The Department’s main missions are 1) to provide high quality university education, 2) to develop advanced research in all humanistic fields related to the historical, artistic, archaeological, linguistic, philological, literary, and geographical sciences. In addition, by carrying out the so-called Third Mission, the Department makes its expertise in these fields available to the community in order to support its social, cultural, and economic development. The Department pursues all these objectives through collaboration with bodies and institutions outside the University. 
The Department draws on the knowledge of the humanities tradition and its consolidated critical tools, opening itself to current demands for critical capacity and cultural flexibility, together with scientific, technical, and professional updating.