The Times Higher Education 2018 World University Rankings has named MIT the No. 2 university in the world for arts and humanities. The two top ranked universities — Stanford University and MIT — are closely aligned in the evaluation metrics, which assess the arts and humanities at research-intensive universities across core missions, including research, teaching, and international outlook.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings is an annual publication of university rankings by Times Higher Education, a leading British education magazine. This ranking of MIT’s global role in the arts and humanities follows other recent recognition for the Institute’s contributions to individual fields and disciplines. The 2018 QS World University rankings, for example, name MIT as the world’s top university for architecture, economics, engineering, linguistics, and natural sciences, as well as the No. 1 university in the world overall.

Of the Times Higher Education ranking, MIT President L. Rafael Reif said, “Perhaps because 'TECHNOLOGY' is carved in stone above MIT's front door, outsiders are not always prepared for the caliber of our research and education in the humanities and the arts. But it is the wisdom of the remarkable scholars in these fields, and lessons from their disciplines, that help our students develop fully into the creative citizens and inspired leaders they seek to become.”

“The arts and humanities are deeply embedded at MIT, throughout our schools and departments and across the curriculum,” said Hashim Sarkis, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning. “I am delighted to see this broad strength recognized not only for its importance to MIT but for what it offers to the world.”

Outstanding programs in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences — including linguistics, history, philosophy, music and theater arts, literature, global studies and languages, media studies, and writing — sit alongside equally strong initiatives within the School of Architecture and Planning in the visual arts, architecture, design, and history, theory, and criticism. These disciplines are complemented by the Center for Art, Society and Technology (CAST), the office of the Arts at MIT, the MIT LIST Visual Arts Center, and the MIT Museum.

“At MIT, we view the humanities and arts as essential for advancing knowledge, for educating young students, and for solving global issues,” said Melissa Nobles, Kenan Sahin dean of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. “The world’s problems are so complex they’re not only scientific and technological problems. They are as much human and moral problems.”