Six Latin American universities make the grade in new QS World University Rankings: Arts and Humanities

by Liliana Casallas

Six Latin American universities were featured in the QS World University Rankings®: Arts and Humanities released on http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings, revealing strength in Latin America’s universities in Modern Languages, Philosophy, Geography, History, English and Linguistics.

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• Brazil, with four universities featured, is best-performing country in the region
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• Mexico’s Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) ranks in top 100 in five of the six ranked subjects
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• Argentina’s Universidad de Buenos Aires in top 100 for Modern languages and English

Latin American universities in top 200

Philosophy

RankInstitutionCountry51-100Universidade de São PauloBrazil51-100Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)Mexico101-150Universidad de Buenos AiresArgentina101-150Universidade Estadual de CampinasBrazil151-200Universidade Federal de Minas GeraisBrazil151-200Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroBrazil

Modern Languages

RankInstitutionCountry51-100Universidad de Buenos AiresArgentina51-100Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)Mexico

Geography & Area Studies

RankInstitutionCountry51-100Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)Mexico151-200Universidade de São PauloBrazil

History

RankInstitutionCountry51-100Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)Mexico

Linguistics

RankInstitutionCountry101-150Universidade de São PauloBrazil

English language and literature

RankInstitutionCountry51-100Universidad de Buenos AiresArgentina51-100Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)Mexico

© QS Quacquarelli Symonds 2004-2011 www.topuniversities.com - All rights reserved In order to qualify for inclusion in the QS World University Rankings® - Arts and Humanities Subject Rankings 2011, universities must offer a course or the option to specialize in these disciplines, and meet the discipline specific threshold for papers published.

This series of the subject rankings sees Latin American universities take six of the top 100 positions in the six arts and humanities subjects, the highest number so far in comparison with their performance in engineering and technology (2), natural sciences (3), and life sciences and medicine (0).

“The criteria for these subjects were more heavily weighted towards academic and employer reputation rather than research citations, therefore the top-performing universities were voted as having a strong reputation among both academics and employers.” says Ben Sowter, head of research at QS, “The fact that Latin American universities excel in the area shows that they are competing at the top level with the elite and longer-established institutions around the world in arts and humanities. The more granular view of the rankings by subject again points to areas of excellence that are missed in the world exercise”.

The QS World University Rankings®: Arts and Humanities is the fourth of a five-part series of the QS World University Rankings® at a more granular subject level. Individual subject rankings for Engineering and Technology, Life Sciences and Medicine, and Natural Sciences are available on www.topuniversities.com.

The last of the series will be released later in June; revealing the top ranked universities in Social Sciences subjects. QS and its various rankings such as QS World University Rankings®: Arts and Humanities and QS Asian University Rankings have recently been featured in media around the world including:

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• The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jun/03/top-100-world-university-rankings-arts-humanities-english-linguistics-geography Daily
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• Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8552655/Spending-cuts-risk-damaging-universities-global-standing.html The
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• Australian: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/australian-national-university-has-the-best-ranking-to-date-for-philosophy-according-to-new-rankings/story-e6frgcjx-1226067603847
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• Macleans (Canada): http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2011/06/03/is-your-arts-or-humanities-school-in-the-top-200/ Focus Taiwan: http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aALL&ID=201105230011