University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh

University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh
‍ইউনিভার্সিটি অব লিবারেল আর্টস বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় বাংলাদেশ

Motto	"A new vision in higher education"
Type	Private
Established	2002 (2002) Opened: 1 October 2004
Chancellor	President Mohammed Shahabuddin
Vice-Chancellor	Imran Rahman
Students	5,500 as of Spring 2024
Address	688 Beribadh Road, Mohammadpur , Dhaka , 1207 , Bangladesh 23.7411°N 90.3744°E / 23.7411; 90.3744
Campus	Urban
Colors	Blue and Gold
Website	ulab.edu.bd

Main gate of University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh

University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (Bengali: ইউনিভার্সিটি অব লিবারেল আর্টস বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় বাংলাদেশ) (ULAB) is a private liberal arts-based university in Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Founded in February 2002, permission to open was received from the University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh in November 2003, pursuant to the Private University Act, 1992.

ULAB incorporates the values of liberal arts and sustainability^[1] into its curricula, through its General Education Department and its Center for Sustainable Development (CSD).^[2] ULAB is a research-intensive university, with multiple research opportunities for its faculty members and students.^[3]

Campus

The university's campus is located in Mohammadpur in Dhaka. It is one of the largest private universities in Bangladesh. The foundation of the campus was laid in February 2002. Classes started in the permanent campus from 1 October 2004. It contains 4 buildings with a research building in Dhanmondi, a stadium standard field, and 3 academic buildings (A, C and D).^[4]

Administration

There is a separate admin building dedicated to administration activities.

List of vice-chancellors

• Kazi Shahid Ahmed (2005 – 2007)^[5]
• Rafiqul Islam (2007 – 2011)
• Imran Rahman (2011 – May 2017)^[6]
• HM Jahirul Haque (2017 – 2021)^[7]
• Imran Rahman (2 November 2021 – present)^[6]

Pro vice-chancellors

• Imran Rahman (2009-2012)
• Jude William R. Genilo (2023-)

Heads of schools and departments

School of Business

• Sarwar Uddin Ahmed (Head)

Bachelor of Business Administration

• Muhammad Faisol Chowdhury (Director)

Graduate Business Programs

• Asif Uddin Ahmed (Director)

School of Science and Engineering

• M. Mofazzal Hossain (Dean)

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

• M. Mofazzal Hossain (Head)

Department of Computer Science and Engineering

• Muhammad Golam Kibria (Head)

School of Social Sciences

• Jude William R. Genilo (Dean)

Media Studies and Journalism

• Jude William R. Genilo (Head)

School of Arts and Humanities

• Kaiser Hamidul Haq (Dean)

Department of English Humanities

• Arifa Ghani Rahman (Head)

Department of Bangla Language and Literature / বাংলা ভাষা ও সাহিত্য বিভাগ

• Shamim Reza (Advisor)

General Education Program

• Shahnaj Husne Jahan

Academic departments

In February 2023, ULAB established two new departments, the Bangla Department and the Literature Department. The university is the first institute of higher education in Bangladesh to teach ethnic minority languages, of which Bangladesh has 44 according to Shameem Reza.^[8]

ULAB offers degree programs in the following schools:^[9]

School of Arts and Humanities

• Bachelor of Arts, English, and Humanities
• Bachelor of Arts in Bangla Language and Literature
• Master of Arts in English

School of Social Science

Bachelor of Social Science, Media Studies and Journalism (Honors)

Department of Media Studies and Journalism established at 2004. The head of the department is Jude William Genilo. MSJ is the flagship department of ULAB, with course of 129 credit, the department also offer apprentice program to learn practically, such as PR4U, ULAB TV, The ULABian, AxisMIL, RadioCamBuzz, ShutterBugs, Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival, and Cinemascope. The department offer Bachelor in Media Studies and Journalism, and Masters in Communicantion. ^[10]

School of Business

• Bachelor in Business Administration (Honors)
• Master of Business Administration (MBA)
• Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA)

School of Science and Engineering

• Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Engineering (Honors)
• Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering (Honors)
• Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Honors)

ULAB has one non-degree-granting program, which runs the required courses to fulfill a liberal arts curriculum:

• General Education Program (GED)

Research institutes

ULAB has nine centers that conduct research, run workshops and conferences; promote knowledge creation, and advocate best practices.

Center for Sustainable Development (CSD)

The Center for Sustainable Development (CSD) was established in 2006 and is the oldest research center at the university.CSD is Bangladesh's only research institute dedicated solely to the Sustainable Development.^[11]

Center for Enterprise and Society (CES)

CES is Bangladesh's first university-based research center dedicated to entrepreneurship and business research with an emphasis on ethical, environmental, and social sustainability.^[12]

Center for Bangla Language and Literature

Center for Critical and Qualitative Studies

Center for Critical and Qualitative Studies (CQS) is a research center jointly operated by University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh and University of Sussex, UK.

Center for Archaeological Studies (CAS)

^[13]

Center for Advanced Theory (CAT)

The programs has three levels of activity: sponsoring research, providing advanced education (through workshops, seminars, public lectures, and colloquiums), and editing research publications (monographs, occasional articles, journals, and bulletins). Salimullah Khan is the director of CAT.^[14]

Center for Language Studies (CLS)

^[15]

Dhaka Translation Center (DTC)

^[16][17]

Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL)

^[18][19]

Co-curricular activities

Clubs are the mainstay of co-curricular life and activities. ULAB is a member of Duke of Edinburgh's Award program.^[20]

The Department of Media Studies & Journalism of ULAB also has apprenticeship programs for the students

CinemaScope

Cinemascope, Film Apprenticeship Program of University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) is dedicated to inspire and train student who aim to obtain knowledge about creation and aesthetics of film production. CinePedia is a semester based film magazine, publish by CinemaScope.

ULAB TV

ULAB TV launched on 27 June 2013, is the first campus TV channel in Bangladesh. Its stated purpose is hands-on training in television production and journalism. Run by students, it broadcasts infotainment programs and news bulletins.

The ULABian

The ULABian is an apprenticeship programme at the Department of Media Studies and Journalism. Under the programme, a bilingual (Bangla and English) print newspaper is published once in each academic semester. The ULABian publishes content of 24 pages (12 pages for Bangla and 12 English). The size of the paper is: (14.5 x 9.5) inch.

CampBuzz

Bangladesh's first-ever campus radio is ULAB's “Radio CampBuzz!”

Outreach Programs

Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival (DIMFF)

DIMFF started in 2015 and gradually became an outreach program of the Department of Media Studies and Journalism of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh. It arranges a film festival where films are exclusively shot on mobile phones.

Library

In 2004, the Library was launched at 116 Arjatpara, Mohakhali, Tejgaon, Dhaka-1212. In 2006, the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh and the Central Library were moved to its own campus at House 56, Road 4/A, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1209. Since 2022, Library is functioning from the ULAB Main Campus at 688 Beribadh Road on the A Building of the campus.ULAB Library is enriched with various types of resources that includes Textbooks, Reference Books, Special & Rare Books, e-Books, Periodicals, National and  International Journals & Magazines (print & online), Reports, Newspapers (national & international), Audio-Visual Materials, and Maps & Atlas, etc. Besides, ULAB Library is a member of a variety of Online Archives & Databases. Library Resources are kept on the shelf following the internationally recognized Classification System ‘DDC scheme’ (Dewey Decimal Classification). The Library provides access to a wide range of e-resources through a remote access user account.

Publications

• ULAB Press
• The ULABian, a Student Newspaper
• Muse, a newsletter of ULABian
• CinePedia, a semester based film magazine of CinemaScope

Notable people

Faculty

• Rafiqul Islam
• Kaiser Haq
• Salimullah Khan^[21]
• Muhammad Ibrahim
• Imran Rahman
• Azfar Hussain, scholar-in-residence, 2016 and 2017
• Mohit Ul Alam, until 2014
• Abdul Mannan
• Syed Manzoorul Islam
• Firoz Mahmud, visual artist and educator, until 2016
• Tahsan, Tahsan Rahman Khan, singer and educator, until 2013

Alumni

• Bappy Chowdhury, actor, nominated awardee Meril Prothom Alo Awards
• Konal, singer who won the reality show Channel I Shera Kontho reality show in 2009
• Mashiat Rahman, actress^[22]
• Masha Islam, multilingual singer^[23]

References

1. "Vision, Mission, and Values". University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
2. "Center for Sustainable Development". University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
3. Version, Daily Sun Online and Print. "daily sun". Retrieved 19 March 2018.
4. একনজরে ইউনিভার্সিটি অব লিবারেল আর্টস বাংলাদেশ. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 16 February 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
5. Ahmed, Kazi Shahid (8 October 2006). ""Liberal arts is at the root of all disciplines of education"". The Daily Star. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
6. "Imran Rahman returns as VC of ULAB". UNB. 2 November 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
7. "Prof Dr HM Jahirul Haque appointed as vice chancellor of CUB". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
8. "ULAB introduces Bangla and Literature Department". Dhaka Tribune. 23 February 2023. Archived from the original on 23 February 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
9. http://www.ulab.edu.bd/Academics/degrees-offered/ Degrees Offered
10. "MSS in MSJ renamed to Masters in Communication". University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
11. http://csd.ulab.edu.bd/ Center for Sustainable Development
12. http://ces.ulab.edu.bd/ Center for Enterprise and Society
13. http://cas.ulab.edu.bd/ Center for Archaeological Studies
14. http://cat.ulab.edu.bd/ Center for Advanced Theory
15. http://cls.ulab.edu.bd/ Center for Language Studies
16. Kar, Amitava (22 November 2013). "Stick a Babel Fish in Your Ear". The Daily Star. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
17. Alamgir, Rohini and Rumana Habib (23 November 2013). "In translation". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
18. http://cetl.ulab.edu.bd/ Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
19. http://www.banglanews24.com/english/education/article/57738/ULAB-launches-Center-for-Excellence-in-Teaching--Learning/ ULAB launches ‘Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning’
20. Duke of Edinburgh's Award
21. Neazy, Sheikh Nahid (17 May 2019). "Universities must be free from the shackles of politicization". Dhaka Courier.
22. Shazu, Shah Alam (9 November 2013). "The return of Mashiat". The Daily Star.
23. Jahan Labonnayo, Nusrat (19 December 2021). "Masha Islam The girl with the gifted voice". The Business Standard. Archived from the original on 23 February 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2023.

• "ULAB on Center for South Asia Studies Webpage". Archived from the original on 16 June 2008. Retrieved 16 December 2006.