Introduction to IRIB University
Following the establishment and launch of television in the country and the expansion of activities of the Radio and Television Organization, the need was felt to create an institution that would supply and train the required human resources for this organization. After preliminary preparations were made in 1969, an institution named “Higher School of Television and Cinema” was established.
Its graduates went on to work in the Radio and Television Organization and the cinema sector. This institution began its work with a short-term one-year course. Later, this course was upgraded to two two-year courses (associate degree) in production and technical fields. At the same time, master’s degree courses in educational technology, mass communication research, and electronic engineering were also designed and implemented at the Higher School of Television and Cinema. Following the glorious victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, necessity dictated that this institution focus exclusively on training the human resources required by the IRIB organization.
Initially, the name of the institution was changed to “Technical Training Center” and then to “Faculty of IRIB”. In 1981, the associate degree in production of this faculty was upgraded to a bachelor’s degree in production, and in 1995, the non-continuous bachelor’s degree in technical (telecommunication engineering) and in 1996, the master’s degree in television production were added to the faculty’s courses. Starting in 1997, the bachelor’s degree in communication joined the faculty’s fields of study by admitting students.
In 2012, the upgrade of the faculty to a university was approved, and its final notification was issued. IRIB University currently has six faculties including Radio and Television Production, Media Engineering, Communication, Television and Digital Arts, Media Philosophy, and Applied Science of Media, whose students are studying in four levels: associate degree, bachelor’s degree, non-continuous bachelor’s degree, and master’s degree.
Introduction to IRIB Faculty of Qom
The IRIB Faculty of Qom is the only strategic center in the field of education of religion and media and the sole academic authority for training committed and specialized human resources from among graduates of religious seminaries to achieve a religious media in the IRIB organization.
In order to deepen the religious content of the national media’s productions through the recruitment and training of committed and specialized forces of the seminary and institutionalizing the mutual relationship between seminaries and media, with the approval of the organization’s policy-making council in October 1997, the IRIB Faculty was established in the holy city of Qom with the aim of recruiting eligible seminary students at the master’s level. Shortly after the establishment of this faculty, the Supreme Leader in a meeting with the educational managers of the national media on 21/5/1998 emphasized the special role and function of this faculty as follows:
“… Well, now that you have established a center in Qom, it is very good. Here too, you must select elements who can perform their duties until the end of their responsibility in the IRIB environment.” ….. “It seems to me that right now the pulse of IRIB is beating in this faculty, meaning truly where you gentlemen work. The future of IRIB is actually formed there. It is you who must train the individuals who are there, whether those inside the organization or those coming from outside, in such a way scientifically and practically — meaning practical as personal and spiritual practice, purification and moral training — that they can transform our IRIB into what Imam dreamed of, meaning a university, a general university which is truly a great dream”.
Therefore, the necessity of establishing this faculty is in the direction of realizing a media on par with Islam and the Islamic Revolution; as well as producing indigenous and religious knowledge appropriate to it in order to supply the needs of the national media and religion-oriented media in the life of Islam. This event actually provided an opportunity for explorers of Islamic knowledge and sciences, by acquiring theoretical and practical media knowledge, to undertake the production of religious content to be transmitted through modern communication tools. This faculty has 3 educational departments: “Media Arts” with two educational fields “Television Production” and “Dramatic Literature with a specialization in Screenwriting”, “Culture and Communication” department with the field of “Social Communication Sciences”, and “Religion and Media” department with the field of “Religion and Media”.
IRIB Faculty – Qom, with the official license of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, recruits students every year through the national entrance exam and a dedicated exam. This faculty is known in the IRIB organization as the “Faculty of Religion and Media” and is considered a subdivision of IRIB University in terms of organizational structure.
Five-year Vision of the Faculty
IRIB Faculty – Qom (Religion and Media) as a scientific-religious authority for training committed and specialized human resources in order to realize the Islamic media in the IRIB organization, in the next five years (2021), will enjoy a position with the following characteristics:
Benefiting from a sustainable competitive advantage among higher education centers in the field of religion and media science and techniques at domestic, regional and international levels; having scientific-religious authority in media and communication education; benefiting from an education system that is skill-enhancing, research-oriented, realistic, and efficient; producing theories and models of “design”, “establishment”, and “efficiency” of media at the level of Islam and the Islamic Revolution; enjoying effective interaction with domestic, regional, and international scientific and educational centers; benefiting from the valuable and rich capacities of the country’s seminaries and the connecting link of mutual educational and research communication of the seminary with the media; having first-tier professors and researchers in the field of religion and media; and being a strategic center for training the human resources required by scientific centers and religious radio and television networks of the Islamic world.
Mission of the Faculty:
– Scientific and artistic training of the elite human resources required by the organization from among religious science scholars
– Research in theoretical issues of art and media in order to present a model of communication and religion-oriented media
– Playing an intermediary role between seminaries and the national media
– Creating a suitable environment for acquiring research, artistic, and production skills in the national media in order to train officers of the media soft war.
Macro Goals
– Providing the necessary grounds for recruiting and nurturing the human resources required by the national media from among students and scholars of seminaries
– Benefiting from the capacity of seminary scientific, research, and educational centers in order to train human resources
– Developing artistic and media discussions among students and scholars of the country’s seminaries
– Producing religious-media knowledge required by the national media and media of the Islamic world
– Identifying and recruiting faithful and revolutionary students by updating the process of student recruitment and training.
– Continuing and deepening the spiritual atmosphere in the IRIB organization with the presence of religion and media graduates
– Creating a scientific center in order to present a model faculty in the field of religion and media
– Mutual and organized relationship between seminaries and media in order to achieve mutual understanding and use the facilities of both organs
Strategies of the Faculty
– Identifying, recruiting, and training committed and specialized human resources required by IRIB in the field of communication sciences and media arts
– Reforming and revising fields and educational processes based on skill enhancement and the organization’s needs
– Producing science and theorizing in the field of religion and media and moving towards research orientation in education
– Centering the specific needs of the national media in the fields of education, research, and production
– Enhancing the position and stabilizing the standing of the Faculty of Religion and Media among scientific and research centers as an intellectual and scientific brand at national and international levels.