Western philosophers have given the world a lot to think about over the years. Now, they’re giving the university a reason to celebrate. Western Philosophy was named among the Top 50 programs in the world, according to the 2015 QS World University Rankings by Subject, released today. In total, Western programs ranked among the world’s elite institutions in 23 of 36 areas.
In the organization’s fifth annual subject-based rankings, QS broke down more than 14,000 programs within 3,551 universities worldwide – including 23 Canadian – in 36 disciplines based on academic and employer reputation surveys and academic citations per faculty member. Specific rankings were released for the Top 50 institutions in every category, and then grouped into 50-university chunks for the remainder of the rankings.
Philosophy (No. 48) was Western’s only subject to break the global Top 50.
“I am delighted with this new ranking. It is yet another confirmation of the strength of the Department of Philosophy at Western,” said Henrik Lagerlund, Philosophy professor and chair, as well as acting director of the Rotman Institute of Philosophy. “The Rotman Institute has, undoubtedly, helped the department’s profile. The investment by Mr. Rotman and the university has paid off. It is unfortunate Mr. Rotman is not here to share in this recognition.
“At the same time, it is important to note the department is very broad and has many areas of strength. It is, just to mention one other example, one of the foremost departments in North America in feminist philosophy.”
Also within the QS category Arts & Humanities, English Language and Literature (51-100), History (151-200) and Modern Languages (201-250) were ranked among the world’s best.
Within Engineering & Technology, Western ranked globally in Chemical Engineering (101-150), Civil and Structural Engineering (151-200), Computer Science and Info Systems (201-250) and Electrical Engineering (251-300).
Within Life Sciences and Medicine, Western ranked globally in Psychology (51-100), Medicine (101-150), Pharmacy and Pharmacology (150-200) and Biological Sciences (251-300).
Within Natural Sciences, Western ranked globally in Geography (101-150), Environmental Science (151-200), Chemistry (201-250), Mathematics (201-250) and Physic and Astronomy (301-350).
Within Social Sciences and Management, Western ranked globally in Business and Management Studies (51-100), Accounting and Finance (101-150), Sociology (101-150), Statistics and Operational Research (101-150), Economics and Econometrics (101-150) and Education (151-200).
Western made the Canadian Top 5 in five subjects – Philosophy (No. 4), Business and Management Studies (No. 4), Economics and Econometrics (No. 4), Psychology (No. 5) and English Language and Literature (No. 5).
