Most Prestigious Universities in Humanities

College Search & Lists
1

<p>There’s been a great deal of discussion on the topic of reputation/prestige for universities in general, but I wanted to get the community’s opinion on what universities are specifically noted for their excellence in the Humanities (and in a broader sense the more classically studied social sciences, namely political science, history, and economic theory).</p>

<p>I suspect the list would be similar to the common 15 most prestigious schools list, but I would be really interested in the specifics of that order from a Humanities point of view. Undergraduate and graduate schools considered, with slight emphasis on the former.</p>

<p>I would imagine the Ivies would all rank strongly, along with U of Chicago, and the old Jesuits (Georgetown, Boston College, Notre Dame). Curious to see who else people include.</p>

<p>Feel free to make a list and/or talk about specific universities and comparisons.</p>

2

<p>I’m gonna go with Harvard, Princeton and Yale.</p>

3

<ol>
<li><p>UChicago and Columbia </p></li>
<li><p>Everybody else</p></li>
</ol>

4

<p>[Top</a> Universities for Arts & Humanities 2010-2011](<a href=“http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2010-2011/arts-and-humanities.html]Top”>Subject Ranking 2010-11: Arts & Humanities | Times Higher Education (THE))</p>

<p>I’d say that’s pretty accurate in terms of which universities are perceived to be the best in the humanities: Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Chicago, Columbia, Yale, Berkeley, etc.</p>

<p>

</li>
</ol>

<p>Having a gigantic core doesn’t make them better at humanities. :wink: By objective measures, there are universities that outperform them in the humanities.</p>

5

<p>the fact that Chicago and Columbia hammer kids with core curriculums and make them read a long list of “classic” books doesn’t necessarily make them tops in humanities. it’s not fair to lump HYP with “everybody else”</p>

6

<p>HYP tend to be the standard in all fields. A more interesting discussion would be what other colleges have departments in the humanities that rival HYP. U of Chicago and Columbia have been mentioned, with some disagreement. Are any of the other Ivies particularly strong or weak in these fields?</p>

<p>I was also curious if the so called southern ivies (Duke, Vanderbilt, Emory, Rice) were as oriented/dedicated to their humanities departments as the elite northeast schools…</p>

<p>A few of you have mentioned Berkeley - is that because of Berkeley’s general university prestige or because their humanities departments have renown specifically (like their science departments)? I sort of had this impression that the older northeastern schools sort of kept a strong tradition in the “classical education” philosophy when it seems most powerhouse research universities focus more on science and other things.</p>

<p>Any schools outside of the top 10 that have a strong humanities tradition?</p>

7

<p>^ Stanford definitely rivals HYP in humanities (and according to many rankings, exceeds some of them).</p>

<p>I mentioned Berkeley because it’s always been one of the top schools in the humanities. In the 1995 NRC rankings, Berkeley came out #1 for overall arts/humanities</p>

<p>[NRC</a> Rankings](<a href=“NRC Rankings”>NRC Rankings)</p>

<p>I don’t think it’s still #1 in the 2010 NRC rankings (someone on CC might have done a tally), but it’s still up there.</p>

<p>Another humanities ranking:</p>

<p>[QS</a> World University Rankings - Topuniversities](<a href=“http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011/subject-rankings/arts-humanities]QS”>http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011/subject-rankings/arts-humanities)</p>

8

<p>Thanks for clearing that up phantasmagoric.</p>

<p>I tend to be a bit skeptical about rankings because I feel it’s inherently more difficult to quantify humanities as opposed to science. Perhaps peer assessment would be the best, but I’m really more interested in reputation within academic circles.</p>

<p>As for U of Chicago, is the consensus still that they are up there with HYP? The strength of their economics department is beyond question, but I wonder if their humanities departments share that same level of dedication and tradition.</p>

9

<p>

Not a very useful one. Look at the subject areas it claims to rank. Only 3 areas - English, modern languages, and philosophy - are actually in the humanities. Among the missing subject areas are:</p>

<ul>
<li>[Insert] studies</li>
<li>Art history</li>
<li>Classics</li>
<li>Gender studies</li>
<li>Music (theory/history)</li>
<li>Religion </li>
<li>Theatre</li>
</ul>

<p>The best ranking (if one insists on having one) of humanities programs remains the old 1995 NRC ranking, though I would personally tweak it a little, particularly for undergraduates – for example, the same options are not always available to a CUNY undergrad as someone at the CUNY Graduate Center, and some of NYU’s most prestigious humanities programs are open to graduate students only (IFA, ISAW, etc.).</p>

<ol>
<li>Berkeley</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>Columbia</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Chicago</li>
<li>Penn</li>
<li>Duke</li>
<li>UCLA</li>
<li>Michigan</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins</li>
<li>UCI</li>
<li>UVA</li>
<li>UT Austin</li>
<li>Brown</li>
<li>CUNY</li>
<li>UCSD</li>
<li>Emory</li>
<li>NYU</li>
<li>Northwestern</li>
<li>Indiana</li>
<li>Wisconsin</li>
<li>Illinois</li>
</ol>

10

<p>Isn’t there a more recent NRC ranking that would be more updated/accurate? I haven’t been able to actually find the 2010 rankings, does anyone have a link?</p>