultural and linguistic heritages of Iranian-Islamic civilization, by taking advantage of the achievements of modern science and creative criticism of views and works of humanities in the context of the elite network.