Schools
Tilburg University began in 1927 as a commercial university of applied sciences and actually consisted of only one faculty, economics. In the spirit of the founding fathers, the education and research of economics at Tilburg took place from a broad perspective, with attention to ethical, philosophical, sociological, behavioral, and legal aspects. It was not until 1963 that this way of practicing science led to the arrival of specialized faculties: the legal and social faculty. Later followed a sub-faculty of Psychology (1971), an inter-faculty of Philosophy and, in 1981, a faculty of Arts. From the latter two emerged the School of Humanities.
Demonstration against the imminent closure of Arts and Psychology (pictured above)
Over the years, faculty names (and abbreviations used) have changed, mostly due to strategic or marketing considerations. Since 2012, all faculty names have been in English. The Faculteit Economische Wetenschappen (FEW) became Faculteit Economie en Bedrijfswetenschappen (FEB) over the years and is now called Tilburg School for Economics and Management (TiSEM). The Faculteit der Rechtswetenschappen (FRW) is now called Tilburg Law School (TLS). The social faculty was initially called subfaculteit Sociaal-Culturele Wetenschappen (SCW) and was supplemented in 1971 by a sub faculty psychology. As of 1987, the two merged into the Faculteit Sociale Wetenschappen (FSW), now the Tilburg School for Social and Behavioral Sciences(TSB). The current Tilburg School for Humanities and Digital Sciences (since 2007) was formerly called Faculteit Geesteswetenschappen. That Faculty was the result of a merger of the interfaculteit Wijsbegeerte (FWW), Faculteit Communicatie en Cultuur (FCC) and Faculteit Theologie en Religiewetenschappen (FTR). FCC was the result of a name change and reorganization of the letterenfaculteit in 2005. The current Tilburg School of Catholic Theology (since 2007, located in Utrecht) was formerly called Faculteit Katholieke Theologie, and is an amalgamation of (parts of) the theological faculties of Tilburg and Utrecht.
The history of the Theological Faculty Tilburg (pictured above)
The Tilburg campus is also home to the TIAS School for Business and Society. TIAS was founded in 1986 and over the years developed into a leading business school. In an academic sense, TIAS is a faculty of Tilburg University; formally, TIAS is a private company that depends on the market for its continued existence.
In 2016, it came to an expansion of the university organization, in the form of the Jheronimus Academy of Data Sciences in Den Bosch, the University College Tilburg (as the successor to Liberal Arts and Sciences) and the Tilburg School of Governance. None of these newer Schools are faculties in the formal sense, but they do express the university's commitment to raising its profile with multidisciplinary education and research around socially relevant themes.
The opening of Jheronimus Academy of Data Science (JADS) in 's-Hertogenbosch by princess Máxima (pictured above)
Three Schools have made their own history the subject of study: the former Theological Faculty of Tilburg, TLS, and TSB (on the occasion of Psychology's 50th anniversary).
More about history and academic heritage
The Tilburg University academic heritage is a very diverse set of archives, visual materials, collections, devices, recorded stories, et cetera that relate to the history of the university.