The foundations of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Yıldız Technical University trace back to the period when the institution was known as the Istanbul Technical School, during which it was reorganised as the Istanbul State Academy of Engineering and Architecture under the State Engineering and Architecture Academies Act No. 1184, dated 3 June 1969, and the Faculty of Fundamental Sciences was established within this new structure.
Following these developments, Yıldız University was established by Act No. 2809 on 28 March 1983; during this process, the Faculty of Fundamental Sciences within the Istanbul State Academy of Engineering and Architecture was reconstituted and renamed as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
Within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, pursuant to the directive dated 22 September 1982 and bearing number 3939, the Departments of Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Turkish Language and Literature, Engineering Sciences, Philosophy or Psychology or Sociology, the Department of Western Languages and Literatures comprising the Divisions of English Language and Literature, French Language and Literature and German Language and Literature, as well as the History Department encompassing the Divisions of Ancient History, Early Modern History, Contemporary History, and the History of Modern Turkey, were established.
The name of Yıldız University was changed to Yıldız Technical University by Act No. 3837 dated 3 July 1992, while the designation of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences was retained. Subsequent years witnessed structural changes; by the decision of the Higher Education General Assembly dated 13 June 2006, the Department of Human and Social Sciences was founded in place of the History Department, incorporating the Divisions of Sociology, Psychology, Philosophy, History, and Anthropology.
Various modifications have been made to the faculty’s structure over time. The Higher Education Executive Board decision dated 10 February 2010 established the Department of Philosophy; that dated 11 May 2011 established the Department of Sociology; and the decision of 16 August 2017 founded the Department of Human and Social Sciences within which the Human and Social Sciences Division was established. The same decision also abolished the Departments of Philosophy and Sociology, and subsequently, by the decision dated 13 September 2017, the History Department was closed. Most recently, on 20 March 2022, the Department of Human and Social Sciences was abolished and the Department of Sociology was re-established. Finally, the Higher Education Executive Board decision dated 26 April 2022 abolished all divisions, instituting a new organisation in which each department was restructured to operate solely under its own title.