The Department of Ethiopian Language & Literature -Amharic, was established in 1962 under the then Faculty of Arts. When the Institute of Language Studies was established in 1978, the Department with its former name became one of the four Departments of the Institute in the then Haile Sellassie I University.
At its inception and early stage of development, it was small and limited in scope, catering to a very small number of students within the Department (as majors) and a larger number of students from other Departments (as minors). The Department’s program then (and for several years to follow) was two-pronged: on the one hand was the project of popularizing Amharic as a subject at the college level; on the other hand was the training of specialists in language learning-teaching, with courses in Linguistics forming the bulk of the syllabus. The primary aim in both cases was to produce qualified (Amharic) language teachers for high schools and, to a limited extent, teachers and language researchers at the college level. Those students majoring in the program were taught Ge’ez, Amharic (including introductory courses in poetry ), courses in general linguistics.
Later on, towards the end of the sixties, steps were taken to realize the need to include literature courses. Even then, the Department was conceived of, in an Ethiopian context, as the legitimate center for producing qualified personnel in such fields as teaching Amharic, journalism, and translation, which meant less emphasis was given to such ‘classical’ courses as Ge’ez and Arabic (without negating the importance particularly of Ge’ez).
The above paragraphs are but to present a brief history of the department in Ethiopia and it is worth mentioning here for it would serve as a good backdrop to clearly describe as to when the department was launched in Injibara University. A short description of the department of Ethiopian Languages and Literature in the university is presented in what follows:
The department of Ethiopian Languages and Literature-Amharic in Injibara University was established in 2011 E.C. under the college of social sciences and humanities. The department has been certifing BA Degree in the regular, extention and summer programs for the intended field of study. In 2013 E.C.,16 students graduated in the regular programe. For the second time in 2015, the department has 30 students graduated in the regular program. In 2014, 152 students graduated for the first time in the Saturday and Sunday Extension program and 76 students are currently attending courses in the same program; there are also 26 students who have recently graduated in the Extension program. In addition to this, 803 students are studying in the department in the summer program. Furthermore, the department has 44 students enrolled in the regular program; 27 of them are second year students and the remaining 17 students third year. The department has also opened up a post-graduate program in Ethiopian Literature and Folklore and there are 24 students enrolled in the Extension program. These students are currently on their MA Thesis. There are also 14 students attending courses in the summer season under the same post-graduate program and these students are about to finish up taking courses and to start preparing proposal for their MA Thesis in the coming summer season of this year.
The department is currently functioning with a total of 12 academic staff members. There is one PhD holder, one Assistant Professor, 9 Lecturers and one on study leave for PhD in the department. The following table clearly shows the staff members with their respective academic rank and field of specialization.
| No | Name | Academic Rank | Field of Specialization | Remark |
| 1 | Wondosson Molla | Lecturer | MA in folklore | On study leave for PhD |
| 2 | Emebet Birhanu | Lecturer | MA in Teaching Amharic | |
| 3 | Guadie Tiruneh | Lecturer | Applied Linguistics in Teaching Amharic | |
| 4 | Tadesse Dinberu | Lecturer | MA in Teaching Amharic | |
| 5 | Yirga Tadesse | Lecturer | MA in Ethiopia Literature and folklore | |
| 6 | Degsesew Tilahun | Lecturer | MA in Ethiopia Literature and folklore | |
| 7 | Birhanu Asaye | Assistance professor | MA in Ethiopia Literature and folklore | |
| 8 | Aleshign Abebe | Lecturer | MA in folklore | |
| 9 | Tiguaded Edmie | Lecturer | MA in Amharic Literature | |
| 10 | Teafanesh Wondie | Lecturer | Applied Linguistics in Teaching Amharic | |
| 11 | Moges G/Mariam | Assistance professor | PhD in English Literature | |
| 12 | Birhanie Azage | Lecturer | MA in Linguistics |
Click the links Below to see all Details about the Staff:-
