Is your arts or humanities school in the top 200?

The QS World University Rankings for Arts and Humanities faculties have been released. (QS is a large global firm that has ranked schools for two decades.) As expected, Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge claim the top three spots for nearly every faculty. But, perhaps surprisingly, one Canadian school --- The University of Toronto --- consistently ranks in the top 10, often above Ivy League schools like Princeton and Yale. McGill University and The University of British Columbia are the only other two Canadian universities that consistently fall in the top 50. In fact, they fall in the top 20 for most programs.

Beyond that, things get particularly interesting. Queen’s is the fourth-place Canadian school in nearly every category, while laid-back Simon Fraser University, embattled York University, McMaster University and the University of Alberta are the only others with multiple top 100 showings.

Unfortunately, there are many great Canadian schools missing altogether, most of which are small liberal arts oases in eastern Canada, like Acadia and St. Francis Xavier. That suggests that a one-size-fits-all ranking can’t capture the benefits of smaller schools, like smaller class sizes and faculty interaction. The Maclean’s University Rankings (released in the fall) overcome this problem by separating schools into three categories based on size and research-intensity. Still, the QS Rankings show how outside observers rate our schools. Here is a complete list of where Canadian schools rank in the QS World Arts and Humanities Rankings for 2011.

English

#7. Toronto

#12. McGill

#13. British Columbia

#51-100. Queen’s, Montreal, Alberta, York

#101-150. Concordia, Simon Fraser, Calgary, Waterloo, Western

#151-200. Brock, Carleton, McMaster

Modern Languages

#9. Toronto

#15. McGill

#22. British Columbia

#51-100. Queen’s, Montreal, Alberta, Calgary, York

#101-150. Carleton, Concordia

History

#11. Toronto

#15. McGill

#21. British Columbia

#51-100. Queen’s, Simon Fraser, Montreal, Alberta, Western, York

#101-150. Laval

Philosophy

#7. Toronto

#16. British Columbia

#18. McGill

#51-100. Queen’s, Montreal, Quebec, Alberta, Western

#101-150. McMaster, Calgary, Ottawa, Victoria, Waterloo, York

#151-200. Carleton, Ryerson, Guelph

Geography

#14. British Columbia

#16. Toronto

#17. McGill

#51-100. McMaster, Queen’s

#100-150. Simon Fraser, Montreal, Alberta, Victoria, York

#151-200. Carleton, Laval, Calgary, Waterloo, Western

Linguistics

#9. McGill

#11. Toronto

#24. British Columbia

#51-100. Simon Fraser, Ottawa, York

Looking for QS World Science Rankings? Here’s a list of where Canadian faculties ranked in their May release.