The study of sociology in Bosnia and Herzegovina begins with the founding of the Chair of Philosophy in 1956. The Department was initially active as part of the Department of Philosophy and Sociology, but in 2010 the Department of Sociology became independent. The first instructors at the Department (since 1956) were professors Ante Fiamengo, Andrija Krešić, Ivan Focht, and Šefkija Žuljević. A few years later, the Department strengthened its teaching staff with the addition of new instructors and associates: Vanja Sutlić, Muhamed Filipović, Abdulah Šarčević, Ante Pažanin, and Olga Kozomara.

The Chair of Archaeology was established at the Department of History at the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo during the 2008/09 academic year as an expression of the growing need in Bosnian-Herzegovinian society for this discipline—a discipline that in the previous decades had for the most part been the domain of associates from the Department of History, primarily Esad Pašalić, Alojz Benac and Borivoje Čović. Beginning with its first academic year, Dr. Enver Imamović, as the local faculty member, played a key role in the implementation of the teaching process, while some subjects were taught by outside associates—Dr. Boris Kavur (Palaeolithic), Dr. Tihomila Težak-Gregl (Neolithic) and Dr. Boško Marijan (Bronze and Iron Age). Dr. Salmedin Mesihović, at that time a young assistant professor, served as the first head of the Chair. During the 2009/10 academic year, Adnan Kaljanac was employed as the first teaching assistant at the Chair of Archaeology and he took on the task of stabilising the infrastructure of the Chair and developing it as a self-sustainable unit. Also during this academic year, Dr. Ivor Karavanić took over Dr. Boris Kavur’s position. As Dr. Boško Marijan could no longer work as a visiting professor at the Chair, his role was taken over by Dr. Hrvoje Potrebica. Dr. Adnan Busuladžić took over the area of classical archaeology, initially as a visiting lecturer and later as the second faculty member at the Chair. Finally, Dr. Krešimir Filipec took on some of the courses in medieval archaeology, while other medieval archaeology courses were taken on by Dr. Dubravko Lovrenović. In the Fall of 2013, Dr. Adnan Busuladžić became the second full-time employee at the Chair, while Adnan Kaljanac, already a teaching assistant, was employed as an assistant professor after completing his doctoral studies. A few months later, Edin Bujak MA was employed as a teaching assistant and the next year, Dr. Aiša Softić was employed as an assistant professor. In the Fall of 2015, Jesenko Hadžihasanović MA became the final full-time employee at the Chair as a teaching assistant. Over the years, the following individuals have worked at the Chair as visiting associates: Dr. Mirza Hasan Ćeman, Dr. Ćazim Hadžimejlić, Dr. Nermin Sarajlić (Faculty of Medicine of the University of Sarajevo), Dr. Asja Mandić, and Dr. Mevlida Operta (Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of Sarajevo).

The Chair of Russian Language and Literature was established during the 1961/62 academic year and it grew into the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures in 1972. Initially, the curriculum was a three-year programme, but it was later developed into a four-year programme. A significant number of students came to the Chair from the Pedagogical Higher School to continue their study of Russian language and literature. The initial faculty members, Prof. Rikard Kuzmić, who served as the first head of the Chair, and Prof. Tatjana Šeremet, also came from the Pedagogical Higher School.   

Romance cultures are simultaneously the foundation and the horizon of modern European thought and they are relevant to our region as part of a unified Mediterranean space with a common ancient Greek heritage. But we should also keep in mind that Romance languages and cultures are present around the world, from South and Central America, to Canada, Africa, the Antilles and Polynesia. Therefore, taking all of this into consideration, the study of Romance languages and literatures at the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo offers many possible choices and tracks for a comparative, theoretical and historical study of both Romance languages, linguistics, literatures, cultures, and the works of great artists, political and free thinkers, as well as those who fought for freedom and progress.

The Department of Pedagogy was founded in 1963 and it matriculated its first generation of students in the 1963/64 academic year. Prior to the Department of Pedagogy being established, pedagogical disciplines had been developing for some time at the Faculty of Philosophy within the Department of Philosophy, where the necessary staffing and organisational potential accumulated for founding the Department. Petar Mandić, Nikola Filipović, Branko Rakić and Muhamed Muradbegović were the first full-time faculty for pedagogy courses at the newly established Chair (later the Department of Pedagogy), while Aleksandar Bojkovski and Ismet Dizdarević taught courses in psychology. In addition to full-time faculty, a number of visiting professors—Zlatko Pregrad, Mihajlo Ogrizović and Boris Petz from Zagreb, and Borivoje Samolovčev, Tihomir Prodanović and Radivoj Kvaščev from Belgrade—contributed to the improvement and strengthening of staff at the Department of Pedagogy. Other professors, including Dragutin Franković, Anđelko Krković, Mladen Zvonarević, Nenad Havelka and Muhamed Dervišbegović, selflessly helped in the further development of the Department.

The Department of Oriental Philology (previously the Department of Oriental Languages and Literatures and the Department of Oriental Studies) grew out of the Chair of Oriental Languages that was established in 1950 with the founding of the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo. The initial teaching staff were already established scholars of Oriental philology: Prof. Šaćir Sikirić taught Arabic language and literature, while Prof. Nedim Filipović taught Turkish language and literature. Besim Korkut, an associate of the Oriental Institute, was employed as a visiting professor to assist in the teaching of Arabic. In designing the curriculum, the Chair aimed to develop a specific programme that would educate scholars prepared to study Arabic, Turkish and Persian languages, as well as classical and contemporary literature written in those languages, and also to carry out research into Ottoman source materials and the rich manuscript archive in Arabic, Turkish and Persian in order to fill the academic and cultural need to study the history and culture of our peoples.

The Department of History is one of the oldest departments at the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo. It grew out of the Chair of History that was established in 1950. Since its establishment to the present day, faculty from the Department of History have been respected scholars in the field of history. The first professors at the Department were also among the founders of the Faculty of Philosophy. For decades, the Department has been a meeting place for historians from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Department of History educates future history teachers and scholars. With the possibility of combining subject areas offered at Faculty of Philosophy departments and at other faculties at the University of Sarajevo, students can prepare for various other professions that they study for in combination with or in addition to history.