World University Rankings 2018 by subject: arts and humanities

The 2018 Times Higher Education World University Rankings’ table for arts and humanities subjects employs the same rigorous and balanced range of 13 performance indicators used in the overall World University Rankings, but the methodology has been recalibrated to suit the individual fields.

It highlights the universities that are leading across art, performing arts, languages, history, philosophy, theology, architecture and archaeology subjects.

The weightings for teaching and research in the arts and humanities table has altered slightly this year, while the minimum publication threshold for universities to be included has increased.

This year’s ranking has expanded to include 400 institutions, up from 100 last year.

View the World University Rankings 2018 by subject: arts and humanities methodology

The US takes more than a quarter of places in the table (103), 35 of which make the top 100, down from 39 last year. Meanwhile, the UK has 56 representatives in total and 19 in the upper quartile, the same as last year.

The results demonstrate the benefit of interdisciplinary research and teaching on individual subjects; the table is led by Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, two universities renowned for their strength in technology that connect their arts and humanities departments with scientific and technical disciplines.

The ranking also shows that China’s higher education rise is not just limited to science and technology subjects, with Peking University joining the top 20 for the first time and Tsinghua University making its debut in the top 50.


View the full results of the overall World University Rankings 2018
Download a free copy of the World University Rankings 2018 digital supplement 
Read our article on the best universities for arts and humanities degrees


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