Boston College’s Philosophy program is ranked 30th best worldwide, up from 41st in 2022, according to the newly released 2023 QS World University Rankings, considered to be among the most influential and prestigious surveys of higher education institutions worldwide.
Prepared by the London-based Quacquarelli Symonds, QS examined the academic reputation, employer reputation, and research impact of more than 13,000 individual university programs to configure this year’s rankings of 48 academic disciplines.
Among U.S. universities, the BC Philosophy Department placed 12th— a one-level improvement over last year’s ranking — and is one of only two U.S. Catholic institutions in the top 30 overall, along with University of Notre Dame. It also is the only philosophy program within a U.S. Jesuit university ranked among the top 50 worldwide.
Joseph Professor of Catholic Philosophy Dermot Moran, chair of the Philosophy Department. (Lee Pellegrini)
“The QS recognition is significant and primarily the result of the hard work and great dedication of our faculty, students, and staff,” said Dermot Moran, the Joseph Professor of Catholic Philosophy and chair of the department. “But it is also due, I believe, to the distinctiveness of BC’s approach to philosophy, in which we are very focused on understanding its central role in the intellectual and moral formation of our students. We also appreciate how philosophy factors in the framing and reframing of the larger and enduring questions of our times.”
The department specializes in the history of philosophy, continental philosophy, and practical philosophy, and each area is explored in a broad humanistic and interdisciplinary way to offer resources for deep reflection on contemporary questions and concerns. The faculty consists of over 30 full-time members, as well as regular visiting professors from the U.S. and abroad.
Phil Gloudemans | University Communications | March 2023